Sustainability Education Professionals and Environmental Adult Education: Who, Where, and What?
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Sustainability and Environmental Adult Education
Presentation Format Requested
Concurrent Session (45 minutes)
Session Abstract
As active decision-makers with social and political agency, adults represent a vital audience for environmental adult education (EAE) and sustainability education. In this session, presenters will explore the current state of EAE, focusing on the professional contexts, roles, and goals of educational efforts in these fields.
Target Audience
This session is relevant to adult education scholars and practitioners, program developers, administrators, training professionals, and individuals who are interested in and wish to learn more about environmental and sustainability education.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this session, in the context of environmental adult education and sustainability education, participants will be able to:
• Describe who is working in the field, and in what context.
• Generalize the educational goals within these contexts.
• Identify the occupational roles of educators.
Session Description
Individuals, communities, and society at large are facing complex, urgent challenges regarding the natural world. The interdependences among our planet, human health and well-being, and economic resilience have never been more apparent. Education is a key component of creating an environmentally literate and responsive citizenry capable of navigating these multifaceted issues. As active decision-makers with social and political agency, adults represent a vital audience for environmental adult education (EAE) and sustainability education. Yet, despite decades of international and national calls for adult education to be a catalyst and long-term solution for an ecologically-oriented society, it largely remains an underdeveloped field. The purpose of this session is to explore the current state of EAE and the roles of sustainability education professionals. By doing so, we may assess the field’s scope and breadth with respect to the role of adult education in preparing and mobilizing individuals and communities towards environmental literacy and a sustainable future. In this session, presenters will share and discuss findings, within the context of EAE and sustainability education, addressing the questions presented in this session’s title:
- Who are EAE professionals and what are their roles?
- Where are EAE professionals working?
- What are educational goals within these contexts?
Format & Technique
To begin, presenters will share a brief overview of EAE and sustainability education to situate the conversation about professionals working in these fields. Next, presenters will discuss their investigation and findings related to EAE and sustainability education professionals, their occupational contexts and roles, and educational goals within their professional contexts. Lastly, we will engage attendees in a discussion of the challenges presented by the the diversity of these fields, how this variability can affect professionals, and implications for the future of EAE and sustainability education.