Bonding with the land: outdoor environmental education programmes and their cultural contexts

The issue of sustainable living has become an increasingly important theme in public discourse. Particularly in the last decade educators and researchers have paid much attention to people's relationships with the environment under the theme. 'Western' advocates of education for sustainability generally present as models the traditional approaches of indigenous peoples. However, contemporary attempts by indigenous peoples to 'bond' young people with the land have not been extensively investigated.

Following a careful selection process a total of seven educational programmes in the UK and North America were chosen to explore participants' core values and concerns regarding the environment. The research design was 'mixed' and based primarily on participant observation, supported by interviews and written surveys.

For the indigenous groups in North America, being 'on the land' was 'life' itself, and was tied strongly to their identity and well-being. Aspects of their culture and history were inseparable from the programmes, whereas for the groups in the UK, people visited 'wild places' primarily for personal enjoyment. The UK programmes studied aimed to cultivate a caring attitude towards the environment chiefly through conservation work. However, in contrast to the North American cases the experience was largely divorced from daily life and paid little attention to cultural and historical heritage.

The present study has made three significant contributions to the education literature concerning people's relationships with the environment. First, the nature of these relationships varies depending on cultural and social setting and the local context plays a vital role in developing the relationships. Second, a fundamental change in people's relationships with nature requires ontological transformation. Third, while it may be beneficial to adopt certain elements from North American programmes in the UK or vice versa, educators cannot simply duplicate cultural models as education needs to be culturally and locally appropriate.

These programmes were experimental and evolving. Further research is required to investigate models of education for sustainability that are culturally and locally appropriate to each place.