Environmental Stewardship Education in Tuvalu, Part 1: The Role of Policy Alignment
Environmental stewardship is crucial for fostering sustainable development, particularly in vulnerable small-island developing states like Tuvalu. Government policies and frameworks play a vital role in shaping the education system, but inconsistencies in policy alignment often hamper efforts to embed Environmental Stewardship Education (ESE) into the national curriculum. We aimed to answer four questions: 1. What formal policies shape Environmental Stewardship Education (ESE) in Tuvalu? 2. Are national educational and environmental policies mutually consistent? 3. Are these national policies consistent with regional and global policies? 4. What challenges hinder the implementation of ESE in Tuvalu? These questions were addressed using a study of regional, international, and Tuvaluan online-available documentary assessments of national policies and frameworks in conjunction with those obtained from the Education Department. Our findings revealed that a combination of Tuvalu’s environmental and educational policies was instrumental in shaping ESE. Nationally, educational and environmental policies are internally inconsistent, as well as being inconsistent externally with regional and international policies. Recommendations for improving policy alignment and the sustainable integration of ESE into the curriculum are provided. The second part (Part 2) of our review covers the development and delivery of effective curricula for ESE.
Funding
Commonwealth Scholarship Commission
History
School affiliated with
- Department of Geography (Research Outputs)
- School of Natural Sciences (Research Outputs)
- College of Health and Science (Research Outputs)
Publication Title
SustainabilityVolume
17Issue
3Pages/Article Number
872Publisher
MDPIExternal DOI
eISSN
2071-1050Date Submitted
2024-11-11Date Accepted
2024-12-13Date of First Publication
2025-01-22Date of Final Publication
2025-01-22Funder
Commonwealth Scholarship CommissionRelevant SDGs
- SDG 4 - Quality Education
- SDG 10 - Reduced Inequality
- SDG 13 - Climate Action
- SDG 17 - Partnerships to achieve the Goal
- SDG 16 - Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
Open Access Status
- Open Access
Date Document First Uploaded
2025-01-22Will your conference paper be published in proceedings?
- N/A