National Action Plan for Environmental Education

The Australian Government's policy on environmental education is outlined in Environmental Education for a Sustainable Future: National Action Plan, launched in July 2000. The National Action Plan was developed after considering comments on the discussion paper Today Shapes Tomorrow: Environmental Education for a Sustainable Future - A Discussion Paper (January 1999).

Key initiatives of the Plan include:

the establishment of the National Environmental Education Council (NEEC), an expert advisory body comprising people from a variety of sectors;
the establishment of the National Environmental Education Network (NEEN) comprising representatives from Commonwealth, State and Territory environment and education agencies to promote better coordination of activities;
the implementation of a research program to improve the quality of environmental education and achieve better outcomes (see Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES)); and
better resourcing of environmental education by including provision for funding of such activities in all departmental funding programs (see the Environmental Education Grants Program).

Sustainability Education Section
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601

Phone: 02 6274 1523
Fax: 02 6274 2510

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