Environmental education for sustainable development

Dear readers, education has always been a fundamental tool for the world population to acquire knowledge on different topics, at present there are problems with the environmental balance that arise because of some activities caused by human beings and that sometimes are unaware of the negative effects they generate in the environment, likewise much is said about sustainable development but many are unaware of the principles and ways in which they can contribute to this paradigm.

In this sense, if an educational campaign is generated from different sectors, it is possible to create awareness of the human being towards the environment, forging knowledge, attitudes and desire to work on ecological alternatives that can be implemented by society to try to solve and prevent some of the current climate problems.

From the point of view of formal education, educational contents can be implemented from the first grades to the university level, such contents can be focused on making people understand that climatic processes or events are related to some phenomena related to some daily activities, for example from the point of view of agriculture, elements such as temperature and rainfall play an important factor in the process of germination of plants, which are the main contributors of food items for our food.

As has been pointed out in previous publications, the excessive use of some synthetic products has been the main cause of soil degradation, therefore, the farmer should receive guidance on this matter and let them know that although these products can help them to improve crop yields a little, their excessive use can cause long-term degradation of soil and other resources present in the ecosystem and that there are ecological alternatives that can be elaborated with resources present in the production units.

We are aware that technology is very valuable, but it must be used in a balanced way. We mention this because we had the opportunity to read an informative article where they mention that they have begun to develop artificial trees that mimic the process of photosynthesis and that can capture carbon dioxide and emit oxygen, It sounds fantastic from the point of view of carbon dioxide capture, but not from the point of view of natural processes, since plants emit organic matter that decompose to recycle nutrients, among many other ecological functions that would be impossible to replace them.

An important strategy would be the socialization of empirical and scientific experiences as well as sharing research results among teachers and communities to make known with reliable data the situation that is currently arising. Likewise, within the educational institutions, a connection of the subjects with the environmental aspect and sustainable development is required, for this, undoubtedly an interdisciplinary work is required, which should begin with the preparation of the teaching staff.

To achieve the proposed objectives, the teacher in charge must have mastery of the curricular unit that he/she teaches, on the other hand, the educational institutions must guarantee the educational preparation in the environmental area so that he/she can relate the topics with the climatic situation that is presented. Of course, research projects should be established to collect and demonstrate relevant information to achieve sustainability.

Finally, dear readers, in order to observe the progress of this type of strategies, indicators can be established to measure progress in environmental matters and the sustainable paradigm. Care for the environment has to be a major issue in different areas before it is too late and natural disasters continue to increase.