Place-based Environmental Education Research Articles

Evaluating the impact of place-based education: insights from a river environmental program in Taiwan

PurposeThe current education paradigm is often criticized for fostering human dependence and failing to reduce environmental impacts. This has led researchers to propose alternative approaches. One alternative approach, place-based education, integrates a specific location’s natural and social context into learning experiences. By deepening students’ connection to their surroundings, place-based environmental education aims to enhance students’ sense of interdependence with a place and their place attachment in cognitive and affective dimensions. While widely practiced, its effectiveness remains largely unevaluated, particularly in the East Asian context. The gap hinders the development of impactful pedagogical approaches for educators.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examine a river environmental education program located upstream of Taiwan’s capital, offering a valuable case study within the East Asian context. The program’s design is analyzed, and its impact on enhancing students’ place attachment is assessed through a pre- and post-survey approach.FindingsThe results indicate a substantial increase in students’ place attachment following program participation, particularly pronounced among children with limited prior experience with the river. Importantly, this increase is comparable to or exceeds those observed in similar studies from other regions.Originality/valueThe considerable increase in place attachment observed in this program demonstrates its effectiveness in fostering environmental connections, particularly among children with limited prior experience. The magnitude of the increase might be partially attributable to the interdependent orientation of Taiwanese culture. This suggests that place-based education might yield significant positive outcomes in other non-Western countries with strong interdependent cultural orientations.

Secondary Students' Knowledge on Birds and Attitudes towards Conservation: Evaluation of an Environmental Education Program.

Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve holds a diversity of habitats and resources that are essential for migratory bird species' conservation, and at the same time provides a rich milieu for the development of environmental education programs. This study evaluates the impact of a daylong and place-based environmental education program, performed at the Urdaibai Bird Center (UBC), on secondary education students' environmental attitudes and knowledge. Students (n = 908) completed a written questionnaire where their perceptions on the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve and marshes, together with their interest in biodiversity, knowledge about bird migration and bird species identification skills, and attitudes towards conservation were assessed. Results show that students' knowledge regarding Biosphere Reserves, marshes, and bird migration is limited, and that their bird identification skills are scarce. Although they scored high on environmental attitudes, a significant number of them feel that conservation efforts are excessive and hinder economic development. Students living within the Biosphere Reserve, as well as from rural milieus or who underwent primary education through a bird-centered curriculum hold a better knowledge of the local biodiversity. To adapt the environmental education program at the UBC, its integration in formal teaching/learning contexts via meaningful hands-on and/or project-based activities could be considered, together with the systematic evaluation of the outcomes.

Pedagogies of place: conserving forms of place-based environmental education during a pandemic

ABSTRACT Can on-line ‘place-based learning’ be more than a facsimile or ritual? Using a phenomenology of my pandemic practice, I investigate the meaning of ‘place-based learning:’ entertaining Aristotle’s seminal thought on place as a container to venture into contemporary phenomenological inquiries where places and things are not only conceptually implicated by each other, but immanent and potentially powerful elements in learning experiences. Bonnett’s (2021) ecologizing of education shows that authentic forms must be embodied and emplaced in order to open learners to the more in situ, deeply-contextualized and yet ‘transcendental’ and ‘ecstatic’ reception of the more-than-human realm of nature (as what comes-forth, phusis). But this Heideggerian narrative with which I resonate poses challenges for students and place-based educators. Wittgenstein’s philosophical approach, itself modelled on place-based investigation of language (our ‘home city’), draws me back from metaphysical inclinations to dwell constructively on ordinary discourses rooted in educational practices.

Growing Seeds, Minds, and Community: A Case Study Evaluation of the Green Thumb Project’s Youth Internship Program

Urban community gardens are often home to a variety of environmental education programs. One such program centered in a community garden is the Youth Internship Program created by The Green Thumb Project. Through mixed methods techniques and a case study approach, the Youth Internship Program’s immediate outcomes were evaluated by assessing 12 participants’ changes in career preparedness skills, healthy living attitudes, and content knowledge after participating in the eight-week long curriculum. Outcomes were assessed through the lens of situated learning theory and its relation to place-based environmental education. Through analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data, results indicated that the Youth Internship Program was effective in positively changing all interns’ skills, attitudes, and knowledge. Linear regressions showed that skills, attitudes, and knowledge had significant positive relationships with one another. This finding indicated that the themes were interconnected and that learning gains in one area helped interns experience gains in another area. Overall, the data demonstrated that the program was effective in helping interns grow personally, professionally, and academically.

Rural Children’s Representations of the Land

In this study, we investigated children’s representations of the land while they participated on a place-based environmental education program in a Brazilian rural school. Environmental education activities aimed to foster a critical understanding of children’s contextual reality as residents of a rural settlement associated with the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST). We focused our analysis in the representations of the land, due to the symbolism it carries for farmers and activists for agrarian reform. From the analysis of the materials produced in the activities and the field notes of participatory observation, we identified three categories in children’s representations: (I) land as the provider, (II) land as home and (III) land as the biodiversity. In these categories, we observed children understand land as a constituent of their contextual reality. These results reinforce the pedagogical potential of interacting with land, particularly in the development place attachment and pro-environmental place meanings.

Indigenous children’s connectedness to nature: the potential influence of culture, gender and exposure to a contaminated environment

This study investigates the concept of “connectedness to nature” among students from an indigenous Bedouin community, whose relationship with nature is influenced by a variety of cultural, social and environmental factors, not least of which is the fact that the environment in which they live is highly contaminated. We asked 294 fifth- and sixth-grade students (130 boys and 164 girls), who live in the highly rural Bedouin villages in Israel’s Negev desert, to complete an open questionnaire that was specifically designed to elicit detailed information about these particular students’ connection to nature. The paper presents the results of two analyses of this questionnaire. The first—a quantitative analysis—divides the students’ answers into five aspects of connectedness to nature (nature enjoyment, empathy for living creatures, sense of oneness, sense of responsibility and experience of nature in my immediate environment). The second—an inductive, qualitative analysis of the students’ explanations and elaborations of their answers—provides a more nuanced description of the various social, historical and situational factors that influence these students’ relationship with their environment. It then addresses the tension between these two analyses, highlighting the limitations of “traditional” categories of nature connectedness while showing how these can nevertheless be used to elicit detailed, complex and pertinent information. It concludes by demonstrating how this information, if analyzed critically through its correspondence, or lack of correspondence, with the original assumptions of the statements that elicited it, might be used in the development of place-based environmental education programs for specific populations.

Place-based environmental education to promote eco-initiatives: the case of Yokohama, Japan

ABSTRACT Due to its rapid population growth and urban development, the environment of Yokohama in Japan has significantly degraded. In response, substantial efforts have been made to address socio-environmental issues. One such initiative was a programme called G-30. Implemented in 2005, it aimed to reduce 30% of the amount of garbage waste by 2010, in comparison with that of 2001, by promoting ‘Recycle, Reduce, and Reuse’ (3Rs). Ultimately, the city reduced 43% of its garbage waste during that period. The Japanese government designated the city as one of the Environmental Model Cities in 2008, Environmental Future Cities in 2011 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Future Cities in 2018, while the World Bank recognized it as one of the Eco2Cities in 2010. A place-based environmental education tool called the eco-picture diary has significantly contributed to the success of the G-30 programme and the designation of the above-stated eco-initiatives. Through documentation research and a series of interviews with stakeholders, the current study examines the eco-picture diary and its potential roles in promoting eco-initiatives, applying the change theory for place-based education. Findings suggest that the eco-picture diary, as a place-based environmental education tool, can promote eco-initiatives by broadening and deepening community social capital.

Teaching Change: Bioculturally Grounded, Place-based Environmental Education in Hawaiʻi

Teaching Change: Bioculturally Grounded, Place-based Environmental Education in Hawaiʻi

Developing a critical consciousness of race in place-based environmental education: Franco’s story

Environmental education (EE) has a history of support for critical place-based pedagogy as a means of learning through engagement in space, both cultural and biophysical. In this paper I tell the story of how Franco – a non-white, non-American undergraduate – engaged with local discourses in a watershed-focused EE program in the rural Midwestern US. I examine how the five tenets of critical race theory (CRT) can be used to interpret Franco’s experience, where he encountered multiple instances of racism and xenophobia. I argue that without a critical analysis of race in place-based EE programs, instructors may (a) privilege their own ways of knowing in local settings, (b) rely on ‘grit’ narratives as mechanisms for mediation of racism, and (c) send non-white students home having learned that they cannot effect meaningful change for sustainability. I conclude with recommendations for faculty in predominantly white institutions on how CRT might foster the development of critical consciousness of race in place-based EE programs.

Diminishing footprints: exploring the local and global challenges to place-based environmental education

An efficacious response to the ecological crisis requires a thorough examination of our material entitlements and a willingness to reduce our ecological impact by diminishing current levels of consumption. Drawing on the example of air pollution in China, I present a case for the reduction of consumption and impact as a worthy outcome of place-based environmental education. I consider the challenges that place-based educators face in initiating a reduction in collective impact among its constituents, which stem from theoretical assumptions about the link between the local and the global, and the influence of non-local socio-economic forces. Because the current planetary situation complicates the task of the place-based educator, and one’s investment in place may be assailed by trans-national forces, I forward ecological virtue ethics as a complementary form of environmental education, which in conjunction with place-based education, can serve to promote a reduction in consumption and impact among local communities.

Facilitating place-based environmental education through bird studies: an action research investigation

This study involved a workshop designed to support biology teachers in conducting birdwatching activities with their students and to promote place-based environmental education in Turkey. The instruments for collecting data were a workshop questionnaire and interviews. The findings revealed that initial response to the workshop was positive; participating teachers reported that the resources and strategies motivated them to conduct bird studies with students. They identified barriers and noted that the place-based education approach might help overcome many of these barriers. After the workshop, it became clear that participants’ initial intentions to integrate birdwatching into their lessons were challenged by lack of confidence and time. To gain deeper insights into the outcomes of the project, the project coordinator used action research strategies to reflect on her practice and reveal implications for her continued efforts to promote bird and environmental education. She kept a journal, used reiterative reflection, and content analysis to analyse workshop evaluations and interviews. The coordinator recognized potentials and challenges for facilitating birdwatching and environmental education as part of her teaching career. This study shares some of her efforts to provide ongoing support and emphasizes that facilitation of environmental education needs time, commitment, and passion.

Practices of Place-based Environmental Education in a General Education Course for Pre-service Elementary Teachers

Practices of Place-based Environmental Education in a General Education Course for Pre-service Elementary Teachers

Youth Fusion's Urban Environment Project: Increasing Youth Participation in Urban Planning through Place-Based Environmental Education

Communities and planners alike have come to understand the potential benefits of youth participation in the planning of urban spaces. School retention is also seen as a societal priority. This field report presents a classroom program developed and piloted at a public high school in Montreal to explore how place-based education can be used to facilitate youth participation and school perseverance. Following a review of this program, its objectives, and its implementation, we conclude with a discussion of challenges and opportunities associated with place-based education.

Youth Fusion's Urban Environment Project: Increasing Youth Participation in Urban Planning through Place-Based Environmental Education

Youth Fusion's Urban Environment Project: Increasing Youth Participation in Urban Planning through Place-Based Environmental Education

Evaluation of a Place-Based Environmental Education Program: From There to Here

The article introduces a Czech environmental education middle school program focused on helping students develop place attachment to their community and on increasing their interest in natural area in their region. The evaluation applied a mixed approach combining pretesting/posttesting of the students (N = 158), two group interviews with selected students (N = 16), an interview with teachers (N = 2), field observations, and ongoing interviews with the main program leader. Although the evaluation did not find an effect of the program on the attractiveness of the natural area, the program appeared to increase community place attachment of the participants to their own community.

Seeking excellence for the land of paradise: Integrating cultural information into an environmental education program in a rural Hawai’ian community

The purpose of this case study was to: (1) assess whether a group of 12 students from a rural Hawai’ian community acquired local environmental knowledge through a place-based environmental education program, and (2) determine how integration of cultural information into this program affected participants’ views about their natural world. A tertiary objective was to develop and test a methodological approach for evaluating youth environmental education programs. Findings revealed a tripartite foundation of novel experiences, mentorship through social connections and learning about nature through a cultural lens facilitated a deeper understanding of nature and culture. Additionally, the mix of qualitative techniques effectively facilitated an in-depth understanding of program impacts on participants’ views toward the local environment.

An Environmental Pedagogy of Care: Emotion, Relationships, and Experience in Higher Education Ethics Learning

Field philosophy is interdisciplinary experiential environmental humanities learning. It grows from a community-focused conception of environmental ethics and place-based environmental education, and it aims to help students develop an awareness of the role of environmental ethics in environmental issues, as well as cultivate an empathetic environmental ethic that might enable them to participate in environmental problem solving. The emotional, cognitive, and physical relationships with people, place, and ideas at the core of field philosophy necessitate a pedagogy that attends to affective learning objectives and relationship building. A shared focus connects literature in experiential education, educational psychology research on emotional engagement, and the ethic of care. A synthesis of this literature grounds an environmental pedagogy of care with meaningful potential for field philosophy.

Displaced in Nature: The Cultural Production of (Non-)Place in Place-Based Forest Conservation Pedagogy

This study examines spatial practices in a forest conservation education program that incorporates place as a tool to teach environmental and forestry issues to schoolchildren and connect them with nature. By analyzing educational forests, “talking-tree trails,” classes taught to children, and how visitors move throughout the sites, this paper argues that people and practices within the forests employ a rhetoric of spatial and temporal transience that can enable a displaced experience. Human-nature dualistic tendencies that foster environmental alienation are produced culturally and spatially and are experienced in ways that can promote disconnectedness. Instead of re-placing students with nature, as place-based environmental education promotes, forestry and pedagogical systems can practice nature as non-placed.

Placed-Based Education Annotated Resource List

Children, Youth and Environments 21(1), 2011 Placed-Based Education Annotated Resource List Corrie R. Colvin College of Architecture and Planning University of Colorado Citation: Colvin, Corrie R. (2011). “Place-Based Education Annotated Resource List.” Children, Youth and Environments 21(1): 332-348. This annotated resource list is intended to serve as a guide for readers and scholars looking for place-based education (PBE) references, curriculum and activity guides, theoretical and applied books, academic analyses, research, reviews, and online web resources. Whether looking for a means to help further one’s own understanding or that of one’s community, this list can serve as a starting place for building new knowledge or extending existing knowledge on place-based education and the benefits available from such an approach to lifelong learning. The list of resources began with those in the reference collections in the Children, Youth and Environments Center of the University of Colorado and was then extended through online search tools using the following keywords: “place-based education,” “children and nature,” and “place-based environmental education.” Other references were located through listserv notices provided by the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education. This resource list is not exhaustive. The books selected offer place-based education methods and their application, as well as theoretical and background information on child development and lifelong learning that provide support for place-based education. The scholarly articles and reports review and discuss place-based education programs, as well as provide additional references that may be helpful, but which are outside the scope of the resource list provided below. When possible, a link to the electronic version of each article is included. Films are included as a visual and auditory resource for placebased education case studies. The websites and Internet-based resource tools listed provide useful applied information including how-to and case studies, listservs and newsletters, educational support (e.g., webinars) and teacher tools (e.g., supportive curriculum, grant availability, school ground design). Additionally, this list is limited to resources published in English. If you have additional suggestions for information that should be included, please contact Corrie Colvin (corrie.colvin@colorado.edu).© 2011 Children, Youth and Environments Place-Based Education Annotated Resource List 333 Books and Book Chapters Adams, Eileen and Colin Ward (1982). Art and the Built Environment: A Teacher’s Approach. UK: Longman Group. Banning, Wendy and Ginny Sullivan (2011). Lens on Outdoor Learning. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. Danks, Sharon Gamson (2010). Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation. Oakland, CA: New Village Press. Dudek, Mark (2005). Children’s Spaces. Amsterdam: Elsevier Architectural Press. Grant, Tim and Gail Littlejohn, eds. (2001). Greening School Grounds: Creating Habitats for Learning. Toronto: Green Teacher Press. Gruenewald, David and Gregory Smith, eds. (2007). Place-Based Education in the Global Age: Local Diversity. New York: Routledge. Haas, Toni and Paul Nachtigal (1998). Place Value: An Educator’s Guide to Good Literature on Rural Lifeways, Environments, and Purposes of Education. Charleston, SC: Appalachia Educational Laboratory. Hart, Roger (1997). Children’s Participation: The Theory and Practice of Involving Young Citizens in Community Development and Environmental Care. London: EarthScan. Higgins, Peter and Robbie Nicol (2002). Outdoor Education: Authentic Learning in the Context of Landscapes, Vol. 2. Kisa, Sweden: Comenius Action 2.1. http://www.education.ed.ac.uk/outdoored/research/oe_authentic_learning.pdf Jacobson, Susan K., Mallory D. McDuff and Martha C. Monroe (2006). Conservation Education and Outreach Techniques (Techniques in Ecology and Conservation). New York: Oxford University Press. Johnson, Lauri Macmillan and Kim Duffek (2008). Creating Outdoor Classrooms: Schoolyard Habitats and Gardens for the South. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Kahn, Peter and Stephen Kellert, eds. (2002). Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Keaney, Brian and Bill Lucas, eds. (1992). The Outdoor Classroom. UK: Scholastic Publications. Place-Based Education Annotated Resource List 334 Leslie, Claire Walker, John Tallmadge and Tom Wessels (1999). Into the Field: A Guide to Locally Focused Teaching. Nature Literacy Series, Vol. 3. Great Barrington, MA: The Orion Society. Littledyke, Michael, Neil Taylor and Chris Eames (2009). Education for Sustainability in the Primary Curriculum: A Guide for Teachers. Melbourne, AU: Palgrave MacMillan. Moore, Robin C. and Herbert H. Wong (1997...

Primal Landscapes: Insights for Education From Empirical Research on Ways of Learning About Environments

This paper discusses the concept of ‘primal landscapes’ as a way of conceptualising the interactions between children and the environments they grow up in. The paper discusses this concept drawing on empirical research conducted in the field of human geography on how people learn about their environments. The research employed a qualitative inductive methodology and involved interviews with 40 participants across two rural case studies in north Queensland, Australia. Based on these case studies, the paper discusses three main findings for environmental education. First, the paper draws attention to the importance of experiential learning during the ‘concrete operations’ phase of childhood development. Second, the paper emphasises the importance of involving elders and family in environmental education. Third, the paper shows that opportunities for adult place-based environmental education include festivals and reflecting on natural hazards, such as floods and fires.