Lessons from Environmental Education: Developing Strategies for Public Consultation within the Georgia Basin Futures Project

Abstract

This paper describes an interdisciplinary project involving university researchers, community groups and industry partners in a collaborative dialogue about sustainability. The goal of the Georgia Basin Futures Project is to increase public and expert knowledge about issues of sustainability within the region of the Georgia Basin, British Columbia. The purpose of this paper is to consider whether environmental education is a fundamental component of public consultation processes about sustainability. The paper presents two possible strategies for sustainability education and examines the potential for adopting these strategies within the GBFP. The paper concludes with a section on the current directions within the GBFP community engagement team.