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Chapter Eight Education
Definitions and Concepts
8.1 This final thematic chapter broadly defines education as the provision of information and communication for the public regarding the environment. Information and education are used to persuade the public to adopt behaviours that are compatible with the water environment and to influence values, perceptions and understanding, while still allowing freedom of choice (Manning, 2001).
Scotland and UK
8.2 One Scottish study which exemplifies well the relevance of education to the values placed on the water environment is by Storrier and McGlashan (2006), who studied the Forth Estuary Forum's Coastal Litter Campaign, which aimed to raise public awareness of beach litter in the Firth of Forth. Beach cleans were implemented as a public participation exercise, an activity which focussed public attention on the issue of marine litter and created a sense of environmental responsibility. Education and information-provision helped local communities to see beach litter as a significant problem that impacts upon their local environment and they were willing to engage in the coastal management process to tackle this issue. Storrier and McGlashan conclude that raising public informed awareness is the only guaranteed way of reducing marine litter and that education is needed to modify public perceptions of beach litter. In this specific instance, active participation, in addition to information-provision and awareness-raising, was instrumental in supporting successful environmental education of the communities involved.
8.3 The importance of education, information provision, and communication with the public is also outlined in Myatt et al's (2003) study of public perceptions and attitudes towards a coastal realignment scheme in Brancaster West Marsh, Norfolk. Traditionally, public perceptions and attitudes have not favoured the realignment of coastal areas, however, Myatt et al hypothesise that, with education and appropriate information, local residents may come to show a high level of support for this type of strategy. A postal questionnaire, mainly of attitude statements, was used to elicit resident perceptions and attitudes of the local environment, coastal flooding, coastal defence and managed realignment. Findings from the Brancaster scheme suggested that residents with a higher regard for the Environment Agency were generally more accepting of the scheme, although the results could not conclusively determine whether the majority of the respondents supported the scheme. Qualitative data also highlighted conflicting views among residents on issues of sustainability, hard and soft defences, economics, the environment and consultation. This was thought to have resulted from information feedback deficiencies between the public and operating authorities. The study concludes that the information needs of local residents and access to information need to be appreciated as integral components in the process of public understanding to be addressed and assessed on a case-by-case basis.
8.4 Palutikof et al (2004) examined public perceptions of climate variability in the UK, through postal surveys with residents of southern England and central and southern Scotland, determining that the perceptions in England and Scotland differed significantly. Such locational differences, it was found, can be altered through increased communication and information provision.
8.5 As noted above, the Macaulay Institute's SERP initiative involves a number of projects relevant to education and increasing awareness. Their Rural Sustainability Programme, for example, looks at the impacts of policy changes upon society and the environment, including the introduction of the WFD. One of the key concepts driving SERP is to provide information about policy processes and the need to decode how people interact with information as expressed by different actors ( e.g. experts or vested interest groups) (Macaulay Institute, 2006).
Europe
8.6 Davos et al (2002) have compared attitudes towards coastal environments using four case studies in Belgium, Greece, Spain and the UK. A major finding of their study was that existing communication between the public and coastal managers was currently inadequate. But, with increased communication, willingness to participate in coastal zone management would be expected to grow.
8.7 Similar conclusions are made by Lewan and Soedergvist (2002) in their study of knowledge and recognition of ecosystem services amongst the general public in a drainage basin in Scania, Southern Sweden. They suggest that human preferences are partly dependent on knowledge and information, and conclude that a widespread recognition of ecosystem services in policy and economics cannot be expected until the public acquires a critical level of basic knowledge about functions in nature.
8.8 Again, the aforementioned ADVISOR project provides relevant material (2006). It has found that ostensible attempts to foster public participation is often limited to education and providing information, despite the need to involve the public as early as possible in the water policy process. Tools to promote public participation can include consultations, workshops, participatory modelling and citizens' juries.
8.9 The European Commission survey into the environmental attitudes found that the majority of Europeans feel well informed about the state of the environment ( TNS, 2005). Danish citizens reported feeling the most informed about environmental issues; the lowest scores were observed in Lithuania, followed closely by Portugal, where respectively only 34% and 39% of citizens felt well informed about environmental issues. Television news was by far the main source of information about the environment for European citizens. In most European countries, information on WFD implementation is available on the homepages of the competent authorities, along with links to other internet pages. Exhibitions, films, TV spots, press articles and similar actions are also means of communicating with the public about WFD.
8.10 German research for the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety suggest that the German public are generally well informed about environmental matters, deriving their information from a number of sources, including the media, publications and the internet. Environmental education has been successfully established in school curricula, teacher training courses and vocational training. Implementation of the WFD has allowed the German government to strengthen public participation in the design, implementation and assessment of environmentally relevant projects and policies. In the first four years following entry to the WFD, the main focus in Germany has been on information and education (Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, 2006). Ongoing public information and consultation for WFD will aim to further raise awareness of water protection issues among the public.
Global
8.11 Relevant literature from beyond Europe includes research by Alessa et al (2003), in their study of the intertidal zone of the Pacific Rim National Park, Canada, which examined the effects of human values, knowledge and perception. Attitudes, knowledge and perceptions were measured using a questionnaire survey and structured interviews undertaken in situ. It was shown that visitors who recorded less knowledge of intertidal ecology engaged in more anti-social behaviours than those recording more knowledge.
8.12 In another North American study, Bjorkland and Pringle (2001) discuss the importance of community education for the conservation of water environments. They claim that the inadequacy of current environmental education in the USA is apparent when examining the public's understanding of aquatic ecosystems. Despite more than twenty years of river conservation efforts, public knowledge of the degradation of the nation's riverine ecosystems and biodiversity is still extremely limited, pointing to the need for effective environmental education.
8.13 Based on the perspectives and experiences of school students in Australia and Brunei, a study by Fien et al (2002) explores how local cultural influences have an effect on the construction of youth environmental attitudes, highlighting the need for schools to do more in the area of environmental education.
8.14 The New Zealand Department of Conservation ( DOC) has an important educational role in the country's marine management framework. To address public perceptions and understanding of the marine environment, the DOC ran a public awareness campaign (Sea Our Future) during 2004-2005. During this, the public were educated on the importance of biodiversity, conservation and why the sea is so important and told about why that marine biodiversity is essential in a seascape (New Zealand Department of Conservation, 2006), deriving numerous educational and environmental benefits.
8.15 An additional relevant global text which also emerged during the literature search is by Krogmann et al (2001). Through a study of the perceptions of New Jersey farmers ( USA), the authors argue that communication efforts should focus on practical information to which farmers can relate.
Summary
8.16 Education, information-provision and communication are fundamental means by which the values that different groups of people assign to the water environment may be influenced and are increasingly being pursued as a central element of WFD implementation policy by European Governments. The review of the literature on education has revealed several important points, and, as Lee and Zhang (2005) recognise, attempts to educate the public should not assume the existence of a homogenous community of like-minded people.
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