Raising Long-term Awareness: EU Environmental Policy and Education

Introduction

Environmental education is an important means to spreading and increasing knowledge and

awareness of European Union environmental policy at all levels. A key element of European policy
is environmental integration as it is a general principle of EU policy pursuant to Article 11 of the
Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Environmental
policy integration (EPI) is the process of placing environmental considerations at the heart of
decision-making in other sectoral policies such as energy and agriculture. The challenge of
connecting different policy areas to achieve a particular goal is not unique to environmental policy.
Many social and political challenges are multi-faceted and cover different policy areas. This makes
it difficult to address a problem effectively using a single sector policy. For this reason, the
European Union and Member States are increasingly focusing on policy integration: making sure
that all sectoral policies align and work towards a common goal. The intersection that this chapter
will address is that of the environment and education.

This chapter starts with a short introduction to environmental policy in the European Union,
describing the main goals of the Environment Action Programmes in the last forty-five years and
the environmental integration policies towards sustainable development. It then moves on to the
importance of environmental education in raising long-term knowledge and awareness, which is
described with a series case studies that describe the practical application of exercises to this end.
The conclusion draws together and discusses the methodologies for environment education and
their effectiveness.

An introduction to EU environmental policy

Environmental policy can be considered as one of the success stories of the European Union (EU).
At its founding in 1957, the European Community (EC) had no environmental dimension, but today
it has some of the most progressive environmental policies in the world. EU legislation has played a
vital role in improving river management, and habitat and species protection. In addition, it has
contributed to dramatic improvements in air and water quality, and in waste management. Even
though significant challenges remain, it is widely acknowledged that EU policy has successfully
reduced some pressures on the environment, and has stimulated investment in more sustainable
economic growth, for example, through the development of ‘greener’ technologies.

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The EU is increasingly formulating its policies, including those for environment and climate, with
reference to two timeframes: 2020/2030 specific objectives and targets consistent with
comprehensive policies such as the Europe 2020 strategy; and 2050 long-term visions and targets,
mostly with a societal transition perspective.

The Europe 2020 strategy (EC, 2010a) is a ten-year growth strategy that aims to create the
conditions for a more competitive economy with higher employment. More specifically, it aims to
deliver growth that is: smart, through more effective investments in education, research and
innovation; sustainable, thanks to a decisive move towards a low-carbon economy; and inclusive,
with a strong emphasis on job creation and poverty reduction. The Roadmap to a Resource Efficient
Europe (EC, 2011b), launched in 2011, sets objectives for 2020 in a wide range of areas —
sustainable consumption and production, waste, research and innovation, the elimination of
environmentally harmful subsidies, ecosystem services, biodiversity, minerals and metals, water,
air, land and soil, marine resources, food and drink, buildings, and mobility. Each objective
indicates actions to be taken at all levels of society by Member States and at EU level.

A green economy perspective can also be found in the seventh Environment Action Programme (7 th
EAP) under the subtitle Living Well, within the limits of our planet (EC, 2013). The 7 th EAP was
adopted by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament in November 2013 and
seeks to guide environment policy up to 2020. It aims to enhance Europe's ecological resilience and
transform the EU into an inclusive and sustainable green economy.

The development of environmental policy integration in the EU

Environmental policy integration (EPI) is the process of placing environmental considerations at the
heart of decision-making in other sectoral policies, such as energy and agriculture. It emerged
because conventional environment policy has been unable to prevent pressures being exerted on the
environment by society, and future efforts are required to bring Europe back on track to sustainable
development (EEA, 2005). There is a tendency for environmental policy to be ranked below issues
of national security, economics and finance, labour regulations, and education and welfare (EEA,
2005). EPI therefore entails the maneuvering of environmental policy from the periphery of
policymaking towards the centre by associating it and integrating into other more prominent policy
areas. While conventional environmental policy remains fully intact and relevant, the policy area
needs to be bolstered by sectoral efforts to ensure the effectiveness of policy initiatives in
environmental issues.

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The rise of EPI in the EU is reflected in the series of Environmental Action Programmes (EAPs) of
the EU. The first EAP (1973–1976) already hinted at the need for an integrated approach arguing
that effective environmental protection requires the consideration of environmental consequences in
all technical planning and decision-making processes at national and Community level. The EU’s
third EAP (1982–1986) placed integration at the top of its list of items declared to be important. The
fourth Programme (1987–1991) proposed the development of internal procedures and practices to
ensure integration took place routinely in relation to other policy areas.

The fifth EAP, Towards Sustainability, shifted its focus from environmental problems to addressing
the fundamental causes of environmental degradation, giving special attention to integration in five
target sectors: agriculture, transport, tourism, energy and industry. The sixth EAP (2002–2012)
offers less concrete measures to ensure EPI.

The EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS), A Sustainable Europe for a Better World: A
European Union Strategy for Sustainable Development (COM(2001)264), prepared by the
Commission and partly endorsed at the Gothenburg European Council in June 2001 is also relevant
to the implementation of EPI in the EU. The Strategy stated that: ‘Sustainable development should
become the central objective of all sectors and policies. This means that policy makers must identify
likely spillovers – good and bad – onto other policy areas and take them into account. Careful
assessment of the full effects of a policy proposal must include estimates of its economic,
environmental and social impacts inside and outside the EU’. Education is an area of spillover from
Environmental policy.

Environmental education and raising long-term environmental awareness

The European Commission suggests in its 2008 communication on implementing European

Community Environmental Law that one of the challenges in doing so comes in the form of
shortcomings in knowledge and awareness in national and regional administrations
(COMM(2008)773, 2008). If knowledge and awareness is lacking in national and regional
administrations, it can be implied as a lack across society more generally. Empirical analysis
suggests that individuals’ concern about environment and sustainability is at very low level and just
increasing their knowledge can bring to important changes in people lifestyle and habits; as Emma
Goldman1 said “the most violent element in society is ignorance”. A study by Genc (2015) suggests

1 Political activist and writer

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that across a class of secondary school students, 92% had not been informed about environmental
topics outside of the classroom, but that 95% were interested in environmental topics even though
85% had not participated in an environmental organisation activity. While these statistics may not
exactly be accurate for an entire population, they do provide a stark suggestion that people are
interested in knowing more about the environment, but that more can be done to provide them with
access to knowing how to approach the issue.

One of the European Environment Agency’s 2 aims involves “continuously improving efficiency and
effectiveness”, as is reported in its 2014–2018 Multiannual Work Programme “Expanding the
knowledge base for policy implementation and long-term transitions”. Informing people of the
impact of their everyday actions is an important starting point to let them think about and consider
what to do or not to do during their present and future life with regard to the environment. For
example, some years ago was not in the collective imagination to ban plastic, a material so
widespread and used in our everyday life. In 2015, under the new Plastics Bags Directive, the
European Union national governments made the commitment that by the end of 2019, no more than
90 lightweight bags are consumed annually per person. By the end of 2025, that number should
drop to 40 bags each. To reach these targets, Member States could apply different measures. Some
countries have opted for mandatory charges, others for agreements with the retail sector; Italy has
banned all but biodegradable and compostable plastic bags. The important presence of solidarity
purchasing groups in Italy has played an important role in spreading knowledge and advising on the
right behavior in this respect. Many people switched from the great distribution system to local
farmers’ markets to buy food, also following the trend of films such as “No Impact Man”, or being
impressed by “Trashed” or “Waste Land”.

Curbing the use of plastic bags is only one element in the move towards more sustainable
consumption, and in reducing the leakage of plastics to the environment to reach the next goal of
the Circular Economy. But it is not only citizens who have a part to play in plastic reduction. The
recent proposal of the European Commission to ban single-use plastic products, such as cotton buds
and plastic straws is putting the burden of cleaning up waste on manufacturers in an effort to reduce
marine litter. Protecting and bettering the environment does, however, need to begin with citizens’
awareness of the environment and the impact that their actions may have on it.

Environmental education is a learning process that increases people’s knowledge and awareness
about the environment and associated challenges, develops the necessary skills and expertise to
2 The European Environment Agency (EEA) is an agency of the European Union, whose task is to provide sound,
independent information on the environment (https://www.eea.europa.eu/)

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address these challenges and fosters attitudes, motivations and commitments to make informed
decisions and take responsible actions. (UNESCO, Tbilisi Declaration, 1978).

Environmental education enhances critical-thinking, problem-solving, and effective decision-

making skills and enables individuals to weigh various sides of an environmental issue to make
informed and responsible decisions (Federal Register, 1996). The Tbilisi Declaration, adopted by
acclamation at the world’s first intergovernmental conference on environmental education, outlined
five categories of objectives for environmental education:

1. Awareness and sensitivity to the environment and environmental challenges;

2. Knowledge and understanding of the environment and environmental challenges;
3. Attitudes of concern for the environment and a motivation to improve or maintain
environmental quality;
4. Skills to identify and help resolve environmental challenges;
5. Participation in activities that lead to the resolution of environmental challenges (UNESCO,
1978)

This chapter is based on empirical study as an environmental educator in schools and associations
for fifteen years. By means of contact with students from five to twenty-five years of age, the aim
has been to increase environmental sensibility and awareness by explaining the efficient use of
resources like water, soil and energy.

Several themes emerge under the umbrella of environmental education, which include
sustainability, energy and energy saving, healthy food and sustainability, water, waste, life cycle
assessment, green public procurement, ecolabels. Five case studies are outlined, which present the
practical implementation in Tuscany (Italy) of exercises that raise awareness among school- and
university-age individuals, both Italian and American, about the environment and the impact
society’s actions.

Case study 1

The first case study presented took place with a class of pre-school pupils for a project on energy
saving. It was necessary to use very simple language with them as they were unable to write words
nor understand too complex concepts or contents, so they were asked to think about energy and
create a drawing depicting how they felt about it. The following step constituted two experiments: if

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water is put in a container outside the school window, protected from wind and rain, what happens
after a week? The second experiment entailed sowing seeds and guessing what will happen after a
week. After a week of observation, children tried to guess the cause of the evaporation of water and
of the plants growth. They then did a second drawing to compare with the first one. To develop
research into causal relationship is a crucial point of scientific environmentalism. Starting from the
observation of objects and facts and developing suppositions help children to develop critical-
thinking.

Case study 2

The second case study involved a partnership with Legambiente (an environmental association), a
company that operates municipal solid waste in San Gimignano (near Siena). The students were at a
middle school. In order to stress the importance of differentiated waste collection, the real
percentage of urban solid waste was shown to students by PowerPoint presentation. They were also
shown videos on the theme, which helped to introduce the topic and to strengthen some key points
in identifying environmental priorities.

In a second stage, different bags where prepared with the amount of each fraction that can be
recycled (paper, glass, cans, batteries, organic waste, etc.), to understand which of them are
permanently lost when mixed together. Students learnt the importance of recycling and
differentiated waste collection. They were stimulated to collect more at home, and above all, to
reduce the amount of waste production, which, among the three waste ‘Rs’ (Reduce, Reuse and
Recycle), is the most important. Furthermore, a fundamental benefit of educating children is that
they educate adults.

Case study 3

With a class of secondary-school students in Florence, three different paths to sustainability were
introduced. The first was on water, the second on local healthy and seasonal food, and the third on
renewable energies and energy saving. A common introduction was on sustainable development,
explaining the Brundtland Commission3 and the development of sustainable development in the
global debate. The first exercise was to ask students to write down five words on the topic.
Subsequently, they discussed them in pairs, and chose five of the ten words they started with. They
progressed to working in fours, and then eight, acting as a group to decide the final five key words.
3 Formerly the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Its mission is to unite countries to
pursue sustainable development together.

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This exercise was very important for promoting teamwork, in which all students are leaders and
active, especially in the first part. Starting from this conceptual map, students prepared for the
second meeting in which they drew comparisons between tap and bottled water, finding that the
first is cheaper, cleaner and healthier. Tap water indeed costs less than bottled water, it is more
controlled because stricter legislation is applied to tap water and may be stored in glass instead of
plastic bottles. In Florence, for example, ‘high quality fountains’ are widespread across the city,
where citizens may go to fill bottles with still and sparkling water.

The second exercise was on local healthy and seasonal food. Following the principles of the Slow
Food Manifesto,4 signed in 1989 by 15 countries, for quality, “good, clean and fair” food, students
researched the local farmers market and a supermarket, both near the school. By analysing the
origin and variety of fruits and vegetables offered in both places, they arrived at the conclusion that,
while at the local farmers market there is less choice, both fruits and vegetables were in season and
from local origin (the so-called “0-kilometre products”). At the supermarket, while there is more
variety, products come from all over the word, with a higher carbon footprint. Students also
watched the documentary “Super-size Me” about the health problems deriving from eating junk and
fast food, which helped to strengthen the concept.

The third exercise was on renewable energies and energy saving. As the cleanest energy is the
energy that we save, students first studied the different types of renewable energies, preparing
PowerPoint presentations in small groups on solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and nuclear energy.
During the class presentation, the pros and cons of each typology of energy production were
underlined. At the end, students were asked which were the best and which were preferred. They
understood that the cleanest energy, which does not require infrastructure and which creates no
impact on the environment, is the energy that we save. As for waste, prevention is also the
preferred.

A small group of students from the same class also worked on a project ‘Freiburg: a sustainable
town’, which was part of an industry-linked training programme. Each student deepened one aspect
of Freiburg: history, mobility, buildings and architecture, customs and traditions, culinary
traditions. They compared Freiburg with Florence in all these aspects.

4 Slow Food is a global, grassroots organisation, founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures
and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat. It receives
funding support from the European Union. (https://www.slowfood.com/)

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The collaboration with this school has been continuous and lasting, allowing for the reinforcement
of concepts through different topics of sustainability through a long-term programme. The school
itself joined the project “Sustainable schools” proposed by the Laboratorio Didattico Ambientale of
Villa Demidoff in Pratolino, near Florence, which is a structure managed by the local district.
Thanks to synergies with teachers, professors and educators, students have sought to decrease their
school’s ecological footprint with different actions. They asked the administrative office to reduce,
reuse and recycle paper, they made sure lights were off during the break or when the sun light was
enough, they exercised differentiated waste collection at school with two supervisors in each class
among students, and they introduced a final prize for the most virtuous class. At the end of the
academic year, the students who joined the project published a report in which they presented the
results, focusing on the equivalent CO2 emission saved. In this way, they fully understood the
impact of their actions.

Case study 4

Over the period of one academic year, students at the public secondary school were encouraged to
bring to school the plastic bottle tops they used (from water, fizzy drinks, etc.). It was explained that
the plastic that bottle tops are made of is different from the plastic of the bottle itself and that these
two materials follow two separate paths in the recycling plant. The former is hard plastic, while the
latter is soft plastic. This simple action, which seems to have no particular significance, can have a
marked impact if it is repeated in great numbers. To acquire a new habit is not easy, but when a
person starts to repeat an action, then it becomes voluntary.

Case study 5

The final case study was carried out with American university students, studying a term abroad in
Florence. Upon arriving in Florence, they were forced to adapt their habits; they were far from their
comfort zone and were no longer living with their families or in familiar college surroundings, as
they do in United States. They were required to share an apartment with new friends and to cook on
their own, especially those who could not afford to go to restaurants or pizzerias every day. To get
to the university, they had to walk instead of using private cars or buses; they started to visit at buy
food at local farmers’ markets; and many students followed at least one cooking class in which they
learn the healthy aspects of extra virgin olive oil or the extraordinary organoleptic characteristics of
Parmesan cheese. They also learnt the importance of quality food labels recognised by the European
Union (Protected Designation of Origin, Protected Geographical Indication, Traditional Speciality

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Guaranteed, Organic Farming Label, etc.). At the end of the term, many students expressed their
pride and contentment at having experienced new habits to export to their families and diffuse
among their friends in the U.S.

By taking students to taste particular Italian produce like Parmesan cheese, Parma ham and
Modena’s traditional balsamic vinegar, by visiting the places where these delicacies are produced
and by explaining the importance of quality food labels, students open their minds and their eyes to
a completely different way of food production. The passion and the care with which small Italian
producers create their excellence set these business owners apart from the mass producers for the
global market. Their attention to raw materials and processes represents the sustainability of their
production, in a life-cycle assessment optic. This sensory experience left a lifelong mark on these
students.

Fostering connectedness with the environment

The 2008 and 2011 Eurobarometer opinion polls on European citizens’ attitudes towards the
environment confirmed that for most citizens, a healthy environment is as important to their quality
of life as the state of the economy and social factors. However, the 2010 European Environment
State and Outlook of the EEA confirmed that “the EU appears to be locked in a number of status-
quo and downward trends which are moving away from, rather than toward, sustainability”
(COM(2012) 95, 2012). In 2012, the European Commission issued the communication “Improving
the delivery of benefits from EU environment measures: building confidence through better
knowledge and responsiveness”. Its ambition was to examine ways to assist Member States in
achieving a fully systematic approach in knowledge collection and dissemination, and greater
responsiveness to problems on the ground. The 2008 communication on implementing EU
environmental law had highlighted a need for citizens to have access to accurate information on the
environment in all official languages of the EU. It also highlighted the need for transparency and
communication on the subject, where the desirability of an environmentally well-informed and
active public is recognized in a significant number of legislative provisions (COMM(2008) 773,
2008). An example was to provide information and key statistics on how work on important cases
was progressing through the Commission Annual Reports, as well as awareness-raising activities,
media events and publications aimed at general and specialized readerships.

However, although increasing knowledge is important, it is not sufficient for solving the world’s
environmental problems (Liefländer et al., 2013). Through the case study exercises and in the

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discourse on environmental education, a key theme becomes very apparent: connectedness. As
Liefländer et al. suggest, it is fostering individuals’ connectedness to the environment and
environmental issues that will ultimately translate into society’s meaningful steps towards bettering
and protecting the environment. Environmental problems are interwoven with a personal
relationship to nature and individuals who value and feel empathy for the environment will seek to
protect it. It is necessary to find the juncture in which an individual’s life meets nature, so that the
individual fully understands its place within and its impact – both positive and negative – on the
environment. Once this has been understood, the individual’s attitude towards the environment
changes, and attitude influences behaviour. Individuals who adopt a positive environmental attitude
collectively take significant steps towards a sustainable environment (Genc, 2015).

It has been suggested that environmental subject matter can evoke strong emotional responses,
influencing how much they engage with the learning activities they are involved in (Rickinson &
Lundholm, 2008). Feelings of empathy and compassion can be aroused when a personal connection
to the environment is found, which leads to a desire to “mend the wounds of the Earth: social,
political and ecological” (Nordström, 2008). Nordström highlights the connection between
environmental education and a sense of empowerment in taking action for a better future. In
environmental education, an aim is in fact to empower people to be environmentally responsible
actors in their own lives and therefore in supporting sustainable practices. This entails channeling
part of individuals’ inner motivation for personal aims towards motivations for social change to
better and protect their surroundings and the wider world.

Education can be considered a key means to raising awareness, spreading knowledge and also a
critical component in the formation of individuals. If something is to be done in fostering
individuals’ connectedness to the environment, then education will be a precious tool. Education in
schools is vitally important to assure individuals’ understanding of the environment and how to
create citizens who seek to be sustainable environmentals (Genc, 2015)

Susceptibility to developing environmental awareness: targeting age

There have not been many studies that demonstrate children’s connectedness with the environment,
but Liefländer et al. document a few. One by Kossack and Bogner (in 2011) showed that
connectedness in students seven weeks after a one-day programme varied with some becoming
increasingly connected, while others’ connectedness diminished or remained stable. Cheng and
Monroe (in 2010) found that only programmes with ‘a condensed time frame of sufficient duration’

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were effective, such as from three to five days within a period of one week or one month. They also
found that connectedness was better fostered in younger children than with older students (in
Liefländer et al., 2013). Childhood is a period of intense development in all areas of the personality,
in which around half of a person’s intellectual potential is developed (Lubomira, 2004). As a main
aim of primary education is to develop children’s understanding of the world around them, it indeed
makes sense for environmental issues to be taught at this stage in a citizen’s educational career.
Moreover, it is a time to avoid the formation of stereotypes, or eradicate those already formed. For
example, Lubomira highlights that children dislike certain animals such as wolves, amphibians,
reptiles and spiders due to inappropriate views on such animals, encouraged by adults. Since
teachers often use the publications currently available on the market, it would also be necessary to
stamp out environmental stereotypes in such material. It was also noted that children often perceive
the world from the point of view of the benefit to humans, rather than the environment or animals
(Lubomira, 2004).

The preadolescent phase in an individual’s development has also been noted as an effective time to
teach about environmental issues. It is a time when self-conceptions as well as family and peer
relations can change as individuals become more emotionally autonomous from parents and peers.
While this means that they are no longer influenced or conditioned by parental or peer opinions
about the environment, the disconnection from parents and peers in general can also extend to non-
human relationships, such as the environment. In this sense, it is a time when individuals can
develop more commitment to the environment, or indeed begin to show little interest in it
(Liefländer et al., 2013). Case study four presents an example of a simple exercise carried out with
preadolescent individuals, aimed at changing their habits towards recycling by asking them to
collect bottle tops in an attempt to foster a better understanding of the recycling process.

Although the students in case study five were older than the suggested optimal age, benefits could
nevertheless be seen, especially when combined with a multicultural component. Students were
exposed to a different approach to understanding the environment, being exposed to a different
culture that places great emphasis on regional produce as opposed to mass production. The students
were at an age in which they were already emotionally autonomous from parents and peers, and in
particular, they were open-minded individuals who had already committed to learning about and
experiencing another culture. Therefore, it can be said that they already possessed a certain
predisposition for thinking differently about the environment. The connection between
environmental education and multicultural education has been made by Nordström (2008), who
draws on a series of parallelisms between the two. These include the treasuring of diversity, a sense

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of belonging, respect and compassion, justice and equality, empowerment, the facilitation of social
change, a strong global perspective. Nordtröm highlights that by learning about the environment
through a multicultural perspective can also encourage individuals to collaborate in building a more
sustainable environment, locally, nationally and globally. It has been argued that children have a
rather fragmented image of the world, and they lack understanding of the interconnectedness of
people, society and the environment (Nordström, 2008). Therefore, a combination of multicultural
education and environmental education, such as in case study five, promotes an understanding of a
more cohesive world when addressing environmental issues.

Promoting connectedness through direct contact

It is highlighted that direct experiences with nature foster increased connectedness. Environmental
education that is conducted in the classroom will likely have less impact than a programme that
exposes students to positive direct encounters, such as streams, grasslands or forests (Liefländer et
al., 2013). Outdoor activities can be incorporated into the programme, including discovery games or
experiments with nature (Liefländer et al., 2013). This was demonstrated in case study one in which
children took part in the two experiments to observe the physical impact of energy in environmental
contexts. They did not depend only on a theoretical understanding of what would happen to a
container of water outside, or seedlings, but they were able to see with their own eyes that the water
evapourated in heat and that the seedlings grew with then energy of the sun. Best results are met
when theory is combined with practical activities or learning field trip. As occurred in case study
two on differentiated waste collection, when direct contact is not feasible, films and videos on the
studied subject are effective, also to see different approaches for the same theme, in particular for
children of primary and middle school.

Project-based learning

Project work has been demonstrated as an effective method to raise awareness of environmental
issues and foster connectedness. Project-based learning requires students to take responsibility for
their decisions as well as a series of other transferable skills, such as teamwork, time-management,
planning and organisation. In the particular context of project-work on the environment, students
are able to link what they have learnt to the real world, applying critical-thinking and problem-
solving to that context (Genc, 2015). For example, in the two experiments in case study one,
children were able to see the effects of the sun in real terms and they were required to rethink how

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they understand energy, by creating a drawing before the experiments and one afterwards, which
encouraged their critical thinking.

In case study three, students were required to think critically about the way in which they use tap
and bottled water. In some countries, including Italy, bottled water has become the norm. Students
were required to consider whether such behaviour is the right behaviour. When they challenged the
norms, they found that tap water was the better solution because it did not require plastic
consumption and the water would likely be safer because it is subject to more profound analysis
than what is required for bottled water. Furthermore, when students were asked to consider which
energy is best, they thought creatively to identify that the most obvious answer (in renewable
energies, for example), was not necessarily correct and that saving energy is the better solution.
Thinking creatively and critically encouraged a difference in behaviour and habits, fostered by
increased understanding and consequently connectedness to the environment.

In order for a project to be successful, students have to be actively involved in the environmental
education project, with a participatory methodology and with an active role where the student is at
the centre of the process. This was the case in case study three, during the Villa Demidoff project,
as it indicated that the so-called learning by doing method is very effective in terms of education.
This was also shown in case study two when students were required to exercise differentiated waste
collection. As students needed to put the theory of waste collection and recycling into practice, they
changed their habits and through better understanding of the process, which they also disseminated
among family members at home.

Considering the experiences described above, it can be said that the effectiveness of environmental
education is in the synergy of actions among educators and the people to educate. Teacher
competence plays an important role in the effectiveness of environmental education because they
are the most influential in educating the individuals who will be changing the environment of
tomorrow (Genc, 2015). Their principle aim should be in the fostering of individuals’
connectedness with the environment, which will lead to changes in their actions that affect it.

Conclusion

While lifelong learning could be the key to increase knowledge and awareness both in children and
adults, it is important to focus efforts on the education of children in formal learning environments,
aiming at raising awareness during the developmental phase in which they are forming habits,

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opinions and behaviour. Education in later life involves correcting stereotypes and misinformation,
and resetting habits and behaviour.
Long term projects with direct contact with the environment, such as the one described in case
study three, bring about a higher knowledge and awareness for the receiver, also because students
were at the centre of the process and they had an active role in the learning path. Furthermore,
working with participatory methodology has more strength and efficacy.

Finally, the connection between multicultural education and environmental education should not be
overlooked, especially in the context of EU environmental policy, in which it is important to foster
a sense of European solidarity towards protecting the environment and to seeking solutions to the
problems that the environment is facing globally, and not just at a local or national level.

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