20+ Years of Environmental Education Centers in Greece: Teachers’ Perceptions and Future Challenges

Abstract

For the first time after decades of expansion and systematic innovative practice, environmental education in Greece faces an uncertain future as a result of the contemporary political and economic crisis. This research aims to contribute to the international exchange of good practices by focusing on the effects and functions of the Greek network of Environmental Education Centers. A nationwide survey suggests that Environmental Education Centers act as nuclei for the dissemination of environmental education leading to projects that are associated with multiple benefits for participating students.

Notes

Hellenic Ornithological Society, the Greek branch of WWF, Medsos, Mom, Kallisto, Arktouros, Hellenic Society for the Protection of the Environment and the Cultural Heritage, EKBY, Archelon Medies (Mediterranean Education Initiative for Environment and Sustainability), and MIO-ECSDE (Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development) are all active providers of environmental education in Greece.

As part of a multilateral cooperation, a municipality or other public authority offers the building (often an old school abandoned by urbanism trends), the Ministry of Education provides staffing and guidelines and the European Union funds operational costs through strategic pacts aimed at times to sustainable development, educational innovation and lifelong learning.

The long term endurance of EECs can be attributed to a cross scale networking that spans from grassroots movements to supranational conglomerations. According to David Orr (1992), resilient systems display modular, dispersed structures with multiple interconnections between components.

A sample made of eight public kindergartens, 40 public primary schools, two private primary schools, 24 public high schools, one private high school, 16 public lyceums (colleges), one private lyceum, and eight public vocational high schools was designated.

The questionnaire from the extra school was accepted in the data processing, on the following rationale: (a) the school was inside the initial sample scope of the survey, (b) the limits of the stratified sampling were respected, (c) this lead to the enrichment of the data pool, and (d) it strengthened the credibility of the research by the inclusion of all valid data points.

Both this and previous surveys indicate that among teachers who have attended seminars emanating from EECs, participation in environmental education projects increases 2.2 to 2.6 fold (Yanniris, 2011; Mavrikaki et al., 2004).

European Union education specialists, on study visits in Greece, noted “the incorporation of history, culture, mythology and ancient spirituality into the teaching of the study of environment and sustainability (Greece)” and proposed the communication to the political level of “A holistic approach for the teaching of environmental—history, culture, mythology and the ancient religions to show the importance of the environment. This would be done as appropriate to the culture and folklore of each country” (CEDEFOP, 2012).