Introduction

New Zealand's natural and social environment is unique. A mild climate, cultural diversity, a small population with high levels of participation in outdoor activities, extensive marine resources, relatively clean air and water, a variety of national parks, and distinctive plants and animals all contribute to the special nature of the environment. As New Zealanders, we value our environment for recreational, aesthetic, economic, cultural, and spiritual reasons.

New Zealand's future as a nation relies on our maintaining a quality environment. This environment includes its natural and built elements as well as its social and cultural aspects. It is air, water, and land. It is plants and animals. It is people, their communities, and their social and cultural values.

An understanding of the many factors that influence the environment, particularly the impact of people, is critical to maintaining and improving environmental quality. People have modified the land, introduced plants and animals, and utilised both renewable and finite resources. Understanding and responding to people's impact on the environment therefore requires a multifaceted approach.

In response to growing awareness of the importance of the environment, the New Zealand Government has taken action in both international and national contexts. It has signed international agreements on climate change, biodiversity, protection of the ozone layer, and sustainability. In the local context, international concern about sustainability has been reflected in the Resource Management Act 1991. This Act provides the legislative framework within which New Zealand's natural and physical resources are sustainably managed. The Act also highlights the unique position of Māori by ensuring their right to exercise rangatiratanga (authority) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) in managing natural resources and the environment.

The Government's Environment 2010 Strategy takes the goal of sustainability and translates it into practical terms within the New Zealand context. The strategy's vision for the New Zealand environment is:

A clean, healthy and unique environment, sustaining nature and people's needs and aspirations. This vision is for an environment where:

the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil, and ecosystems is safeguarded;
biological diversity and spectacular scenery are conserved;
the basis is provided for sustainable development that meets the needs of present and future generations;
people are able to meet their needs, especially for employment, food, clothing, shelter, and education;
it is safe and healthy;
natural, renewable resources are not consumed faster that they can regenerate;
the natural treasures or taonga of Māori are protected, and the cultural practices of Māori associated with the environment are provided for;
leisure and recreational opportunities are provided for those who enjoy the outdoors.

This vision for the environment is holistic. It recognises the interdependence and interaction of people and the natural and physical environment. It is consistent with a Māori world view. It respects and supports the core values of a democratic, free and responsible society including "voice", "choice" and "personal security".

Ministry for the Environment, Environment 2010 Strategy: A Statement of the
Government's Strategy on the Environment, page 9

A key factor in achieving this environmental vision is education. A major outcome of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro was to advocate for Education for Sustainability to be available to people of all ages. Education, training, and public awareness were identified as key factors in responding to global concern about the state of the environment.

Education can give people the environmental and ethical awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviours needed for sustainable development. To do this, education needs to explain not only the physical and biological environment, but the socio-economic environment and human development.

Keating, The Earth Summit's Agenda for Change: A Plain Language Version of
Agenda 21 and the Other Rio Agreements, page 57

These ideas are reflected in the Environment 2010 Strategy, where the goal of Education for Sustainability is seen to be:

To encourage environmentally responsible behaviour and informed participation in decision-making by promoting Education for Sustainability throughout the community.

Environment 2010 Strategy, page 57

This goal is further elaborated in Learning to Care for Our Environment: Me Ako ki te Tiaki Taiao: A National Strategy for Environmental Education (Ministry for the Environment, 1998).

Education for Sustainability is a lifelong process. The focus of these guidelines, however, is on planning and implementing Education for Sustainability programmes as part of the New Zealand Curriculum Framework in primary and secondary schools. The New Zealand Curriculum Framework details the essential learning areas, essential skills, and attitudes and values that will enable students to develop the qualities needed to successfully create, contribute to, and participate in a sustainable future. Together with consistent policies and practices, the framework provides a means of meeting the aims of environmental education.

The Government's educational goals require programmes that enable students to realise their full potential as individuals and to develop a sense of the shared values that are integral to New Zealand society. An essential component of these shared values is respect for the diverse ethnic and cultural heritage of New Zealand people, with acknowledgment of the special place of Māori and of New Zealand's role in the Pacific and as a member of the international community of nations.

Education for Sustainability provides an effective means of achieving the Government's goals for both education and the environment.

Previous page | Table of contents | Next page