The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adopting multiple approaches to deepen public knowledge on sustainable development. The new approaches include translating various environmental policies into the local languages.
The Deputy Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Bernice Heloo, announced this at a workshop organised by the EPA to engage stakeholders in the revision of the national Environmental Education Strategy.
Education
The Environmental Education Strategy is a document used to organise education for the public and aims at enlightening citizens to exercise their constitutional right to protect and safeguard the environment.
The document, which was implemented about 20 years ago, will be assessed and reviewed if necessary in the face of emerging environmental issues.
According to Dr Heloo, the integration and expansion of environmental education in the curricula of all levels of the educational system was essential in achieving sustainable development.
She urged the EPA to promote environmental educational programmes and projects through the media and integrate environmental education into non-formal educational programmes to enhance environmental literacy.
She said the education should encourage a clear understanding of the inter-relationship between and among economic, social, cultural, political and environmental issues.
Review
The Executive Director of the EPA, Mr Daniel Amlalo, said there was the need to review the document to identify the gaps and find new ways of addressing the emerging issues.
According to him, environmental education was evolving as new environmental challenges, such as climate change, sanitation and waste management, chemical use and illegal mining, were emerging.
He urged the participants to identify the new contents of the strategy document, its strengths and weaknesses and the mechanisms for its implementation.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, said pressure on the environment had led to its deterioration.
That trend of environmental degradation and pollution, she said, did not augur well for sustainable development, hence the need for environmental education to empower the citizens.
According to her, most of the environmental issues were related to behavioural issues and, therefore, individuals needed to develop responsible behaviour in environmental conservation.
She gave an assurance that the Ministry of Education would improve the capacity of the educational systems to prepare people to pursue environmentally sustainable development, including the development of curricula around environmental sustainability.
Education
The Environmental Education Strategy is a document used to organise education for the public and aims at enlightening citizens to exercise their constitutional right to protect and safeguard the environment.
The document, which was implemented about 20 years ago, will be assessed and reviewed if necessary in the face of emerging environmental issues.
According to Dr Heloo, the integration and expansion of environmental education in the curricula of all levels of the educational system was essential in achieving sustainable development.
She urged the EPA to promote environmental educational programmes and projects through the media and integrate environmental education into non-formal educational programmes to enhance environmental literacy.
She said the education should encourage a clear understanding of the inter-relationship between and among economic, social, cultural, political and environmental issues.
Review
The Executive Director of the EPA, Mr Daniel Amlalo, said there was the need to review the document to identify the gaps and find new ways of addressing the emerging issues.
According to him, environmental education was evolving as new environmental challenges, such as climate change, sanitation and waste management, chemical use and illegal mining, were emerging.
He urged the participants to identify the new contents of the strategy document, its strengths and weaknesses and the mechanisms for its implementation.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, said pressure on the environment had led to its deterioration.
That trend of environmental degradation and pollution, she said, did not augur well for sustainable development, hence the need for environmental education to empower the citizens.
According to her, most of the environmental issues were related to behavioural issues and, therefore, individuals needed to develop responsible behaviour in environmental conservation.
She gave an assurance that the Ministry of Education would improve the capacity of the educational systems to prepare people to pursue environmentally sustainable development, including the development of curricula around environmental sustainability.
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