Abstract

GIUFFRE, Lidia; FORMENTO, Susana  and  RATTO, Silvia. Environmental education as a crosscutting issue for sustainable developement concepts included in Argentine regulations. Cienc. suelo [online]. 2007, vol.25, n.1, pp.75-80. ISSN 1850-2067.

Population environmental education must be conveyed  in all educational levels, in order to contribute to a deep knowledge of environmental protection laws. These include contents about environmental education, but with scarce diffusion and low adhesion. If environmental education could force a detailed knowledge about regulations, its application could be demanded by community actions. Moreover, environmental education is considered in regulations as a fundamental tool for sustainable development. There is a profuse legislation in Argentina, with more than 3,000 legal instruments of different hierarchical order and jurisdictional level. Three argentine laws were studied and compared: Environmental General Law (national): Law 25,675; La Pampa Environmental Law (province order): Law 1,914; and Environmental Education Law of Buenos Aires (city order): Law 1,687. These laws regulate the incorporation of environmental education in formal system (public and private schools and institutions, for all levels: initial, primary, secondary and university studies), non formal system (extra-curricular activities and/or extension inside the institutions), and non formal education (by means of massive instruments of communication and information). Environmental education is considered as the basic tool to generate values, behavior and attitudes according to a balanced environment, tending to the preservation of natural resources and their sustainable use, to increase population life quality. Social participation in decision of environmental protection aspects must be reinforced. Research processes must be stimulated and sustained, with stimulation of research in university institutions. Information access right is assured; every inhabitant must obtain environmental information from the authorities, if it is not legally considered as reserved information. The most important aspects about environmental education and sustainable development are present as an transversal axis of different jurisdictional application laws, but the enforcement  and control of those principles must be assured, considering that environmental laws in Argentina present a low efficacy and efficiency perception.

Keywords : Education; Environment; Argentine laws.

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