| Keywords |
school, geothermal energy, student, network, alternative energy, sustainable development, environmental education centres, renewable energies, transformation of perception, RETS. |
| Abstract |
To escape the current world economic crisis, the petroleum-based industrial society is trying to maintain the continued economical growth by maximizing fossil energetic capacities. The added renewable resources - solar, wind, hydro or geothermal - will unfortunately not be able to compensate the decreased use of fossil energy resources. The only way to avoid a drastic global socialeconomic downturn lies in how mankind can manage its relationship to the environment. Michel Ricard, French University Professor, president of the French National Council on Sustainable Development said the following quote during a presentation at the French Institute in Budapest in November 2012: "The only way to answer to the challenge of sustainable development is to change our behaviours at personal, social, economic and cultural levels. This can be only reached through education, public awareness and training." The comprehensive focus of this change is primarily based on education. The task however is a major challenge for everyone, since the right understanding of environment and sustainable development represents not only a radical CULTURAL change for students, but for teachers as well. Nelson Mandela once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world.” To provide radical changes of perception, a new network of Environmental Education Centres (EEC) has to be developed in Hungary, since a current comprehensive education of environmental science and alternative energies is missing. These Environmental Education Centres provide real life information for teachers and other educators. The children (aged 6-18) take part in groups inside and outside of EEC environmental programs in a prearranged manner. In the framework of the EU Renewable Energies Transfer System - RETS (Interreg IV C program), an international conference on education and renewable energies was organized in the small town of Vecsés (Hungary) to discuss good examples of teaching new ways related to sustainable environmental education. Vecsés was involved in the RETS European Union program for three years, which aimed to familiarize the local and regional decision makers of participating countries with the use of new possibilities offered by renewable energies and to promote the usage of these alternative energies. Hungary has great potential in using geothermal energies, consequently, basic information need to be provided on alternative energies for elementary and secondary school children. For this we need to do the following: 1. establish environmental education centres for elementary and secondary schools 2. publish new environmental education textbooks on subjects, as the understanding of geothermal energy. 3. organise local community presentations on environmental issues and raise public media awareness. The establishment of an Environmental Education Centre (EEC) is on agenda in Vecsés Town. The use of alternative energy (geothermal energy) would also be part of the EEC education program. More environmental education centres should be regionally organized later and interact based on a network where geothermal resources, pictures, alternative energy good examples, and any other types of information should be provided for teachers and educators who have been involved in the EEC program. Finally, the environmental education centres should be related and connected with each other based on a joint network within the European Union. |