Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
PART VI
Perspective:
Restoration-Based Education
Educating people about ideas and practices is essential in order to ensure the success
and longevity of any human endeavor. Moreover, education provides critical personal
and cultural perspective to practices such as ecological restoration, for young and old
alike. In recent years, some educators have promoted eco-literacy in schools through
the use of interdisciplinary and experiential activities. In such situations, ecological
problems and problem solving are integrated throughout the curriculum, and stu-
dents and teachers experience hands-on interaction with the natural environment.
Fortunately, ecological restoration is ideally suited for this type of education, and
restoration-based education has increasingly found its way into schools throughout
the United States and elsewhere. The chapters in this section describe the progress
being made in this area.
In the lead chapter, Elizabeth McCann presents an overview of basic considera-
tions when planning and implementing restoration-based education initiatives. She
describes various learning styles, short- and long-term program planning, community
involvement and evaluation, and how they enhance the quality of restoration educa-
tion efforts. Her coverage of these topics is comprehensive and informative for teach-
ers, school administrators, and parents who are concerned about raising the eco-
literacy of their children and communities.
McCann's chapter is followed by a case study from the prairies of Middle America,
where William S. Whitney and the Prairie Plains Resource Institute have used eco-
logical restoration efforts, hikes on lands entrusted to them, and the Summer Orien-
tation About Rivers program to involve and educate their community and regional
leaders about their Platte River environment and its ecological importance. Whitney's
experiences provide an excellent example of the kind of local-level education that is
being provided by nonprofits throughout the world, and how ecological restoration
fits into that picture.
Kern Ewing and Warren Gold continue this exploration of education in their
discussion of a college-level education program that is based on ecological restora-
tion. This program, known as the University of Washington Restoration Ecology Net-
work, offers students a unique learning experience by offering pertinent classes and
