Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Using RBE approaches better ensures that issues of environmental protection and
ecological restoration are addressed in K-12 schools. Doing so can address the long-
standing support among parents and adults (96 percent and 95 percent, respectively)
for EE in schools, which dates back to 1997. For example, a 2001 survey suggested
that 75 percent of adults believed the interdisciplinary field of EE is as important as
English or math (Coyle 2005). Through RBE initiatives, students have opportunities
to positively affect their local school landscape while learning about multiple disci-
plines and life skills, such as collaboration, decision making, and scientific knowl-
edge. In addition, having open spaces, water, and life—trees, flowers, grasses, animals,
and other diverse life-forms—fosters innate human creativity and imagination among
children, according to architect Simon Nicholson's theory of “loose parts” (1971).
Likewise, Harvey's (1993) study of 845 eight- to eleven-year-old students' experiences
in British schools suggests that students from schools with more vegetation and com-
plexity in their school landscape features had greater botanical knowledge and envi-
ronmental dispositions. Such biological diversity can enhance opportunities for learn-
ers to explore the natural world, reconnecting in ways that some argue is biophilic or
having an inborn human affinity to connect with life and lifelike processes (Wilson
1984; Kellert and Wilson 1993; Kellert 1997, 2002). Future lines of inquiry should
continue to explore the ecological and educational effects of engaging learners in res-
toration processes, as these arenas seem inextricably intertwined.
Connections to Place and People
Situated in the heartland of the North American prairie, the Prairie Plains Resource
Institute's whole-systems, community-based, integrated approach to ecological resto-
ration, education, community, nature, and agriculture is grounded in a particular
geographic place (see chap. 23, this volume). Their programming for youth and
adults offers integrated perspectives of nature, and their hands-on experiences to con-
nect with the outdoors are designed to instill a “sense of place” for the people they
interact with in Nebraska. Other programs, such as Environmental Concern's Wet-
land Learning Center (http://www.wetland.org/educationhome.htm), Britain's Learn-
ing Through Landscapes (http://www.ltl.org.uk/), and the Canadian nonprofit Ever-
green's School Ground Greening (http://www.evergreen.ca/en/programs/schools
/index.sn), bring nature, education, and sense of place together for children and their
teachers to explore.
Sense of place is a complex idea studied in a multitude of disciplines because it re-
lates to the biophysical as well as the psychological, sociocultural, political, and eco-
nomic dimensions (Ardoin 2006; Chalquist 2009). Given its inherent interdiscipli-
nary dimensions, sense of place is a concept that environmental educators can
embrace, especially since EE is intended to explore the natural, social, economic, and
cultural aspects of the built and nonbuilt environment (UNESCO/UNEP 1978).
An educational approach to engaging learners in a local “place”—as RBE does—
must be culturally responsive and allow for broad perspectives about what is meant by
“environment.” Educators must be culturally competent, acknowledging the inter-
