Community Empowerment through Environmental Education

Environmental education aims to create an environmental ethic that fosters awareness about the ecological inter-dependence of economic, social and political factors that influence community development. Thus, it is important to integrate environmental education into community development programs because a heightened awareness of environmental issues and their implications can initiate new patterns of behavior towards the environment. Changes in values, attitudes and behavior toward the environment can ultimately result in a better quality of life. Environmental education generates a collective effort to recognize and to dismantle social structures and learned practices that threaten common environmental resources. That knowledge and understanding can empower community members, as grassroots participants, to make appropriate decisions for sustainable community development.