I am fortunate to be one of the advisors to the Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP). The GEEP – which has been initiated a few years ago by the Environmental Protection Agency of Taiwan and the USA and coordinated by the NAAEE- is focused on building capacity for environmental education and sustainability around the world and using the power of education to help address global environmental and social problems. Its advisors are made up of researchers, policymakers, education practitioners, and others who represent government and non-governmental sectors from countries and regions around the world.

As environmental educators, we know that environmental education informs, inspires, and enlightens. It builds human capacity, provokes questions, enhances skills and shapes values and attitudes. It galvanizes individuals, families and communities to make informed decisions about the environment that lead to a sustainable society. Even more, it helps people connect deeply with each other, their communities, and the natural world.

Given the unprecedented challenges we face as a global society—from climate change and biodiversity loss to decreasing access to nature and a growing gap between the rich and poor—there has never been a more important time to scale up our environmental education efforts. Global leaders must make better use of education and capacity-building as strategies to improve the environment, along with tools of governance, regulation, economic and community incentives, and technology.

This Call for Action is asking the international environmental education community to take stock of where we are as a field and think ahead to the future. It includes ten draft actions, crafted with input from GEEP leaders from around the world, and is designed to get input from educators working in this field about our key priorities for the next decade.

You can help shape the future agenda by letting us know what you think. Which actions are most important? What’s missing? Visit ActNowForEE.org and cast your vote for your top three priorities and let us know what you think matters most. Your input will help create a global action plan for the next 10 years. Below you find the 10 proposed actions and here is a link to the brief survey where you can provide your input: express your ideas here!