In making the links for sustainable development: why community environmental education needs women?

Abstract

The paper speaks across the divide between community environmental education and women to argue from the standpoint of feminist political ecology, environmental and social justice discourses for a more enabling reading into the importance of women in environmental education. It brings attention to the fact that without women taking an active part in environmental education, it will be impossible to achieve any form of sustainable development. The paper also shows that a pre-requisite to achieving sustainable development is the development of women’s personal and coping capability through increased knowledge and skills about environmental issues. The paper is undergird by the feminist political ecology theory as the theoretical framework with the Gender, Environment and Development (G.E.D) approach as a tool of analysis to expose the links between women , environmental education and sustainable development. The paper is based on literature review to make a case for the greater facilitative role of women in sustainable development that can only be realized if environmental education initiatives are designed in such a way that they mediate the problems of access and equity so that women are equally incorporated.