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College and University Environmental Programs as a Policy Problem (Part 1): Integrating Knowledge, Education, and Action for a Better World?

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Abstract

The environmental sciences/studies movement, with more than 1000 programs at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, is unified by a common interest—ameliorating environmental problems through empirical enquiry and analytic judgment. Unfortunately, environmental programs have struggled in their efforts to integrate knowledge across disciplines and educate students to become sound problem solvers and leaders. We examine the environmental program movement as a policy problem, looking at overall goals, mapping trends in relation to those goals, identifying the underlying factors contributing to trends, and projecting the future. We argue that despite its shared common interest, the environmental program movement is disparate and fragmented by goal ambiguity, positivistic disciplinary approaches, and poorly rationalized curricula, pedagogies, and educational philosophies. We discuss these challenges and the nature of the changes that are needed in order to overcome them. In a subsequent article (Part 2) we propose specific strategies for improvement.

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Notes

  1. By positivism, we mean a philosophy that frames all matters of science as cause-and-effect relationships, constituted by variables whose identity and salience can be elucidated through empirical enquiry (Clark 2002, p. 92; Athearn 1994, p. 87). Furthermore, positivism promotes the view that all perceptions and cognitions mirror their contents, which are more or less a direct copy of the way the world is actually structured (Fogel 1993). The cognitive content of positivistic research is believed by proponents to be independent from the context in which the researcher lives and learns about the world.

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Acknowledgments

Denise Casey provided detailed critical review. Shirley Vincent and other colleagues also offered perspective. We appreciate discussions with all our colleagues and students too numerous to mention by name. We thank our host institutions. We also thank four anonymous reviewers who provided valuable critiques.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Forestry and Environmental Studies & Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Susan G. Clark

  2. School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Murray B. Rutherford

  3. School of Public and Environmental Affairs, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Matthew R. Auer

  4. Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    David N. Cherney

  5. Environmental Studies Program, Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA, USA

    Richard L. Wallace

  6. U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    David J. Mattson

  7. School of Environment & Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Douglas A. Clark

  8. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Lee Foote

  9. Department of Rural Economy, University of Alberta, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Naomi Krogman

  10. Environmental Studies Program, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, USA

    Peter Wilshusen

  11. Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Toddi Steelman

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  1. Susan G. Clark
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  3. Matthew R. Auer
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Correspondence to Susan G. Clark.

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Clark, S.G., Rutherford, M.B., Auer, M.R. et al. College and University Environmental Programs as a Policy Problem (Part 1): Integrating Knowledge, Education, and Action for a Better World?. Environmental Management 47, 701–715 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-011-9619-2

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