Environmental education in the public schools in France and Belgium in the light of recommendation

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Environmental Education in

the public schools in France

and Belgium in light of the

international

recommendations

Claire Lambert

MSc Human Geography, Environmental track

University of Amsterdam

Supervisors : Eric Chu, Joyeeta Gupta

Master thesis submitted 20.06.2016

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Abstract

The last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report stresses the role of human capital, and

especially formal education, in the transition towards sustainable development and the design and

implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

For decades now, the UN, the UNEP and the UNESCO have more particularly underlined the importance

of educating young generations to achieve the ecological transition and solve the environmental

challenges we are facing. Multiple international conferences (Tbilisi Conference, Moscow Conference,

Ahmedabad Conference or Nagoya conference) and discussions have been held on the matter, which have

produced myriad reports and recommendations. All of them emphasize the responsibility of governments

worldwide to integrate environmental education in the public school programs and the educational

strategy.

The urge to heighten awareness to environmental issues -and in particular climate change - through

education has been reaffirmed and agreed on during the COP21 in Paris, where governments have shown

their willingness to act and initiate the ecological transition. Education is recognized by all as being

necessary to sensitize and inspire the youth, with the hope that endowing them with knowledge will allow

them to adopt pro-environmental behaviours and enable them to imagine and develop solutions to solve

burgeoning environmental issues.

France and Belgium are both heavily engaged in the diplomatic process as participants and crucially as

signatories of the various international accords on climate change. They are stakeholders in the evolution

of economic policy, and thus both governments have begun to integrate environmental education into their

public school, but in two different ways.

By analysing the educational strategies of those two countries, this study will aim to compare the vision

and implementation of environmental education in France and Belgium in light of the many international

agreements and recommendations.

Key words: environmental education, education for sustainable development, international recommendations

Acknowledgments

I would particularly like to thank my supervisor Eric Chu for his endless patience, his warm support and

his precious advices. The door to Eric was always open whenever I ran into question or got stuck Without

him, his support and input, this thesis could not have been successfully conducted.

I would also like to acknowledge Joyeeta Gupta, as the second reader of this thesis my second reader,

whose knowledge and critical mind helped me to figure out my topic of research. I am grateful for her

valuable comments on this thesis

I want to thank my grandmother, for being so always so supportive, thoughtful, and believing in me.

Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to all the amazing women from the Environmental

track of the Human Geography master, for their continuous support, their unfailing solidarity and their

warm presence through the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not

have been possible without them. Thank you.

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Table of content

List of the abbreviations ……….5

List of the figures………....5

Introduction………6

Chapter 1. Literature review………..9

1.1.Debates about the different appellations and trends of Environmental Education...9

1.2. The incompatibility between formal education systems and environment...12

1.3. From Environmental Education to environmental friendly behaviors...12

1.4. Measurement of the success of Environmental Education programmes...13

1.5. Research on environmental ethics...13

1.6. Pedagogy...14

Chapter 2. Methodology...15

2.1. Case study justification...15

2.2. Methods chosen and limitation...16

2.2.1. Policy documents analysis...16

2.2.2. Interviews...20

2.3. Variables and units of analysis...20

Chapter 3. Global to national connections...23

3.1. History of Environmental Education...23

3.2. Main recommendations...25

Chapter 4. Situational analysis of Environmental Education in France...27

4.1 The emergence of Environmental Education in the French educational system...27

4.1.1 The French educational system...28

4.1.2 The emergence of Environmental Education in France...29

4.2. Situational analysis of Environmental Education in France...30

4.2.1. The French vision of of Environmental Education...30

4.2.2. Formal Environmental Education...31

4.2.3. Informal Environmental Education...34

4.2.4. The Actors...34

4.2.5. The Formation...35

4.2.6. Pedagogical resources and material, information and research...35

4.2.7 Monitoring and evaluation...36

4.2.8. The Funding...36

4.3 Conclusions and comparison with the international recommendations...36

Chapter 5. Situational analysis of the Environmental Education in Belgium (FWB)...38

5.1 The emergence of Environmental Education in the Belgian educational system...38

5.1.1 The Belgian educational system...38

5.1.2 The emergence of Environmental Education in Belgium...40

5.2. Situational analysis of Environmental Education in Belgium...42

5.2.1. The Belgian vision of of Environmental Education...42

5.2.2. Formal Environmental Education...43

5.2.3. Informal Environmental Education...44

5.2.4. The Actors...44

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5.2.6. Pedagogical resources and material, information and research...46

5.2.7 Monitoring and evaluation...46

5.2.8. The Funding...46

5.3 Conclusions and comparison with the international recommendations...47

Chapter 6. Results and discussion...49

Conclusion ...66

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List of abbreviations

UN = United Nations

IPCC= Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

UNEP = United Nations Environment Programme

UNESCO = United Nations

EE =Environmental Education

ESD= Education for Sustainable Development

SDG= Sustainable Development Goals

DESD = Decade of Education to Sustainable Development

FWB = Federation of Wallonia- Brussels

ErE = Education relative to environment

NGOs= Non Governmental Organization

SD = Sustainable Development

UNECE = United Nation Economic Committee for Europe

List of the figures

Table 1-A typology of conceptions of the environment in environmental education

Table 2- List of the documents reviewed – Page 17

Table 3 - List of the recommendations from the international documents and the literature – Page 20

Figure 1- The French educational system – Page 28

Source: Report on the structure of the european education system, European Commission, 2016

Figure 2- The belgian education system

Source: Report on the structure of the european education system, European Commission, 2016

Figure 3: The structure of the education system in the French community

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1. Introduction

A definition of Environmental Education which is often cited as a reference is the following; an education that “aims at producing a citizenry that is knowledgeable concerning the biophysical environment and its associated problems, aware of how to help solve these problems, and motivated to work toward their solution” (Stapp, W.B., et al., 1969). Environmental Education lies on the conviction that citizens have an active role to play in solving environmental issues. To be able to elect the right people but also to take action in their private life, they need to be “knowledgeable concerning their biophysical environment, aware of what they can do to solve the problems and motivated to work towards effective solutions”. (Stapp, W.B., et al., 1969)

To achieve an environmental transition to a more local, and resilient economic and social system which preserves the resources and and protects the Earth, it is necessary to sensitize the population to global environmental issues, as water and energy waste, plastic and chemicals pollution, greenhouse effect, or biodiversity losses, unsustainable agriculture and its consequences on health, soil or biodiversity. Environmental Education should give the individuals an awareness of their impact on the environment, help them to develop an environmental conscience, but also endow them with the knowledge necessary to act in an environmentally-friendly way in their daily life and to invent new innovative solutions for the future. An educated population is more likely to understand the necessity of changing their daily habits and to be willing to do it.

In Western countries, most of the people have heard of main environmental issues as climate change, sea level rise, water waste or forest reduction through the media but they are a lot less are aware of their own impact on the planet in their everyday life, and among them, only a few people are actually adopting environmental friendly habits. If we are to keep the increase of the Earth temperature below 2 degree Celsius and avoid major extreme disasters in the coming decades, good habits must be adopted by all. This includes consuming less by exchanging, borrowing more, buying second hand, and above all differentiating needs from desires, but also consuming better by buying local, organic and/or fair trade products, with little or no packaging. Good habits are also about reducing energy, water waste in the household but also at the workplace and in the everyday life. Producing less waste is also capital, by reusing, repairing and and recycling more and refusing to buy non reusable items. Reducing the CO2 emissions reduction should also be done also by using clean or public transportation or changing one’s diet.

More education is thus necessary both to spread an environmental conscience among the people, and to give them the knowledge and the right practices, but also to supply the motivation and the tools to invent tomorrow's solutions. Environmental Education should be done throughout the whole life of individuals, starting at school. Educating children is important because the earlier habits and values are transmitted, the more likely they are to be enrooted in individuals’ everyday life. Young children (ages 4 to 10) have a high sensitivity to nature and generally appreciate being outside in contact with the nature. They are also learning very fast and are able to absorb a lot of knowledge (Carnegie Task Force 1996, Education Commission of the States, 1996). Thus educating children about the environment starting from a young age is not only necessary but preferable. In response to this imperative, this research will focus on primary to first level of secondary school (approximately ages 6 to 15) as it is recognized as the age when children and adolescents have the most potent cognitive capacities (Carnegie Task Force, 1996 ; Education Commission of the States, 1996) and therefore can be more sympathetic to exposure to environmental issues.

If parents should transmit environmental-friendly habits and values to their children, not all of them are aware and conscious about the environment, nor are they enough informed and educated about it.

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To make sure that all the children receive a basic sensitization to environmental issues and an introduction to the right habits, EE has to be made at school, especially in the public schools. The states and governments have the duty make the population responsible citizens that involved being responsible towards the environment.

If the Western states are to respect and reach the target stated in the multiple international and european agreements in which they are engaged in concerning environment, pollution, climate change etc, they will have to involve their populations.

Since 2014, environment is on the top of the political agenda, and 2015 have especially been a milestone year, with the release of the latest IPCC report, the adoption of the SDGs target replacing the MDGs and the success of the COP21 in Paris. During this conference, all the countries present engaged unanimously in taking action to limit the temperature rise to possibility 1,5 degrees, or maximum 2 degrees above pre-industrial level.

Thus, the year 2015 seem to have been a turning point in the awareness to climate change and environmental challenges

During those meetings and conferences, there have been increasing international recognition of the role of EE. Indeed, it has been increasingly debated and is now recognized by all countries as being essential to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets and to engage towards an ecological transition. Empowering and mobilizing the young generation especially is seen crucial and appears as a goal to achieve.

The SDG have been adopted by all countries in September 2015 to replace the MDG that ended this year and set new targets for 2030. The SDG 4 (ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all) includes the following (target 4.7): by 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and nonviolence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development. If education is a target itself, the UNESCO also recognizes it as crucial to reach all the other targets. The last IPCC report also stresses the role of human capital, and especially formal education in the transition towards sustainable development and the design and implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies.

The article 12 of the Paris Agreement, that has been signed by all the countries states that ‘Parties shall cooperate in taking measures, as appropriate, to enhance climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information, recognizing the importance of these steps with respect to enhancing actions under this Agreement.’ During the COP21, workshops and conferences have been held about environmental education, underlining its crucial role.

Environmental Education (EE) is not a new topic. The first international workshop on Environmental Education was held in Belgrade in 1975, followed by the first conference dedicated to EE in Tbilisi in 1977, and it was decided to repeat those conferences every ten years. However, EE became a more popular topic when the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) was launched by the UNESCO in 2004. Around this period, actors from the civil society as NGOs and associations also got involved more heavily in EE, whereas it was for a long time mainly the concern of the UNEP and the UNESCO. At the same time, the United Nation Economic Council for Europe (UNECE) also started to be active, and released reports aiming at helping European states to transfer and implement the international recommendations at a national scale. The DESD ended in December 2014, with the conference of Nagoya in Japan, and with the adoption of Global Action Program (GAP) in the following years. The 4th International Conference on Environmental Education, held in Ahmedabad, India in 2007 within the framework of the UN DESD, marks 30 years after Tbilisi. More recently, the Incheon conference on EE closed with the adoption of the 2030 framework for action followed in January 2015 by the Ahmedabad conference (‘Education as a Driver for Sustainable Development Goals’) and Plan of action. In May the same year, during the World Education Forum in Incheon, the members states agreed that education is the key enabler for sustainable development and published a Framework for Action for 2030. The route for spreading EE in the coming decade is thus open. In September the SDG goals to be reached in 2030 have been adopted, and the year ended with the success of the COP21 in Paris, where all parties came to an agreement and showed their willingness to take action to limit climate change.

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All those conferences, talks, reports, agreements, among others, created a framework for EE a multitude of recommendation, tools, incentives and direction for action. They all consider the governments as being the main responsible for EE through school and trainings, even though partnerships should also be led with private actors and NGOs.

Aside from those international recommendations, scholars have been writing about EE for decades now. There is an extensive body of literature about EE, ESD, and Climate Change Education (CCE), focusing mainly on definitions and description and debates of those different terms and their content.

However, few large scale analyses of the school programs and educational policies have been done. After a review of the literature and research available on EE, it appeared that most of the studies are made in the US, UK, or Northern European countries such as Denmark. France and Belgium have not been researched by the scholars. For now, there are also no homogeneous international units or criteria to measure the advancement of EE on the national scale and no existing list of the performances of the different countries.

Building on the existing literature and international recommendations, the research aims at analysing the national EE strategies for primary to secondary schools (approximately ages 6 to 15) in France and Belgium and at evaluating their quality based on the recommendations given by the literature and the international reports about the goal of EE, the approach taken, the pedagogy used, the content of the programme, the place given to informal education, the role given to different multiple stakeholders, the form of monitoring, the existence of the research, funding and formation programmes, and the availability of teaching material. This research aims at studying this discrepancy between those countries engagements and the internationalrecommendations, and what is actually being done by the governments and in the schools to implement those recommendations by looking at the educational policies and strategies, the national programmes, and the public declaration of intention about EE.

The research question of this study can be formulated as follows;

How do the French and Belgian governments envision EE and how is it implemented in public schools? Do the national strategies and curricula take into account the current debates in the field of EE and the international recommendations?

That question raises the following sub-questions;

Do the policy makers take into account both the international and the scholar’s recommendations for a quality EE? If not, what could and should be implemented in light of those recommendations?

How does the political and educational system of those countries influence the way the EE is implemented ? From the previous research questions, the following hypothesis can be formulated :

The arrangement of educational institutions within countries affects the degree to which EE is taken up in schools. This hypothesis will be tested by selecting two different political economic contexts, France and Belgium.

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Chapter 1: Literature review

For this study, the first steps of the literature review has been made using Google Scholar and Web of Science. The references given in the articles found were then used to find the rest of the literature.

In the academic world, an extensive body literature has been written about EE. The researches and articles can be divided into six trends or topics.

1. 1. Debates about the different appellations and trends of Environmental Education

The origins of environmental education can be traced back to the promotion of nature and outdoor study, essentially in primary schools. In the 60’s-70’s, environment became a growing concern internationally. The media coverage environmental disasters increased (for instance the ecocide during the Vietnam war, or the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969) as well as people’s mobilization (For instance the creation in France of the first national park after a massive mobilization in 1963). Books written by ecologists (as Silent spring by Rachel Carlson 1962 that was a big success), and the emergence of international environmental organisations (as the Club of Rome in 1968, Friends of the Earth in 1969 or Greenpeace in 1971) also contributed to bring environment up on political agenda (Stenbenson, 2007), leading to the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972. During this conference, EE was recognized internationally as a way to address environmental issues worldwide. The first international workshop about EE was held in Belgrade in 1975, leading to the publication of the Belgrade Charter, recognized as the founding text of EE.

EE gained international recognition in the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden. In Recommendation 96, EE is called upon as a means to address the environmental issues worldwide. In 1975, this recommendation was addressed at the International Environmental Workshop in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

A definition of EE that is often cited as a reference is the following; ‘Environmental education is aimed at producing a citizenry that is knowledgeable concerning the biophysical environment and its associated problems, aware of how to help solve these problems, and motivated to work toward their solution’ (Stapp, W.B., et al., 1969).

EE lies on the conviction that citizens have an active role to play in solving the environmental issues. To be able to elect the right people but also to take action in their private lives, they need to be knowledgeable concerning their biophysical environment, aware of what they can do to solve the problems and motivated to work towards effective solutions. (Stapp, W.B., et al., 1969)

Most of the scholars agree that the two founding documents of EE are the Belgrade Charter (1975) and the Tbilisi Declaration (1977).

According to the Belgrade Charter, the goals of EE are “developing a world population that is aware of, and concerned about, the environment and its associated problems, and which has the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations and commitment to work individually and collectively toward solutions of current problems and the prevention of new ones.” (UNESCO–UNEP, 1976). In the Belgrade Charter, the key world is “environment”; “society, economics and development are not mentioned”. It promotes an ecocentric view of EE, where the environment should be protected because it has value as such, and not because it is a resource for human (Hopkins, 2010; Kopnina, 2007).

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According to the Tbilisi Declaration, the objective of EE is “people’s active involvement in working toward the resolution of environmental problems”. To achieve these goals, awareness, knowledge, concern for the environment, and skills should be developed (Chawla & Debra 2007). In the Tbilisi declaration, there are some references to society; however, references to environment are preponderant. The declaration focuses more one the impact of humans on the natural environment and much less to the quality of life in terms of society and economics. (Hopkins, 2010)

Within EE, some scholars distinguish between education for, in and about environment. The perception of environment, as a resource or as a place to live for instance, engender a type of relationship towards it, and thus a different way of making EE. The different understandings of EE, can be summarized as follows;

A very important part of the existing literature focuses on the different trends within the field, and explores the history of EE, its origins, definitions and evolutions.

EE is a terminology that is one of the main debates among scholars: the appellations to designate it are very diverse, constantly changing, and subject to controversies; “education for, about, or in environment”, education for sustainability”, “sustainable education”, “education for ecology” “environmental education”, “education related to environment”, “education for sustainable development” etc. (Kopnina 2011; Sauvé 1996).

Lucie Sauvé in particular worked a lot on the difference between the different terminologies of EE, she differentiates between education about environment is focused on the content; its about acquiring knowledge (both practical and theoretical) related to environment, where environment is the topic of learning

An education by the environment makes environment both a place of learning and a pedagogical resource. Environment is considerate as a transdisciplinary theme that allows interactions with different concepts and works in different materials/fields. The goal is to build a solid link, a real relationship between the person and its environment

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Education for the environment aims at empowering the individuals; teaching how to solve and prevent the environmental issues and how to manage collective resources. Education for the environment involves the idea of engagement as well as the adoption of environmental friendly behaviours and gestures, as recycling, repairing, reusing, reducing water, energy and plastic waste, reducing CO2 emission, changing the consumption pattern for instance. A clean and healthy environment becomes a goal to be reached.

Sauvé, following the work of A.M Lucas, A. Giordan and C. Souchon integrated those by enriching them of relational and educational dimensions in a vision called “Education relative to Environment” (ErE, the belgian conception) that is defined as “an integrated dimension of the development of people and social groups that concern their relationship to environment”.

More recently, there is a growing body of literature about ESD, which is perceived either as being a new updated version, or a « threat » to EE, because it tends to overcome and replace it in the literature.

Although the concept of 'sustainability' first emerged in the early 1980s, it was not until the 1990s that this term began to form part of the vocabulary of EE. 'Sustainability' refers to; the need for reconciliation between economic development and environmental conservation; the need to place any understanding of environmental concerns within a socio economic and political context; and the need to combine environment and development concerns. (Bruntland report,1987).

The founding text of ESD is Agenda 21, designed during the Rio Summit in 1992. But really entered in the EE field in the political agenda when the UN declared in 2005-2014 the Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (DESD).

As EE, ESD is action-oriented and aims at engaging the pupils and encourage them to participate in the process of solving environmental issues through both individual and collective public actions.

However, in ESD, environment is but one of a wide set of problematic issues. While EE “is a well-established discipline, which focuses on humankind’s relationship with the natural environment and on ways to conserve and preserve it and properly steward its resources”, ESD “encompasses environmental education but sets it in the broader context of socio-cultural factors and the socio-political issues of equity, poverty, democracy and quality of life” (UNESCO). Thus, a healthy and responsible relationship with environment is not the main goal anymore, but only a side issue of economical and social development.

The apparition and praise of the term “ESD” has triggered fierce debates among the scholars

The ESD praises a development model based on a wise use of resources and concerns for equity and durability, and seeks to open a dialogue between economical and environmental worlds (Sauvé 1996).

The major difference with EE lies in that fact that in ESD, environment is but one of a wide set of problematic issues. (Hopkins, 2010; Gonzales-Gaudiano, 2006). While ESD attempts to find a balance between addressing the needs of the environment and those of the humankind, EE is more about protecting the environment from human activities.

Some see ESD as a progress (Smyth; 1995) since it is a shift from an almost exclusive focus on environmental concerns to the inclusion of social and economic development alongside the environmental dimension. A good point about ESD is that it allows a repositioning of education in the context of national and international policies (Gonzales-Gaudioni, 2006).

On the contrary, some scholars criticize ESD on the premise that it brings nothing new since EE already took into account the links between economy, environment and development (Sauvé, 1996). Globally, ESD is being widely criticized for promoting an anthropocentric view of environment that is framed by economics interests. Indeed, ESD sees economic development as part of the solution of the ecological problems it has created.

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The concept of SD itself is seen by many as being an oxymoron (Brand, 2012; Redcliff, 2005, Sachs 1999) Others blame ESD for being a wide appealing term that hides a neo-liberalist approach (Chokor, 1993).

Indeed, sustainable development is a difficult concept to define; it is also continually evolving, which makes it doubly difficult. The Brundtland Commission defines SD as follows: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, p 43). Sustainable development is generally thought to have three pillars: environment, society, and economy. The well-being of these three areas is intertwined, not separate. For example, a healthy, prosperous society relies on a healthy environment to provide food and resources, safe drinking water, and clean air for its citizens. (Rosalyn McKeown, 2002)

The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development lists 18 principles of sustainability, among which “Development today must not undermine the development and environment needs of present and future generation”,“ Environmental policies should not be used as an unjustifiable means of restricting international trade”, “Nations have the sovereign right to exploit their own resources, but without causing environmental damage beyond their borders.” or “Nations should cooperate to promote an open international economic system that will lead to economic growth and sustainable development in all countries”

Those examples show that in SD, environment is only one of the components among the three, and is not the main preoccupation, the focus being more anthropocentric and economic.

Moreover, scholars can’t find an agreement on whether EE implicitly includes ESD, or is ESD is an umbrella under which EE fits. Some see ESD as an evolution of EE, other see them as separate but complementary. (Smyth, 1995; Sauvé, 1996; Gonzales-Gaudiano, 2006; McKeown & Hopkins, 2010; Hopkins, 2010; Kopnina, 2011).

1.2. The incompatibility between formal education systems and Environmental Education

Some of the literature focuses on the inconsistency between formal education and environment;

Formal education offers the pupils a limited view of environment and sustainable development since it is usually based on the international frameworks, thus leaving out the myriad of point of views and approaches to the environmental issues (degrowth current, bioregionalism or environmentalism for instance). Moreover, the teachers’ views and sensitivity about environmental issues are likely to influence their way of teaching and the content of their classes (Young, 1981; Bob Jickling 1994).

Additionally, EE requires a cooperative form learning, while the traditional pedagogy is individualistic. Indeed, EE implies teaching the children how to work collectively towards a solution, and engage collectively in a project. On the contrary, the school system is organized around the pupils as an individual, studying for increasing his knowledge and his results.

The historical purpose of schools is to maintain the dominant value system and social order. EE, on the contrary, is meant to be revolutionary, and to challenge the the mainstream values and the actual system that is held responsible for the degradation of the environment. If EE is taught through the formal education system, it is likely to lose this revolutionary purpose (Stevenson, 2007).

Education, and particularly EE should enable people to think for themselves, and develop critical thinking, which is contradictory with the traditional passive position that the pupils have. Some argue that education ‘for’ something signifies ideology or indoctrination (Jickling, 1992; McClaren, 1993).

1.3. From Environmental Educatio to environmental friendly behaviours

Another branch of the literature focuses on the discrepancy between the knowledge brought by EE and pro-environmental behaviours.

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Most policies, international frameworks and discussions are based on the assumption that more knowledge about climate change leads to more environmental behaviours, which is being widely discussed.

Environmental educators assume that transmitting knowledge to students is enough to make them act responsibly. There are debates, however, about the extent to which knowledge and understanding of environmental issues leads to more positive attitudes towards the natural environment (Hungerford and Volk 1990; Posch, 1993; Chawla & Cushing, 2007; Barraza & Walford, 2010).

If most of the models of responsible behaviours see education, knowledge and environmental awareness as necessary for responsible behaviours, they are not considered as sufficient. Other factors have more impacts on people and are more likely to make them act in a pro-environmental manner. Direct experiences, social norms, cultural traditions or family customs for instance, play a great role in people’s behaviour, and have more influence on people than knowledge and indirect experience (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002).

The barriers between environmental concerns and action are multiple; they can be cognitive since environmental degradations are hardly perceivable, and are usually located in remote places, but emotional non-investment can also be a barrier if the information received contradicts our beliefs and basic assumptions. The feeling of helplessness is also a barrier to action (“my behaviour is insignificant”), as well as the feeling that others -usually the big companies or the governments- are responsible for environmental issues.

Those barriers engender denial, resignation, or delegation. If responsible behaviours are to be triggered, people need to be taught not only pure knowledge, but also action strategies. (Blake, 1999; Hines, et al., 1986)

1.4. Measurement of the success of Environmental Education programs

Some research attempts to measure the efficacy or the success of environmental programs. The efficacy is measured by looking at child awareness and concerns of environmental issues, and their tendency to adopt environmental-friendly behaviours.

The outcomes of those programs are hard to evaluate, so scholars usually use questionnaires on precise issues (i.e. the relation to animals), or focus on the private action such as recycling, composting, green purchasing, or reading about environmental issues (Chawla & Cushing, 2007).

Many studies make comparisons between countries (Bazzara & Walford, 2010). The researchers mainly use sample of children from of primary education (7–9 years old), because at this stage the child’s minds ate more able to absorb knowledge (Piaget, 1969; Jan Packer & Michele Everett 2005; 2006; Korhonen & Lappalainen; 2007; Roy Ballantyne, 2010).

To estimate if an EE program is good, some scholars as Thomson, Hoffman & Stanforth (2010) have designed a list of criteria that it should fulfil. According to them, a good EE programme should be based on solid facts (traditional knowledge or science), involve a cycle of continual evaluation, be adapted to the context of the learner, leave space for hands-on and practical learning, promote cooperation between pupils and their participation in the learning process, take in consideration all the dimensions of environmental issues (as social, moral, and ethical), and empower and motivate the students to work collectively toward the resolution of environmental problems .

1.5. Research on environmental ethics

Extensive research has been done in the field of environmental ethics on the distinction between ecocentric vision and anthropocentric vision of the environment.

Most of the scholars distinguish at least three types of environmental concern: self-interest, humanistic altruism, and biospheric altruism (Merchant, 1992; Stern and Dietz, 1994). The difference between those three position can be summarized by the debate on whether the non-human species have an intrinsic or instrumental value.

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Studies show that people with ecocentric orientation are much more likely to act according their values to protect the environment than those with anthropocentric orientations (Gagnon Thompson and Barton, 1994; Kortenkamp and Moore, 2001).

ESD is being blamed for promoting an anthropocentric view of the world, while EE promotes a more ecocentric point of view. Since the adoption of the Agenda 21, EE tends to focus on social and economic aspects of SD, and and seems to have been overwhelmed by the economical paradigm « Profit, People, Planet » (Thomson and Barton,1994; Kopnina, 2010; William Scott & Andrew Stables, 2010).

1.6. Pedagogy

A part on the literature focuses on the pedagogy and teaching methods for EE.

Some scholars blame public schools for being too politically neutral, arguing that EE should not be apolitical because solving environmental issues require public collective mobilization and actions. Individual actions that are praised by schools are not sufficient. It is crucial for school programs to prepare students for political action and develop critical thinking, political conscience and give them the tools to take action. There is no one good approach to environmental issues, every child needs to develop one’s own understanding of issues and situations (Chawla & Cushing, 2007)

Moreover, schools need to look beyond the accumulation of knowledge and promote the use of practical activities as a major tool for teaching and developing positive values and attitudes towards the environment. That requires switching to a different approach of teaching from passive pupils receiving the knowledge to direct experimentations and involvement, but also open discussion and debates (Bazzara & Walford, 2010).

However, each age requires a different approach; for preschool and elementary, small scale actions are most appropriate. Young children should not be burdened with big scale issues and the fonctionnement of distant international institutions are beyond their comprehension. By the middle school and secondary school years, however, pupils are old enough to be taught how government and international institutions work, but also how the civil society can play an active role in the resolution of environmental issues (Chawla & Cushing 2007).

SYNTHESIS

The literature about EE tackle a variety of different topics. However, studies and evaluations of countries EE strategies or programmes are very rare, especially for France and Belgium. In addition, there is no research on the influence of the political and education system on the way EE is approached and designed.

In this study, the evaluation criteria from Thomson, Hoffman & Stanforth (2010) will be used to asses the quality of the French and Belgian programmes, as well as the recommendation listed in part 1.6 about pedagogy. The French and Belgian approaches of EE will be looked in light of the research in environmental ethics (1.5) and the debates on the terminology (1.1)

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Chapter 2 - Methodology

2.1 Case study justification

This research focuses on Belgium and France. Those countries were chosen because of their proximity, and yet their opposite political and educational system. The two neighbors are organised in two very dissimilar ways.

First of all, they have different political principles, that EE is situated in: France is equality-focused while Belgium is autonomy-focused.

France is a strongly centralized state, with a powerful central government and president who concentrates almost all the powers. For a decade now, the French government has been trying to decentralize its authority to regions, departments and municipalities in order to make the repartition of powers more balanced.

On the contrary, Belgium is a federal state, with a strong parliamentary power. The country is divided among three communities, the French, German and Flemish ones, and three regions, Wallonia, Brussels, and Flanders. In addition to the federal state’s power, both the regions and the community have powers that are strictly distinct, with their own governments and parliaments. The economical, cultural and political asymmetries between the communities and the regions, as well as all the layers of government with different powers make the Belgian political system unstable and complicated.

The french educational system is and has always been very homogeneous. It is design to provide all with the same base of knowledge and skills no matter their social, economical or geographical background. The use of the French language has for instance been imposed in all the school in the 19th century to prevent geographical imbalances between children and ensure they graduate with the same knowledge. The programmes, schol material and holidays schedules among other things, are designed by the Ministry of Education at the central level. Since most of the things are decided at the national level, schools and school directors have very little freedom. The idea underpinning this system is equality : all citizens are equal in front of the state, and everyone should receive the same necessary knowledge to be a responsible citizen.

In Belgium, on the contrary, the educational system is very heterogeneous; each of the 3 communities has its own educational system that are organized differently. To ensure that all the pupils receive the necessary knowledge to become responsible and educated citizens, the national government designates a list of skills that all the children should have acquired when coming out of the school system. Apart from this decree, everything remains quite vague, as communities, but also schools and school directors, have the freedom to decide on how to teach the national criterias and objectives. The idea underpinning this system is that each school have a different socio economic context and that the education should be adapted to this context to be more efficient.

Additionally, the two countries have different advancements in environmental awareness and policy-making: Belgium is farther along than France.

Another divergence between France and Belgium is their advancement in environmental policies. While Belgium is in general quite advanced on environmental matters, France, is generally lagging behind. The comparison is even more interesting since new (2012) French socialist government pledged to do efforts on environmental matters. Environment is also on the top of the political agenda since in 2015, especially in France, with the COP21 organized in Paris, and France had to lead the example.

Thus, France and Belgium have two radically different educational and political system, but also advancement in environmental matters, that makes the comparison between those two countries interesting, to see whether the

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political and educational system's features of those two countries have an influence on the existence, the implementation, and the quality of EE.

Additionally, the literature review revealed led that French language policies are understudied compared to English ones. Hence the comparison between two different French-speaking countries and communities is interesting. Most of the research on EE is based in English-speaking countries, so there is a comparative lack of research in other countries. French speaking countries are particularly lacking because the documents are often only published in French. Most of the policy documents, laws, and reports released by official and non-governmental sources in France are in French, and most of the time, English translations are not available. The website of the Ministry of education is for instance only partly available in English, when the website of associations are only in French. In Belgium, it is easier to find English translations and english version of documents, even though most of them are published in French and Flemish.

2.2 Method chosen and limitations

For this research, only qualitative methods have been used. Policy and document analysis is the main research method employed in the study. Qualitative methods are the best to analyse trends and describes the qualities or characteristics of something that cannot be described with numbers. Assessing the quality of a policy can hardly be done by using quantitative methods.

This method have been chosen due to the tight time limitation -two and a half months. Indeed it would be interesting to lead a research for several years, and to follow a group of pupils on a full educational cycle to observe both what they retain from their environmental education and if their knowledge has a positive influence on their behaviours towards the environment and on their engagement. Observing in depth the way the schools programs are followed by different schools or teachers and how the different fields (natural sciences, geography or philosophy, for example) approach environmental issues would also be interesting. However, that would require sitting in and observing several classes from several teachers in several schools in both France and Belgium, and thus would take too much time.

Moreover, the research being very condensed timewise, it was difficult to reach politicians or members of international NGOs for interviews.

The UNESCO provides quantitative indicators for assessing ESD programmes -more specially indicators to measure the implementation of the SDG 4 target 4.7, which are not relevant here, as the percentage of students by age group (or education level) showing adequate understanding of issues relating to global citizenship and sustainability. But some indicators are used in this research as the extent to which ESD is mainstreamed in (a) national education policies (b) curricula (c) teacher education.

Using quantitative methods and criteria for the research would be very interesting, but both the times and resources are too limited. A whole team of researchers would be necessary to observe the way the programs are actually implemented (by sitting in the class, interviewing pupils, teachers, directors and drawing statistics from that) on a national scale and assess the quality of environmental education in both countries.

2.2.1 Policy and document analysis

To conduct this research, different types of documents were reviewed (see Figure 1 and References part) Academic literature and international documents about EE (both reports and policies) were first examined before studying national French and Belgian policy documents, as well as reports and documents from the civil society.

The literature review was made using Google Scholar and Web of Science, and then following the quotations and references given by the first articles found. The main keywords used for the document research were “ environmental

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education ”, “ education for sustainable development ”, “education for the environment ”, “environmental education evaluation” “environmental education in France (or Belgium)”, “Measuring environmental education”, “measuring the success of EE”, “environmental ethics”, “pedagogy and environmental education, “teaching methods and environmental education”, “environmental education programmes” and “history of environmental education”, “environmental education at school” and “environmental education for young children”.

The international documents about EE were all available online, especially on the UNESCO and UNEP website, since they are the two main organs on charge of EE. To be able to analyze the evolution of EE through time, the oldest documents about EE were also analyzed, starting with the Tbilisi conference and agreement from 1977 and the Belgrade conference and Charter of 1987 that are the founding document of EE. All the main conferences and documents about EE were analyzed, as well as the ones dating for the UN Decade for Education to Sustainable Development (DESD 2005-2014). Since the end of the DESD, other conference were organized, such as the Nagoya (2014) and the Incheon conferences (2015), and new framing documents discussing the future were released, as the the GAP, the 2030 Framework for action, or the Ahmadabad Plan for Action [2016].

At the European scale, the UNECE is in charge of downscaling the international recommendations to help members state implement them in their countries. The documents and reports released by the UNECE between 2005 and 2015 as well as the content and the conclusions of the conferences organized at the European level were also reviewed. All those document were carefully assessed and coded , in order to see how they define EE, what kind of approach of EE they give, but also what they recommend to members states to implement to lead an efficient EE, and what tools and advices they give to governments (See figure 2)

After reviewing those documents, a comparison was be made between those recommendations and what is being done both in France and Belgium.

In order to do that, national educational policy documents of France and Belgium were reviewed, as the school's programmes and national educational objectives, the national policy documents, the laws, the content that is available for teachers and pupils, the official communications and declarations about EE, and the reports from school inspectors.

To complete the analysis, documents from the civil society were also be examined, as associations websites, articles from newspapers about environmental education or reports from associations.

Table 2- List of the documents reviewed

List of the documents reviewed

. The agreement of cooperation for ESD signed in 2010 by the DGESCO and the CGDD (« Acccord- cadre de coopération pour l’Education au Developpement durable »)

. The conclusions of the 3rd and latest Assises of ESD from 2013 (Résultats et perspectives des 3e Assises du Developpement Durable »)

. The official information document about E3D (« Bulletin official numéro 4 du 29 janvier 2015 ») The Haby Cicular of 1977

(« Circulaire numéreo 77-300 du 29 aout 1977 »)

. The document giving the trends and the instructions about EE for the period 2015-2018, published in 2015 (« Instruction relative au déploiement de l’éducation au developpement durable dans l’ensemble des écoles et

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. The official information document about the « nature corners » (« Bulletin official numéro 5 du 29 janvier 2015 »)

. The Decree that lists all the knowledge that the children should have acquired when graduating (« Décret numéro 2015-372 du 31 mars 2015 relatif au socle commun de connaissances, de compétences et de culture ») . All the documents addressed to teachers to explain that how to make a course about environmental topics and what content to have (for instance climate change, water, deforestation etc)

. The school programmes from 2009

And the new school programmes designed in 2015 that will enter into force in 2016 for primary and secondary schools

. The content of the website of the Amiens school district that is in charge of being the information pole for EE.

BELGIUM

. Chapter 9 of the national communication, Ministry of Environment « Sensitization, Education and formation » (« Sensibilisation, Education et Formation »)

. The « Decree of missions » (« Decret des mission ») of that lists all the mission of schools.

. The list of the « final skills required » (« Les compétences terminales et savoir faire requis ») both in Geography (1999), Economical and social sciences (2000), Sciences (2001).

. The report released by the Ministry of Environment of the FWB in 2014 « Evaluation of the practices of education relative to environment and sustainable development in the primary and secondary schools » (Evaluation des pratiques d’Éducation relative à l’Environnement et au Développement Durable dans les établissements scolaires de l’enseignement fondamental, secondaire, ordinaire et spécialisé »)

. All the technical and information sheets available on the ministry of education website of the FWB to help the teachers and schools designing EE courses and activities

. The informative document published by the FWB Ministry of Education in 2013: « EE and ESD in the FWB educational system » (l’Education à l’environnment et au developpement durable dans le system éducatif de la FWB)

. The « Base of skills » (« Socle de compétences ») which lists the knowledge that the children of the FWB should have when graduating in each field -2013.

. The results of the research of the associations mandated by the Assises in 2011 about « EE at school » (« L’ErE-DD à l’école ») that is a quantitative research.

. The press release from the FBW about EE in 20 14 (« Communiqué de presse- EE dans les écoles »)

. The final document released by the Assises of EE in 2011 which is the « Action and recommendations of the Assises of EE and ESD » (« Actions et recommandations les Assises de l’ErE-EE de 2010-2011 »)

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. The Final report of the International workshop on EE - The International Environmental Education programme- UNESCO- UNEP Belgrade, 1975 and the Belgrade Charter- 1975

. The Final Report of the Tbilisi Intergovernmental conference on EE -1977

. The International Strategy for Action on The field of EE and Training for the 1990’s - From the UNESCO-UNEP congress of EE and training in Moscow 1987

. The Education for all Monitoring Report- 2000-2015 ; achievements and challenges - UNESCO . The Roadmap for Implementing the Global Action Programme on ESD- UNESCO 2014 . Learning from each other- The UNECE strategy for ESD- UNECE- 2009

. The Report Climate Change education for SD- UNESCO- 2010 . The Chapter 4 of the 2014 IPCC Report - SD and Equity

. Education 2030- Incheon Declaration and Framework for action towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all- 2015

. The Draft of the International Implementation Scheme of teh UN DESD 2005-2014 – 2005

. The International conference on education as a driver for ESD in Ahmedabad India- recommendations on Goals 4.5, 4.4., 13, 2, 14, 15, 4.3, 4.1, 12, 1 , 8 , 102016 , and Final recommendations- International conference on education as a driver for ESD in Ahmedabad India-

. The report of the UNECE Steering Committee on ESD - 2015, Learning from each other: achievements, challenges and ways forward, 2015- Third evaluation report of the UNECE strategy for ESD

. The UNESCO world conference on ESD in Nagoya - 2014 Conference report And UNESCO Nagoya declaration on ESD-2014

. The report of the UNECE steering committee on ESD 8th meeting - 2013 . The UNECE Strategy for ESD, 2005

. The Proposal for a Global Action Programme on the ESD as follow-up of the UN DESD after 2014- 2013 . The General introduction into the school system of ESD in France - UNESCO - 2015

. The UN Framework Convention on climate change 1992

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As stated in my research proposal, interviews were part of the research. Some key actors were intended to be interviewed in order to clarify some points that my be unclear.

Members from the Ministries of Education and the Ministry of Environment in both France and Belgium were contacted, as well as members of associations and NGOs in both countries, but also representants from the UN and UNECE programmes for EE. However, none of them was available in the time imparted to be interviewed. Among the 16 persons contacted, only 5 replied, and sent me some helpful links and documents, while apologizing for not being available for being interviewed.

2.3 Variables and units of analysis

As EE is not something that can be calculated or computed with numbers, the variables used are qualitative and based on my own vision of how country respect the international recommendations.

The variables used were listed in a table (Table 3below). They have been designed by crossing the international recommendations (Chapter 3) and the scholar’s recommendations from the literature (Chapter 1). Globally, the scholar’s and the international documents agree on the way the EE should be led, but they also complement each other.

The recommendations have been listed, aggregated to avoid redundancy, sorted by category, and finally put in the table under broad titles; Goals, Approach/perception, Pedagogy, Framing in school curricula, Stakeholders, Formation, Evaluation/monitoring/funding, Material. France and Belgium are presented side by side in the table, so that the comparison between the two countries was easier both for the reader and the researcher.

Building on the comparison both between the two countries, and between the recommendations and the state of the EE is both countries, recommendations will be given on what could be added to the programmes, changed in the way of teaching and the general approach of EE in France and Belgium.

Table  3  -­‐  

List of the recommendations from the international documents and the literature

Recommendations from the international documents and the literature

APPROACH/ PERCEPTION

. Approach (eco-centric/anthropocentric)

. Perception of the environment (place to live/problem, nature, resource?) . Locally relevant and culturally appropriate

GOAL

. Preparing people to mitigate, live and adapt to a new risk environment . Bringing change in lifestyles, induce climate friendly behaviours . Develop a practical education that is solution-oriented

. Use EE to empower people, foster their active participation in decision-making and develop their critical thinking

. Empowering kids and collective reflections towards solution

. Provide children with general knowledge about environment and all its diversity and its problem . Transdisciplinarity

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. Solution oriented

. Taking indigenous and traditional knowledge and wisdom in consideration . An integrated approach of environment

. Growth from an environmental perspective

PEDAGOGY

. Changing the learning and teaching methods. Include direct learner involvement

. Position of the kids (public/ passive/ space for debate and discussion), develop pupil’s critical thinking, empowerment of kids and collective reflections towards solution

. Non-formal education, as well as practical experimentations (hands on learning) should be integrated in the formal system

. Use of the outdoors spaces and practical experiences, type of projects led (enjoyable or not) . NGOs should be associated to those activities,

. Link with the local community . Real life community projects

. Realisation of global collective projects (school level/class level)

FRAMING IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULA

. Placing ESD in the formal education system, in the curriculum . Interdisciplinary approach, EE should not be one more subject . Fields in which EE is embedded

. Issues tackled . Quantity of EE

. EE should be solution oriented and action oriented. . EE is at all levels, especially early learning . Choice of the themes according to pupils’ age

. Primary level: base on child motivation and emphasis on action project and non-formal learning . Secondary level; emphasis on the critics ad creative part

. Coordinating natural and social sciences .Value skills and values

STAKEHOLDERS

. A multi-stakeholder cooperation

. Role of the government and the public sector . At the school level

. NGOS

. The private sector and industry . Whole institution approach

. Local network- Community participation . Youth and youth organization

FORMATION

. National programmes of initial and retraining of educators . Link with the research that is being done

. Both pre service and in-service training

. Formation for not only teachers, but a great deal of actors

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EVALUATION/MONITIRING/FUNDING

. Info / an index for funding agencies for EE related activities . Fund for development of EE related activities

. Constant evaluation of EE programmes, curriculum/ Inclusion of a cycle of continual improvements, evaluation and redesign

. Developing adopting and publishing general standards for EE evaluation . All EE programme should have an evaluation component

. Each state should have a body responsible for ESD

INFORMATION/RESEARCH

. Teaching material and curricular, bank of info

. Result of research should be used and shared with actors locally, regionally and globally. . Universities should conduct research

. Need to research related to EE development of the youngest learners . Research into the use of non-formal learning methods

MATERIAL

. Promoting the development and evaluation of new material, curricula, instructional material and programs . Exchange between countries

. Creating model textbooks and reading materials

. Museums, exhibitions; urban and natural environment should be considered as a source of learning environment for EE

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Chapter 3: Global to national connection

3.1 History of

at the international scale

Environmental issues being global and stemming from a shared responsibility, environmental themes are seen as they should be dealt with by global governance. International conferences about EE have been organised early internationally, to both discuss and set agendas for action.

The first international meeting about EE was the Belgrade intergovernmental workshop in 1975, which was held as an answer to call from the Stockholm Conference upon EE to solve the environmental issues worldwide. The members’ states developed a framework for EE and adopted a first set of international recommendations to guide EE. A few years later in 1977, the first EE Conference took place in Tbilisi , where the 66 member state recognize the importance of environmental education for the preservation of the Earth. Those two international meetings ended with the release of the Belgrade Charter and the Tbilisi Declaration, which are recognised as the founding documents of environmental education. Ten years later, in 1987, a conference in Moscow, Russia was held to review the progresses made, and develop action plans to strengthen EE.worldwide The third international EE conference took place in Thessaloniki in 1997 and focused on the role of EE in contributing to sustainable development (SD). Based on that and on the recommendation of the Chapter 36 (promoting Education, Public Awareness And Training) of the Agenda 21, the UN launched the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) in 2005, which was an intense decade which brought EE up in the political agenda. The 4th International Conference on Environmental Education, that was held in Ahmedabad, India in 2007 within the framework of the UN DESD, marks the 30 years after Tbilisi. At the same time at the European level, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) was working on adapting and downscale the international recommendations and framework at the European level. A steering committee for EE was created and met regularly throughout the decade, to look at the progresses at the regional level and exchange ideas and information. The DESD closed with the conference of Nagoya in Japan, in November 2014 and the adoption of a Global Action Program (GAP) for the following years. Another More recently, the World Education Forum took place in Incheon, Korea and ended on the adoption of the 2030 Framework for Action listing the goal to reach in the coming decades and the line to follow.

Throughout the years, the leadership of those international conferences has changed. In 1975, the UNEP and the UNESCO were the drivers of EE worldwide. If they are still the main parties involved, EE conferences and debates were widened to include international and national NGOs, universities, national governments, national and international organisations, but also the civil society, as community developers or the business community.

The discourses around the relationship between environment and economic development have also changed throughout the years. During the first EE international meetings, the focus was on environment in the context of social and economic issues. Later on, the idea that poverty reduction was necessary to protect the environment emerged. Today, environment is seen as being completely intertwined with social, cultural and economical fields, and economics dominates the other domains..

Throughout the year, the medium of communications and the access to knowledge have also changed; Internet in particular transformed both the communication between countries and the knowledge about environment.

3.2 Main recommendations

After reviewing the international documents about EE (see the list in the Methodology Chapter, Figure 1), it appears that recommendations can be aggregated under different titles.

The goal or aim of EE is always discussed in the international documents. According to those documents, EE should mainly aim at preparing people to mitigate, live and adapt to a new risk environment given the way that climate and