Effective environmental education and the Bronte Catchment Citizens' Jury
Introduction
In 1999, the Stormwater Trust funded Waverley Council and the UNSW Schools of Social Science and Policy and Civil and Environmental Engineering to design and implement innovative models of environmental education across the Waverley local government area. The project, 'Effective Environmental Education: Working with the community and small business' (Effective Environmental Education Project), was funded through the Stormwater Trust Stage 2 Grants program
The work was continued in a Stormwater Trust Stage 3 funded project in 2000, conducted by the team from UNSW (now at Elton Consulting) on behalf of Waverley Council. This project was known as the 'Enhanced Environmental Management through Local Community Participation' project, or the Bronte Catchment Citizens Jury Project.
Both projects are separate yet interconnected examples of source control approaches to stormwater pollution.
The Effective Environmental Education Project measured changes in attitudes, values, knowledge and behaviour, as a result of innovative community education campaigns
The Bronte Catchment Citizens' Jury Project built on this work, taking the focus from education into participation and community engagement
Both case studies offer valuable lessons for dissemination across a range of audiences, including local councils, environmental educators, community development workers, state government departments and agencies, community groups, universities, environment centres and researchers. They are also relevant both nationally and internationally, where they represent the cutting edge of new approaches to education, participation, governance and environmental management.