Environmental education development in Malta : a contextual study of the events that have shaped the development of environmental education in Malta

Abstract

This paper discusses the historic development of environmental education in Malta and identifies environmental non-governmental organisations as the main promoters of environmental education in Malta. Environmental awareness started to increase as a response to major environmental issues on the island, but was a long affair, hindered in its development by a number of factors, including the governments’ non-committal policy, the colonial mentality and the highly competitive educational system. European Union accession had a positive impact on the development mainly due to the imposed requirements. Subsequent governments have realised the importance of environmental education as an effective solution to ensure environmental sustainability. Nonetheless, as environmental education goals take a long time to be achieved, the lack of short-term achievements may be somewhat hindering its development. A context-based environmental education development model was designed to illustrate the complex relations identified in the study. The study suggests a commitment towards locally produced materials, genuine environmental non-governmental organisations and funding up of a co-ordinating centre for the promotion of environmental education at all academic levels.