Humans and nature relationship : images and text of ecology and environmental education

The present study investigated whether and how ecology and environmental education (EEE) affects the understanding of the Human-Nature relationship by images and historical, ethical and socio-economical textual information existing in textbooks targeting 14-15-year old children. Four subtopics - Uses of Resources; Pollution; Biodiversity; Ecosystems and Cycles – from textbooks of 15 different European and African countries were specifically selected, analyzed and comparisons were made. Results indicated that ecocentrism is the starting position. Historical, ethical and socio-economical dimensions relating to EEE is usually poor. There were also limited references to juridical norms and international agreements concerning environmental protection, biodiversity and sustainability issues.European Project FP6 Biohead-Citizen CIT2-CT-2004-506015.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - LIBEC/CIFPEC - Unidade de investigação (16/644)

Teachers' conceptions on environment and GMO in twelve europen countries

We analyze the conceptions of 4248 teachers on Environment and GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms), in 12 European countries: Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania. Most of the differences between teachers' conceptions are observed inside each country. Some of them (related to preservation or utilization of Environment) significantly differentiate the 12 countries. Biology teachers have more knowledge on GMO and more opinions pro- GMO than their colleagues. Female teachers are significantly more anti-GMO than their male colleagues. More a teacher studied at University, more he or she thinks that the resources of our planet are limited.CIEC – Research Centre on Child Studies, IE, UMinho (FCT R&D unit 317), Portuga