Advancing Environmental Risk Education

This article summarizes views on environmental risk education for youth and identifies some challenges to advancing environmental risk education. It is argued that education--in particular, formal (in-school, structured) education--can play an important role in helping to create an environmental risk-literate society. Recommendations focus on developing a framework of environmental risk education goals and objectives, evaluating environmental risk education efforts, and learning more about how to help youth make informed environmental risk decisions and to prepare them to participate in environmental risk management. It is hoped that this article will encourage greater involvement of risk professionals in environmental risk education efforts and related research.