At a few recent meetings of EECOM, the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), and the World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC), a group of EECOM members and Canadian educators considered the need for a more organized national focus on environmental and sustainability education. Through a process involving many practitioners, scholars, and students, and through the offices of the Leader of the Green Party of Canada, Elizabeth May MP, the following petition has been produced that can be presented to the House of Commons.
- Given current ecological, social and economic crises, our collective future depends on all levels of government and Canadians to make informed and responsible decisions regarding environment and sustainability matters;
- We have entered an age whereby human impact is approaching many ecological system boundaries such as fresh water usage, atmospheric pollution, and extinction of species;
- The current state of environmental education in Canada is inadequate to address these challenges and empower citizens to understand the complexity of the issues and take effective action; and
- The government of Canada should provide coherent national leadership in environmental and sustainability education and recognize the importance of Indigenous knowledges and practices in the education of Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to:
- Take a leadership role in enacting a Canadian strategy that supports educators, communicators, community leaders, as well as provincial and municipal governments to take actions that result in healthy, sustainable, and flourishing human and ecological communities; and
- Recognize fresh air, clean drinking water and healthy food as being human rights for all Canadians.