Educating for “intelligent environmental action” in an age of global warming

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511535871.020

17 - Educating for “intelligent environmental action” in an age of global warming

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 August 2009

Tina Grotzer and

Rebecca Lincoln

Edited by

Susanne C. Moser and

Lisa Dilling

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Tina Grotzer: Affiliation:
Harvard University
Rebecca Lincoln: Affiliation:
Harvard University
Susanne C. Moser: Affiliation:
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder
Lisa Dilling: Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Boulder

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Summary

If you want to understand nature, you must be conversant with the language in which nature speaks to us.

Richard Feynman

What does it mean to be “conversant with the language in which nature speaks to us,” and how do we help others develop this capacity? From a pedagogical perspective, if we want to address climate change and help people become a part of the solution rather than the problem, we must answer this question. One of the authors watched as her two-year-old son took the hand of another little boy on the playground and brought him over to the fence to “see the pretty sunset.” His sense of wonder and enthusiasm for sharing it inspires hope for the future, and yet there is strong evidence that people of all ages understand little of the language or patterns of nature. Too often, as children grow up, they lose their appreciation for and sense of connection to the natural world. This is, in itself, a deep loss. But even if we retain an appreciation for the beauty of nature, few of us ever develop an understanding of the inherent complexities and dynamics of our environment. To solve environmental problems, an intuitive appreciation for nature is certainly necessary, but it is by no means sufficient. How do we learn the patterns of nature? How do we encourage the development of “environmental intelligence” and, more importantly, “intelligent environmental action”?

Type: Chapter
Information: Creating a Climate for Change
Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change
, pp. 266 - 280

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511535871.020 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2007

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