Environmental Education and Extension
Summary
Environmental education and extension encompass formal and informal approaches aimed at enhancing knowledge, attitudes and skills that enable individuals and communities to engage in sustainable practices. Environmental education focuses on empowering learners through curricula, experiential activities and citizen science projects that foster environmental literacy and stewardship. Extension extends this learning beyond the classroom by delivering tailored information, technical assistance and participatory methods—such as farmer field schools, community workshops and personalised advisory services—that translate theoretical understanding into practical action. Together, these approaches address cognitive, affective and social dimensions of behaviour change, drawing on interdisciplinary insights from ecology, sociology and pedagogy. They play a pivotal role in tackling global challenges—from climate adaptation to biodiversity conservation—by building local capacities, promoting inclusive participation and linking research with policy and on-the-ground innovation.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Recent work has introduced and validated a Simple Model of Environmental Citizenship (SMEC) in adolescents, integrating self-education, abstract and concrete knowledge, environmental awareness and pro-environmental attitudes to predict young people’s capacity for environmental action. Structural equation modelling confirmed that these constructs interrelate to shape intentions and competencies for stewardship, offering a robust framework for the design and evaluation of future educational interventions.
Environmental Education and Extension publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in environmental education and extension across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Environmental education: A process of learning that enhances understanding of ecological systems, values and issues, and cultivates the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed for sustainable action.
Extension services: Programmes that deliver research-based information and practical assistance to non-formal learners—such as farmers and community groups—using participatory methods and local partnerships.
Environmental literacy: The capacity to interpret environmental information, evaluate risks and make informed decisions that promote ecological well-being.
Experiential learning: An educational approach that engages learners through direct experience, reflection, conceptualisation and active experimentation.
Citizen science: The involvement of non-professional volunteers in systematic data collection and analysis to advance scientific research and community engagement.
References
- Testing the simple model of environmental citizenship in a sample of adolescents. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2024).
- Does environmental education benefit environmental outcomes in children and adolescents? A meta-analysis. Journal of Environmental Psychology (2022).
- Changing Spanish preservice teachers' environmental attitudes with a citizen science program integrated in Environmental Education subject. European Journal of Education (2024).
- Empowering rural society through non-formal environmental education: An empirical study of environment and forest development community projects in Ethiopia. Heliyon (2022).
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