Abstract:

The subject of the present article is environmental education carried out at the local level with the participation of self-government authorities. The purpose of the study is to present the importance of undertakings taken in framework of aforesaid activity as well as the review of the types of projects serving to extend the knowledge of ecology most frequently supported by local officials.

The results of questionnaire based research and referred examples relate to Lubelskie Voivodship – the region situated in south – east part of Poland and relate to the smallest administrative entities administered by self-governments i.e. communes. 110 heads of communes have been asked to answer the questions concerning activity in nature conservation area. It was found that educational activities are the type of activities intended to support and consolidate the local natural potential which are most preferably co-organized and co-financed by local administration. Very often, these campaigns are carried out in schools and addressed to youth. Among various forms of education the most popular are events and competitions. The scope of raised topics encompasses the role assigned to environmental education in strategic documents at commune level. This issue has been discussed on the example of strategies of communes known due to their prominent location in the vicinity of protected areas of high natural value. The majority of officials plan to be engaged in environmental education. Unfortunately in this case the number of educational projects on the list of implemented or planned key investment projects is very low. The empirical part contains also the studies of specific cases illustrating the issues being discussed.

Keywords:

Education, self-government, environment, sustainable development.