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CHILDREN'S ATTITUDES TO SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT
CHAPTER FIVE THE ROLE OF THE INFORMAL EDUCATION SECTOR IN DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT MESSAGES
5.1 In addition to formal education received by young people, there are a number of routes by which they may receive guidance, information or inspiration related to sustainable transport, outside of the school environment. These have been briefly reviewed for significance in developing sustainable transport objectives in the list below.
5.2 As mainly voluntary organisations, the activities and priorities of these organisations will be guided in the main by the adults that are involved in delivery, although varying degrees of guidance and "curriculum" themes are produced by some of the organisations. Resources and material relating to sustainable transport, developed specifically for this target audience, are limited.
- Voluntary Sector Organisations. Many charities and NGOs build upon the interest of young people in environmental issues by producing specific activities and resources for them. While most are concerned with issues of greater interest to young people (as discussed briefly in following section e.g. animal welfare), some specifically cover transport, and related topics such as air pollution, climate change and energy use. These organisations attempt to cover local issues as well as global and development-related topics, and may do this through local groups and clubs.
- Uniformed organisations such as Scouts Movement, Boys Brigade, Guides Movement etc. These organisations in general aim to promote the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials, as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities. Environmental work is a significant aspect of activities, but tends to focus on the natural environment and global development issues (Scout Association, 2002, Guides Association, 2003). The Woodcraft Folk engage young people specifically with an environmental approach; they produce resources and activities on sustainability, including one on transport - relating to Climate Change.
- Youth Groups and Organisations, including church-based groups. Youth work is a learning activity that specialises in social and emotional competence, and has the potential to contribute greatly to the development of young people's skills. It addresses a range of issues from citizenship to environmental education, and community safety to health education. Youth work is particularly successful in engaging with those young people who are excluded and disadvantaged. Local authorities and the voluntary sector are the main providers of youth work in Scotland. Some churches and their youth groups are addressing environmental issues through the eco-congregation programme. This does not yet address transport as a specific issue.
- Community education. The following priorities can be identified for community education's work with young people.
- Promoting lifelong learning and healthier, more positive lifestyles within the context of community and voluntary activities
- Involvement with young people (school age or over) to help them develop in a positive way.
- YouthLink Scotland is carrying out a review of youth-work provision in Scotland, covering both the voluntary and statutory sectors. This will highlight any gaps between supply and demand; record examples of good practice; and show any duplication. This review should include the current status of transport issues within youth work activity. (Scottish Executive, 2003a)
- Within youth group work, issues relating sustainable development or perhaps more commonly, environmental subjects will be one element within a wide range of topics covered in informal education work. While global issues are covered to some degree, it is more common for local concerns to feature highly - discussions then become much more animated. (Sustainable Development Education Panel, 2000a). This is an important finding for transport, as this is very much a local issue, and youth work settings allow for discussion of short-term local transport needs set against longer term needs of society. Activities or events (such as road accidents, major congestion or poor air quality) may be useful triggers for engagement, interest and discussion of the related transport topics. In rural areas, accessibility and travel needs are likely to be of great importance to young people and discussion of these within a sustainable development context will assist with understanding.
- There is scope for development of curriculum frameworks for environmental youth work which attempts to address the issues surrounding transport and travel choices.
- Out of School Care Clubs or Services. These are services that provide care for school-age children:
- before school starts in the morning (breakfast clubs);
- after the end of the school day (after-school clubs); and
- during school holidays (playschemes or all-day care).
- The benefits of such care are not just in economic terms for parents in employment but in the social development of the children themselves. It is mostly the children of working parents who use OSC, but this is not always the case. Recent estimates are that 1 in 9 children in Scotland have an OSC place. As well as having a role in developing attitudes relating to citizenship and sustainable development, OSC has a central role to play in contributing to the physical education and physical activity levels of young people through its ability to links with schools, community and the home (Scottish Executive, 2003a).
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