title: College and university environmental programs as a policy problem (part 1): integrating knowledge, education, and action for a better world?
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.
authors.affiliation: School of Forestry and Environmental Studies & Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. susan.g.clark@yale.edu
authors.forename: Susan G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Murray B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Rutherford
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Auer
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Cherney
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Mattson
authors.forename: Douglas A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Foote
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Krogman
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wilshusen
authors.forename: Toddi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Steelman
mesh_terms: D004463:Ecology / Q000193:education* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D058025:Interdisciplinary Studies; D014495:Universities