Photo source
|
Keywords
government documents, talking heads, dueling experts, national research councils, environmental education, public education, eco-labels, right-to-know, transparency, citizen awareness, ministries of education, voluntary decisions, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.), General Accounting Office (GAO), Office of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), UNCTAD, U.S. Superintendent of Documents (U.S. Government Printing Office)
|
|
Education and information issued by government agencies is intended to create a responsible citizenship. Education helps close the gap between what people know or are able to know on their own and what they need to know to make well-informed voluntary decisions, especially how to vote, consume and produce goods and services. Education has the following goals: ensure information quality and reliability; correct erroneous perceptions; and expand audiences for education. Government education has been crucial in projects such as toxic releases, harmful drug consequences, large infrastructure projects financed by taxes (highways, dams, levees), water and air pollution standards, environmental justice, and security decisions. Government education must be monitored by private, nongovernmental groups as it can be biased. Information is just one ingredient in contested arenas of sustainability and may not carry sufficient political power to cause social change.
|
