Environmental Adult Learning and Transformation in Formal and Nonformal Settings

Abstract

This manuscript identifies some of the challenges associated with environmental adult transformation (EAT) in formal and nonformal adult education settings. The authors argue that while environmental transformations are necessary to enhance global environmental sustainability, there are difficulties in achieving the necessary attitudinal and behavioral transformations that will eventually lead to global environmental action and stewardship. Drawing on their experiences as environmental educators, the authors analyze environmental adult learning and EAT in two U.S. settings——formal (universities) and nonformal (municipal/local government). The authors conclude that although environmental transformations are highly favored in order to enhance global environmental sustainability, transformations are not always clear-cut or achievable. Nonetheless, the authors find that the types of education practices in which formal and nonformal educators are engaged are both beneficial to environmental education as a whole and environmental adult education specifically.