Issues of Inclusion in Developing Environmental Education Policy: Reflections on B.C. Experiences

Abstract

The commitments which Canada took on in signing the United Nation's Agenda 21 agreement include developing our own national action plan for environmental education. In this article, we discuss some highlights (and low lights) in the recent history of environmental education policy development in British Columbia to illuminate some of the likely costs involved, and problems to be dealt with, in any attempt to reach national agreement on environmental education in Canada. The challenges include confronting the limits of bureaucratic, multi-stakeholder processes, and wrestling with questions of inclusion, access, and "Who is to count as an environmental educator?"