Educating The Educators: The Emerging Significance of Environmental Literacy Training for Educators

Environmental education (EE) is gaining significance in higher education institutes (HEIs) as they continue to integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in school curriculum. Consequently, the extant literature concerning the determinants, pedagogy approaches, and impact of EE is growing rapidly but is largely fragmented across multiple disciplines. This paper offers a systematic and interdisciplinary review of the literature concerning EE. The review contributes to the extant research by a) reporting the recent evolution of the literature cutting across multiple disciplines; b) identifying four broad emerging themes in EE research: role of universities as a change agent; curriculum design and pedagogical approaches; impact measurement and competency development; and foundations of environmental identity and behaviour; and c) suggesting several areas for future research. Based on the emergent themes, we argue that “educators” symbolise the principal thread that determines the success (or failure) of EE in HEIs. Yet, the extant literature provides limited understanding of the importance of the environmental literacy training (or lack thereof) for educators that significantly impacts various aspects of EE and enables (or hinders) educators in developing and imparting effective EE to students. Hence, we call for more research aimed at developing understanding of the current preparedness (e.g., awareness of current environmental issues), the adequacy of training (e.g., informed approaches to teach), and the availability of support systems for capacity building in academics engaged in EE (e.g., available financial support and opportunities for continuous professional development).