Peace and environmental education for climate change: challenges and practices in Lebanon

Abstract

As noted in the literature reporting on the impact of climate change, it does not only bring about environmental degradation, i.e. ecological violence, but it may also provoke increased intercommunity and interstate violence. This article examines the implications of this relationship between climate change and increased violence for environmental education and peace education. First, it presents existing and potential consequences of climate change on local and regional stability, underlining the need to incorporate climate change into environmental and peace education. Second, it examines how and why the incorporation of climate change into education has been met with difficulty. Third, this article illustrates how climate change can be included into environmental education reporting on research of the educational practices of IndyACT, a Lebanese non-governmental organization which works on climate change issues at national, regional, and global levels. The article explores the obstacles faced by the members of IndyACT in the implementation of their educational activities and reports on their representations of climate change. Finally, it presents the educational activities, strategies, and approaches used by IndyACT to educate diverse audiences about climate change.