Environmental Sustainability Importance_of_Environmental_Education_to.pdf

AWER Procedia
Advences in Applied
Sciences
Vol 1 (2013) 1042-1045
1
st
Global Conference on Enrivonmental Studies 2013
Importance of Environmental Education to Achievement of
Sustainable Development
Sibel Erkal *, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara 06800,
Turkey.
Nihan Gürsoy , Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara 06800,
Turkey.
Suggested Citation:
Erkal, S. & Gürsoy , N. Importance of Environmental Education to Achievement of Sustainable Development.
AWERProcedia Advances in Applied Sciences . [Online]. 2013, 1, pp 1042-1045. Available from:
. Proceedings of Gobal Conference on
Environmental Studies (CENVISU-2013), 24-27 April 2013, Zeynep Sentito Hotel, Belek – Antalya, Turkey.
Received December 02, 2012; revised January 30, 2013; accepted March 24, 2013.
Selection and peer review under responsibility of Dr. Nehir Varol.
©2013 Academic World Education & Research Center. All rights reserved.
Abstract
In recent years there has been a growing consensus that environmental education should be orientated around
the idea of “sustainable development”. Sus tainable development refers to the conservation, protection and
regeneration of resources over an indefinite period of time. Central to sustainability is the idea that today
decisions affect the future of human health and well-being, the environment and the economy. The concept of
sustainable development was defined in 1987 by the brundtland commission as ‘development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Without
environmental sustainability it is impossible to achieve sustainable development.
Environmental education should provide experiences ofproblem-solving, decision-making and participation, with
considerations based on ecological, political, economic, social, aesthetic and ethical aspects. Pressing global
realities demand that we foster through education - the values, behaviour and lifestyles required for a
sustainable future.
The purpose of this article is to explore the importance of education for the achievement of sustainable
development.
Keywords:
Sustainable Development, Environment, Environmental Education.
*ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDANCE: Sibel Erkal , Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara
06800, Turkey, E-mail address: [email protected]

Erkal, S. & Gürsoy, N. Importance of Environmental Education to Achievement of Sustainable Development. AWERProcedia Advances in
Applied Sciences. AWERProcedia Advances in Applied Sciences . [Online]. 2013, 1, pp 1042-1045.
Available from:
1043
1. Introduction
In the present, the growing threat on the sustainability of natural resources and ecosystems on
earth makes it necessary to deal with the environmental education process with a new point of view
(1).