Index Home Join IPCC

Action 5. Environmental Education & Training

The development and implementation of mainstream environmental education and training programmes focusing on peatlands is needed.

Such programmes will involve not only imparting knowledge and information, but will seek to modify behaviour and develop lifestyles that are harmonious with the wise use of peatlands. As a result they will be life long and aimed at all sectors of society - citizens, communities, business and industry.

Environmental education is best defined as education that helps people to understand the forces that determine human behaviour in relation to the environment (natural and man-made). It must include a broad base of understanding, experience and skills that enable people to analyse and evaluate their own relationship to the environment on both a local and global scale. In addition, people also need to be taught skills that enable them to take part in decision making and in actions as consumers and producers that will lead to a sustainable use of the environment.

This process will start in schools but will also require a considerable re-design of professional and occupational training in higher education and in-service training. This is the challenge of Agenda 21, (the global plan of action on the environment adopted at the Rio Earth Summit 1992) - to make environment and development education available to people of all ages, throughout their lifetime (Keating 1993).

The RAMSAR Convention handbook on education and public awareness (2000) states that a peatland education programme is needed for three reasons. These are:

1. To generate a greater awareness among people about the functions, services and values of peatlands so they are perceived as important assets of the natural infrastructure of Ireland.

2. To motivate people to care about peatlands so that they become involved in policy formulation and hands-on planning and management of peatlands. This is the key to encouraging those behaviours that impact positively on wetlands and lead to the sustainable use of the resource.

3. To build support for peatland conservation and wise use amongst policy makers, the private sector and all sectors of society.

General Objective
To raise awareness of peatland conservation and wise use throughout Ireland and at all levels.

IPCC has concentrated on developing environmental education resources for primary and secondary schools, and has targeted this education sector with specialised courses for teachers. Our work in this area will continue to provide support, training and materials to the growing network of peatland environmental education sites and centres throughout the country.

Through the IPCC's outreach education programme we will work in a variety of ways to change those practices that act against peatland conservation and the wise use of peatland resources. Education will be used as a tool linked to legal and economic instruments to bring about change. The outreach programme will be targeted at a wide range of people, including key decision-makers, people living in and around peatlands, other peatland users, and the public at large.

Actions
3.5.1 Government should appoint the environmental information centre or ENFO Centre as the main focal point for peatland communication, education and public awareness in Ireland.

3.5.2 Dúchas The Heritage Service should be encouraged to make their information and expertise on the conservation and wise use of peatlands readily available to the public at large and particularly to practitioners and land managers.

3.5.3 Dúchas The Heritage Service should implement an outreach education programme that will motivate local communities to appreciate peatlands and to take year round action to ensure their wise use and conservation.

3.5.4 Appropriate national or sub-national agencies should incorporate peatlands as an environmental education theme in education programmes targeted at the following sectors: formal education, business and industry education and outreach community education.

3.5.5 Peatland teaching, learning and training resources should be developed which explore the ecological, economic and cultural functions and values of peatlands as well as their importance and relationship with people. The materials developed should include a broad base of understanding, experience and skills with contributions from local communities, particularly in areas where peatlands form a significant component of the landscape and culture.

3.5.6 Programmes of professional and in-service training at both practitioner and trainer levels focusing on peatlands should be designed and implemented.

3.5.7 The network of peatland education sites and centres should be expanded and further developed to promote model projects and/or research relating to the wise use of peatlands.

3.5.8 The public should be provided with educational materials that will enable them to make informed choices concerning lifestyle and consumer behaviour.

3.5.9 Public access to peatland information should be promoted through existing and emerging communication technologies.