The Minister's Speech

Note: The Minister departed from these prepared notes to emphasis points of particular importance and concern to her. Notable examples were when she discussed the particular challenge to educators created by survey evidence of diminishing concerns for the environment among the younger generation and when she spoke of her focus on waste. Text referred to by Bonus Joules is highlighted in colour.

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````Hon Marian Hobbs

Minister for the Environment

Opening address to the first conference of the
New Zealand Association for Environmental Education

17 January 2002

It is great to see so many people here in Hamilton for this first conference of the New Zealand Association for Environmental Education. Thank you for inviting me to give the opening address. Over the next few days you are going to have loads of opportunities to discuss some interesting initiatives, get into the environment on field trips and, hopefully, take away some great new ideas that you can use in your own work or activities.

Today I want to talk a little about where environmental education has come from over the past few years in New Zealand and discuss my ideas on where is ought to go or might go. I speak to you wearing two hats: Minister for the Environment and Associate Minister of Education responsible for curriculum.

In 1998 the Government adopted the National Strategy for Environmental Education, Learning to Care for our Environment. This was a recognition by the Government of the importance of education in helping us sustain our unique environment. The strategy identified the objectives for central government’s work in environmental education – to encourage coordination, networking and integration, and to build capacity within various groups to enable them to develop and implement effective programmes. It provided a stimulus for organisations such as councils to invest in environmental education programmes and initiatives.

The Strategy also identified the need for work within the Ministry for the Environment and other central government agencies to integrate environmental education and awareness-raising about environmental issues with their policy work. (Remember Environment is unique in government departments, as it is a small policy ministry with the work being done by our partners in local government). Over the past few years the Ministry for the Environment has increasingly focused not just on consulting the relevant sectors of the community in developing the policy but also on engaging in partnerships with various key groups to raise awareness and implement policy. This is a task that will never end.

The national environmental education strategy also provided the impetus for the Ministry of Education to develop and implement the Guidelines for Environmental Education for Schools. And I want to focus on this in a minute.

With the advice of the Environmental Education Coordinating Group and Maori Focus Group, the Ministry for the Environment established a separate topic area on environmental education in the Sustainable Management Fund. Many excellent projects have been funded – not least of which is this conference itself. Other excellent examples include Enviroschools, Sustainable Households, Businesscare, SHMAK, Life’s a Beach, Action by Community, Clean-up New Zealand, and PAC-IT. Even in other topic areas such as making environmental legislation work effectively, many of the projects supported by the Sustainable Management Fund have had a strong component of education and awareness raising.

Over the past few years we have had regular input on a range of subjects from the Environmental Education Coordinating Group and the Maori Focus Group, which were established as one of the initiatives to encourage integration and coordination. I recognise the commitment of those people to improving environmental education in New Zealand.

It is also worth noting that now nearly every regional council in the country has an environmental education officer, and an education strategy, plan or programme in place. Many city and district councils are also involved in environmental education. The council network of environmental educators continues to meet regularly to share information, resources and ideas. Councils lead many of the projects that have been funded by the SMF.

Here I want to recognise the extensive and valuable work being done by local government in environmental education and to emphasise its importance. “Our environment” is not an abstract concept – it’s the land, the water, the air, and trees, the birds, the buildings and the roads that make up the places where each of us live. People learn first – and best – to care about the streams and forests and beaches and species living in their “patch”. “Think global, act local” isn’t just a slogan.

I also want to commend the efforts of the schools, voluntary organisations, community groups and businesses involved in local environmental education, and the others such as NZAEE, teacher trainers, etc, who support these people and groups behind the scenes.

And now to focus on the schools and the issue of environmental education in the curriculum.

Early on in my term as minister, after meetings with some of you in this audience, I asked to meet with the Ministry of Education. As a recent principal, I was very reluctant to have another essential learning area added to the school curriculum. I was also very much aware of the fragility of saying that environment issues could be taught in social studies, science, health and technology and leaving it up to enthusiasts in schools.

Enthusiasts need a group to reflect with, and to argue with the Board’s curriculum committee. Enthusiasts get burnt out [and might leave schools to work local government].

At that time I was disturbed because I could not see that just by implementing some NCEA awards we could achieve a change. I supported very strongly Barry Law’s work in professional development and teacher education – but we needed something stronger.

But good things happen, even when not planned. While environment educationalists have been lobbying for the Education Ministry to take over this issue (something I don’t agree with) – schools have been pleading the case of an overloaded curriculum. The process of a curriculum stock-take is now going on and that stock take will perhaps provide us with the necessary teeth for environmental education within the curriculum.

Remember our national curriculum has: Principles, essential learning areas, essential skills, attitudes and values.

Much of the work of environmental education consists of slotting in achievement objectives into strands in ELAs.

As well as these that we pick and choose – we could also include environmental/sustainable development in principles, essential skills and in attitudes and values – therefore would be monitored when ERO visits.

So while some of you see the foreword in Environmental Education in NZ Schools as a cop-out, because environmental education is not added to curriculum requirements – we can get it into the curriculum in other mandated ways.

So we have come a long way in the past few years. But we all know that we are still some way from a society of “individuals, families and communities with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that result in sound environmental behaviour”, as envisaged in the strategy.

We often say to each other that young people are very concerned about the environment. The implied message here is often that they are more concerned than those of us who have reached more mature years. I’m not convinced this is true.

Sure there are many young people who are very concerned about our environment and who are prepared to get their hands dirty – literally or figuratively – to do something about it. For example on World Environment Day last year I gave a Green Ribbon Award to Paparore School in the Far North, which has been replanting an area once abundant in native trees – and has already put in more than 8,000.

Just as an aside – I’m about to call for nominations for the 2002 Green Ribbon Awards. So if you know of people dedicated to raising awareness of environmental issues or “kids who care”, and you think they deserve an award, make sure the Ministry for the Environment hears about it.

But there are indications in both public attitude research carried out last year by Massey University and in the responses to the Rio+10 community programme that younger people are less concerned about our environment than we like to think.

Those under 18 returned 25% of the Rio response forms. Compared with responses from their elders, this group was significantly more likely to think that the health of the environment is OK. They were more likely to think that New Zealand has done enough about environmental issues in the last decade, and they were significantly less likely to give a high priority to action on most environmental issues.

Now, you might dismiss this as a one-off aberration in the light of traditional wisdom. Except that the Massey University research as part of the International Social Survey Programme last year also showed nearly 20 percent of those under 30 were not much concerned about environmental problems. When we compare younger people with older New Zealanders, a smaller percentage of young people said that they valued aspects of our environment such as unpolluted water, healthy soils, and our unique plants and animals. In fact, age-group analysis of this survey showed that the older you are the more concerned you are about our environment.

It’s worth thinking about – especially in terms of where we target our environmental education efforts.

It is not a case of educating the young at schools or educating the community – it is both. We cannot wait until our children have grown and taken responsibility for our planet. Our businesses need education about resource management, about energy use, about waste minimisation. Our farmers need education about biodiversity, about protecting waterways, about burning and dioxin emissions. Every New Zealand voter needs to understand and participate in local planning and granting of consents. We have much learning to do.

Earlier I talked about what has been achieved in supporting environmental education over recent years. I’d like to focus now on my vision for the future and where I am asking the Ministry for the Environment to turn their attention.

Last year I put together my strategic statement for the Environment Portfolio, which sets out my vision of making our clean green image a reality. I’m sure I don’t have to tell people like you that New Zealand at the moment is “somewhat clean, still green around the edges”. Most of us know that there’s a gap between image and reality. And what we need to do – as they say on the London Underground – is “mind the gap”.

I consider that one of the barriers to making progress is that people don’t recognise the environmental problems and our role in causing them. Even those who do care – and material such as the Rio responses and Massey research that I mentioned earlier shows that many do – are often not sufficiently motivated to change their behaviour. Most of us need a bit of a push to change the habits of a lifetime – even if that habit is as simple as leaving the tap running while we brush our teeth.

So New Zealanders as a whole need to learn more about our environment, they need to “own” the problems and the solutions, and they need a “bridge”. By a “bridge”, I mean that they need to know about the simple things they can do and the encouragement to take the first steps…and then the next few steps. That’s where many of you – especially those working in local government – come in.

Let me be absolutely clear that my concern is with changing behaviour so that are everyday actions sustain rather than impact on our environment. It doesn’t matter why people change their behaviour, as long as they do. I see education as being one tool in our toolbox to change behaviour, along with incentives and regulation.

Over the last decade or so, the Ministry for the Environment’s educational efforts have been largely focused on local government – both staff and councillors – and business (in which I include the farming community). Let me give you some examples.

Getting under way about now is a series of training seminars for new local government councillors, run in conjunction with Local Government New Zealand and the Planning Institute. The seminars, a repeat of those run after the last two local government elections, are intended to make sure that new councillors understand their environmental responsibilities.

Another example: late last year the Ministry ran a series of workshops for water managers to educate them about new guidelines for monitoring the state of New Zealand’s beaches. This year it’s planning a series of workshops to teach farmers about managing streams on their farms, with the aim of reducing pollution of our streams and rivers. It’s also helping fund the work of the Landcare Trust in working with the rural community. These are not isolated instances, but examples of ongoing work in education and capacity building.

However, I have asked the Ministry to also focus much more on awareness and education in the wider community. We need to motivate and empower all people to own the problems and the solutions. I see a role here for the Ministry for the Environment that will complement – not duplicate – what all of you good people in local government, voluntary organisations and the formal education sector are already doing.

There are efforts to reach the public more effectively already under way. Some of you may be aware of a series of simple colourful booklets that include an introduction to the Resource Management Act, information on what to expect if you try to realise your dream of living in the country, and guidance for those buying a property. The Climate Change Programme has some great posters and leaflets aimed at young people and teachers.

But perhaps our biggest education effort will come this year to help us implement our waste strategy.

Why my focus on waste?

It is something we all produce. Therefore it is something we can all learn to manage and to minimise. We can all change our habits and make a difference. It is not something for just the motivated fringe.

Therefore it needs a massive community education programme and I hope we get the resources to achieve this.

You are enthusiasts. Some of you are weary from banging your heads on government doors.

My message to you is positive. In schools, there are some changes in the compulsory curriculum area that will give environmental education opportunities and muscle.

There is much excellent work that has been done in the community and there is going to be more. Every national environmental standard and every strategy now has an education component, because without an informed community we will not get change.

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