Source: Salva La Selva
Led by Daniel Couceiro, I was priviledged to join a group of reflective practitioners and colleague Valentina Tassone on the meaning of stewardship in a troubled highly biodiverse region Here you have the main premise of the paper but please go to the full paper for a more in-depth encounter with the work.
Nature degradation is rooted in the disruption of the human-land connection. Its restoration requires the regeneration of environmental stewardship as a way to live within environmental limits, especially for younger generations. In this study we used the implementation of a year-round, non-formal environmental education program during COVID-19 times to explore environmental stewardship in adolescents between 14- and 18-years old from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Using a qualitative methodology, we mapped expressions of environmental stewardship among local youth. We found several barriers that can be challenged and levers that can be nurtured through inclusive, place-based and collaborative environmental education strategies to foster youth’s environmental stewardship in Colombian’s high-biodiverse regions.
Full citation and link to open access paper:
Daniel Couceiro, Ivona Radoslavova Hristova, Valentina Tassone, Arjen Wals & Camila Gómez (2023) Exploring environmental stewardship and youth engagement in biodiversity among youth from a high-biodiverse region in Colombia, The Journal of Environmental Education, DOI: 10.1080/00958964.2023.2238649
Transformative learning 
Good day, Dr. Wals!
I’m dane, a faculty member at the School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM), University of the Philippines Los Baños in the Philippines. We are currently exploring a new graduate program on environmental education and your body of work is a crucial reference for our proposed program.
As one of the assigned committee members to help craft this program, I am particularly interested in hearing your thoughts and reflections about what makes a unique and excellent environmental education program. If your time would allow, I could set-up a Zoom room to let me know your thoughts about improving environmental education approaches.
Sincerely,
dane