--Originally published in the June 2024 issue of Environmental Education magazine--

Nanjing City follows the laws of ecological civilization education, deepens the content of ecological civilization education, optimizes the path of ecological civilization education, and uses new achievements of ecological civilization education to enhance the new "beauty" of beautiful Nanjing.

At present, green has become the distinctive background of China in the new era, and green and low-carbon development has become a distinctive feature of China's modernization. The background and requirements of the times are changing, and ecological civilization education must also keep pace with the times. In recent years, Nanjing has focused on the basic goal elements of ecological civilization education such as awareness, knowledge, attitude, skills, and practical ability, followed the laws of ecological civilization education, deepened the content of ecological civilization education, optimized the path of ecological civilization education, and used new achievements of ecological civilization education to Improve the new "beauty" of beautiful Nanjing.

Perceiving the ecological world from nature education

Nature is a rich and colorful "living textbook" for ecological learning. Nature education is an ecological learning activity that learns from nature and draws on natural wisdom. When the public, especially young people, enters nature, they can open their senses to experience, observe and explore nature. The public should not only pay attention to the surrounding abiotic environment, but also pay attention to the trees, flowers, birds and animals and other life in the environment, understand the value of the community of life and biodiversity, and understand the "relationship between ecology and me." Experience in ecological and environmental education at home and abroad shows that nature education is an effective way to cure "nature deficiency", allow people to re-understand the relationship between man and nature, and improve environmental awareness and ecological literacy. It is basic education to practice the concept of ecological civilization.

Nanjing has superior natural ecological conditions, integrating mountains, rivers, cities and forests, and integrating rivers, lakes and springs. Combining regional characteristics and relying on rich ecological resources, Nanjing has done a great job in nature education. It has launched popular science books and cultural and creative products such as "Nanjing Local Biodiversity Science Popularization Series","Nanjing Ecological Business Card Series" and "Nature Notes Collection", and created natural education public welfare brands such as "Nature Small Classroom". Zijinshan National Forest Park is a large-scale national-level green camp for youth nature education. In recent years, Nanjing City has integrated indoor science popularization venues such as the Zijinshan Observatory, Zijinshan Insect Science Museum, Zijinshan Forest Science Museum, and Nanjing Zhongshan Botanical Garden as well as outdoor research venues to carry out themed research activities such as "Listening to Big Trees to Tell Stories","Phenological Observation","Watching Fireflies in Summer","Bird Watching in Autumn" and "Seeing Deer in Deep Forest" to deeply guide young people to explore nature, integrate into nature, get close to nature, Protect nature. Nanjing City Mechanics Primary School (Liren Campus) is close to the Yangtze River. The school is committed to the national first-level protection of animals and the "smiling spirit of the Yangtze River"-the protection of finless porpoises. Through developing courses and conducting interdisciplinary learning, teachers and students have improved their participation in the protection of finless porpoises. Ecological civilization literacy. The popularization of nature education has made local wild animals and plants such as the Yangtze finless porpoise, Shijiu Lake cygnet, Sinian Parrot, Chinese Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly, and Libra Hammer Tree another "circle of friends" for Nanjing people.

Cultivate ecologically friendly values with ecological and humanistic education

The foundation of ecological civilization education lies in the popularization of ecological knowledge, with the focus on the acquisition of people's emotions, attitudes, and values. It is necessary to enable the public, especially young people, to enhance their awareness of environmental protection to their awareness of environmental friendliness, from values centered on utilizing nature, conquering nature, and transforming nature to values centered on respecting nature, complying with nature, and protecting nature, and to make ecological friendship A new ethical concept is planted in the heart and cannot be separated from the edification and nourishment of ecological, humanistic and cultural culture. Ecological and humanistic education activities can allow people to clarify what is right and what is wrong among diverse values, and learn to make the most ecologically friendly choice between different and even conflicting values.

Ecological and humanistic education in Nanjing City starts from deeply exploring the ecological thoughts, humanistic spirit, and values in ecological civilization education, and uses ecological and cultural activities that are popular with the public such as interactive, public welfare, creative, festival, experiential, and advocacy to spread humanistic and ecological concepts such as ecological ethics, ecological literature, ecological art, ecological management, and ecological economy, and reshape people's behavior patterns with cultural people. Nanjing lists eco-friendly values as an important part of moral education and character education for primary and secondary school students, and integrates them into multi-disciplinary curriculum standards such as morality and rule of law, Chinese, geography, and science. A series of literary and artistic publicity and model setting activities such as the Nanjing Forest Concert, the Nanjing Finless Porpoise Music Festival, Nanjing's first children's environmental protection public welfare micro-film "If the Earth Has No Tomorrow", and Nanjing's annual "Most Beautiful Ecological Environmentalists" selection have become a vivid way to spread ecologically friendly values. Culture and role model power.

Let practical ecological civilization education promote the integration of knowledge and action

To deepen the education of ecological civilization, we must work hard to integrate knowledge and action. People's ecological civilization literacy consists of "knowledge" and "action". Knowledge is the beginning of action, and action is the achievement of knowledge. The reality is often that children know how to do it but cannot do it in action, or they can do it at school but cannot do it at home. How to solve the problem of inconsistent knowledge and action? Practical exercise method is a catalyst and important path to promote the transformation of educated people's knowledge and action. Practical education can enable young people to gain moral and emotional experience in various ecological civilization practical activities, generate empathy and empathy in activities, form moral motivations and moral will, and guide people to consciously develop civilized behaviors. Ecological civilization education focuses on cultivating through practice. It is necessary to allow students to learn and realize through practice. They must not only understand the truth, but also be practitioners of the truth, so that everyone can become an ecologically friendly practitioner, protect the ecological environment and practice Green and low-carbon are transformed into conscious actions for the whole people.

Civilized practice promotes civilization. Nanjing carries out rich and diverse ecological practice activities in schools, continuously expands off-campus practice channels, establishes ecological civilization practice bases, pays attention to the combination of school education and family life; creates green schools, carries out regional "double carbon" demonstration schools construction, and builds regional characteristics. Ecological civilization practical education system. The "I am a 'Little Director of Environmental Protection'" activity carried out by Nanjing City is a typical case. the city 60More than one primary school participated in the activity and continued8In 2000, nearly 100 research on environmental protection small topics were carried out, and nearly 100 research projects were cultivated. 200Named "Environmental Protection 'Little Director'". The "Environmental Protection 'Little Director' led the students to design solutions and implement environmental protection actions through observation and experience, discovery of problems, on-site participation and interaction. This activity was rated as an activity by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Central Civilization Office. 2022"Top Ten Public Participation Cases" in 2009. Through thousands of practical activities, Nanjing City continues to solve the problem of "whether it works or not".

Ecological civilization education is a new form and development of environmental education or sustainable development education in China. The experience accumulated by Nanjing City in ecological civilization education is extremely precious. While praising the work of Nanjing City, we must also clearly realize that ecological civilization education is an educational form that penetrates into all knowledge fields and all educational processes, and is a process that is persevering and deepening. We must not only learn from the good practices of domestic cities, but also actively learn from the good experiences of relevant international environmental education and sustainable development education. Only by exploring and practicing without stopping can we continuously push the education of ecological civilization forward.

[Expert Profile]

Wang Guopin, professor and doctoral supervisor. Honorary President of the Environmental Ethics Expert Committee of China Ethics Society, Executive Director of China Dialectics of Nature Research Society, Director of China Ecological Civilization Research and Promotion Society, Former Secretary of the Party Committee of Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Former Director of China Ethics Society, Chairman of Jiangsu Province Dialectics of Nature Research Society, and Executive President of Jiangsu Province Ethics Society. Main research interests: environmental philosophy, environmental ethics.