Government, business and the public: The role of environmental education in creating sustainable urban places

Abstract

This paper focuses on the need to further environmental education research within a context in which local government, local business and tertiary institutions are viewed as interlinked components of the development process. Research and interaction with local stakeholders offers an opportunity to chart a path that intersects and then fuses environmental education with that of environmental and development practice. The paper focuses on three research initiatives that highlight the intrinsic need to create a learning society and how to gain more robust recognition for the role of environmental education research as a developmental process. The three research initiatives deal with the integration of environmental management systems thinking in local government (case 1), how a local government envisaged environmental education campaign constitutes challenges for environmental education research (case 2), and how pollution highlights the need for partnerships in addressing the Polluter Pays Principle (case 3). Findings from the research underscore the lack of environmental concerns within the decision-making process in local government. Paucity of capacity to monitor and act on challenges within this sector also point to the need for coordinated action against industrial misdemeanours, where self-regulation is still far from a reality. Most importantly, we argue that environmental education research and practice should contribute to the strengthening of facilitation skills and systems thinking amongst researchers who work within networks of stakeholders who must ensure sustainable urban places in the future.