Build up Environmental Citizenship through Environmental Education and Consciousness in Bangladesh

Abstract

Today’s environmental problems are structurally anchored in our societies and our ways of life. Nowhere has this issue been so pronounced than in developing countries. In Bangladesh, rural people are arsenic contaminated and urban people are mostly exposed to the polluted water and air, recurring natural disasters and a dwindling natural resource base. It is one of the poorest countries of the developing world, with a low resource base, a very low land-man ratio, and is threatened by both natural hazards and overexploitation. However this resource base is under see threat and environmental planning is necessary to signal any hope for survival with dignity and sustainability. This collective action problem stems from years of public insensitivity and lack of genuine consciousness for environmental justice. In this paper, it is argued that, for Bangladesh to truly achieve sustainable environmental quality and protection, a formal environmental citizenship education and consciousness program should be established. In addition to poor and/or ineffective environmental regulations, it is further argued that lack of citizens’ consciousness of certain environmental risks could be blamed, in part, for the country’s poor environmental awareness education. A consciousness of environmental risk factors could galvanize citizens to capitalize on their social capital as a vehicle to address issues of environmental quality. Any environmental citizenship education and awareness program should be designed with the ultimate goal of promoting responsible environmental behavior.

Keywords: Environment, Bangladesh, Environmental Education and Consciousness, Environmental Behavior, Environmental Citizenship