he mandate of the Canadian Environmental Literacy Project (CELP) is to develop open-access curriculum materials in support of teaching environmental studies in universities, colleges, and high schools in Canada. The focus is on materials that address Canadian issues within local, regional or international contexts.

These modular materials can be used “as is” or they may be adapted by instructors to suit their specific needs. Our goal is to offer engaging classroom lectures, calculation exercises, and activities and field-trip ideas that are informative, credible, objective, motivating, and personally relevant to students and instructors. We seek to incorporate a variety of teaching and learning styles.

CELP was initiated in 2003, using funding provided by a private Canadian
foundation. While CELP is housed at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova
Scotia, the project involves a network of educators developing and using
materials covering a broad range of environmental topics relevant to
Canadians.


What is Environmental Literacy?

Environmental literacy is an important social goal because it has a pervasive influence on the attitudes and behaviour that people develop. Environmental problems are frequently complex - this is because of uncertain scientific evidence and conflicting interests due to economic, aesthetic and ethical considerations. If environmental problems are to be addressed in a sensible way, a fundamental starting point must be a sound understanding of our natural and socioeconomic systems and the likely consequences of our actions. But this understanding is not just for environmental specialists — it should also be held by citizens.

People who are knowledgeable about environmental issues will often make more appropriate personal and professional choices. They may also work to ensure that environmentally sustainable options are pursued by society. In contrast, poorly informed and unengaged individuals will be more likely to make less-appropriate choices, such as supporting the wasteful use of natural resources.

One important way of achieving a high level of environmental literacy in society is to ensure that relevant issues are solidly addressed in the educational system. Ideally, this exposure should occur throughout life, from primary and high schools, through colleges and universities, to continuing education for adults.

The public also becomes informed about environmental issues through the mass media, such as newspapers, radio, television, and the world-wide web. These can be effective means of environmental education, but there are downsides. Media presentations of environmental issues are sometimes biased and inaccurate, and there is typically a focus on controversy, particularly issues involving scientific uncertainty and social conflict. This can result in high-profile disputes dominating the environmental agenda, which may detract from efforts to deal with important, well-known problems.

There are two broad approaches to delivering environmental education within schools, colleges, and universities. The first involves dedicated classes in environmental studies or environmental science. Arguably, environmental issues are important enough to society that they should be considered a primary subject area comparable to mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, history, languages, music, and art. Moreover, environmental issues can integrate these and other disciplines and provide important subject matter for learning and applying basic skills. The second way of delivering environmental education is to incorporate relevant case material across the curriculum. Environment-related elements can be used to assist the teaching of all subject areas, ranging from the physical sciences, through biological sciences and medicine, to arts and social studies.

Personal encounters with environmental problems that affect one’s own life are among the best kinds of educational experiences. For this reason, formal educational approaches should incorporate direct, experiential opportunities.

Measures ensuring that citizens are literate about the causes and consequences of environmental damage are a necessary component of any strategy to resolve these problems. If people understand the critical issues on a personal level, they may be more willing to support the protection of environmental quality, biodiversity, and natural ecosystems. This is crucial if tangible progress is to be made towards an ecologically sustainable human economy.

Some Background for CELP: Environmental Education in Canada

The Canadian Environmental Literacy Project was launched in recognition of:

1. a necessity to identify environmental studies as a key subject area within our educational systems, and;
   
2. a need to make appropriate and effective curriculum resources available to Canadian educators in environmental studies.

These needs are emphasized in the report entitled: A Framework for Environmental Learning and Sustainability in Canada, which is based on a nation-wide consultation led by Environment Canada between 1999 and 2002.

Environmental education in Canada is not yet well supported by curriculum materials or other key resources. For example, most provinces have not developed relevant textbooks for use in their public-school systems. And until 1998, there were no Canadian textbooks for use in colleges and universities (several have since been published). Even today, however, much teaching of environmental studies relies on textbooks and other curriculum materials developed for U.S. schools. Because of the differing environmental and sociocultural contexts between Canada and the United States, there are obvious problems with the widespread use of such materials. Clearly, there is a need for effective materials to support the teaching of environmental studies and environmental science at all levels of the Canadian educational system. CELP aims to contribute to fulfilling this need.

Specifically, CELP is undertaking the following initiatives :

1. Development of a broad-based, consultative network among environmental educators and other interested parties (including environmental NGOs and governmental organizations) to identify key educational topics to be dealt with at regional, national, and international levels and to work together to guide the development and evaluation of modular materials on specific topics.
   
   
2. Collection and development of complementary and stand-alone modular materials dealing with specific environmental issues in a Canadian context and relevant to an important regional, national, or global problems, such as:
   
   
• multi-media presentations for use by instructors, involving bulleted text, visual images, video and sound clips (typically in a PowerPoint format)
  
• exercises suitable for experiential learning, including local or regional field studies and calculations-based work
  
• material in support of student discussions
  
  
3. Development of a clearing-house capability for other materials relevant to environmental education, including:
   
   
• textbooks for use in high schools, colleges, and universities
  
• lists of videos on environmental themes
  
• catalogue of books and papers on focus issues
  
• links to other websites that offer support for environmental education
  
• links to environmental organizations and sites about key issues
  
• selections of course syllabi that are already in use in Canadian high schools, universities and colleges
  
• a glossary of environmental terms

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French language materials – because of insufficient resources, CELP modules are initially being developed in English; however, we aspire to soon be also hosting materials in French.