Journal of Environmental Management (1999) 57, 8597

Article No. jema.1999.0289, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on

Critical education in resource and

environmental management: Learning
and empowerment for a sustainable
future
A. Diduck
Changing from current patterns of resource use to a sustainable and equitable economy is a complex and
intractable problem. This paper suggests that critical education may form part of the solution. Critical
environmental assessment (EA) education, the model explored in this paper, offers a tool for resource and
environmental managers to use in managing public involvement processes. This model challenges current
patterns of resource use and addresses criticisms of public involvement processes. Critical EA education,
involving both cognitive development and personal empowerment, focuses on critical intelligence, problem
solving and social action. The concept is offered as a means to facilitate and improve public involvement
and, thereby, empower local communities to take greater control of resource use decisions affecting their
lives. Positive implications of critical EA education for change, complexity, uncertainty and conflict, which
are four enduring themes in resource and environmental management, are discussed in the paper. The
implications include: cognitive development and personal empowerment at the level of local resource
communities; simplification of the often complex discourse encountered in resource management; reduction
in feelings of powerlessness often experienced by members of the public in environmental assessment
scenarios; a reduction of ignorance and indeterminacy regarding resource management issues; conflict
resolution at the cognitive level; and, clarification of the opposing values, interests or actions at the heart
of a conflict.
1999 Academic Press

Keywords: critical education, public involvement, environmental assessment, sustainable

development.

Introduction
This paper describes a model of non-formal
adult education for use in the context of public
involvement in resource and environmental
management. The model, entitled critical
environmental assessment (EA) education,
challenges current patterns of resource use
and addresses a significant problem in resource management, namely deficiencies in
public involvement processes. The purpose of
the paper is two-fold: to describe the model
and examine it in relation to four enduring
themes in resource and environmental management, namely change, complexity, uncertainty and conflict. This exercise forges
critical EA education into a more robust concept by exposing it to management realities
03014797/99/100085+13 $30.00/0

and further develops its basic conceptual

framework.

Current patterns of resource

use
It is reasonable to expect fair-minded people
to disagree on the nature of current patterns
of resource use. As Orr (1994) commented, an
economist and an ecologist will likely perceive
different aspects of reality when observing
the state of interactions between human and
natural systems. Placing faith in technological change and elastic technical substitution, the economist (at least of the
neoclassical variety) may see unlimited potential for economic growth. The ecologist,

Department of Geography,
Faculty of Environmental
Studies, University of
Waterloo, 200 University
Avenue West, Waterloo,
Canada, N2L 3G1
Received 15 June 1998;
accepted 11 March 1999

1999 Academic Press

86

A. Diduck

relying on systems thinking, knowledge of

thermodynamics and a sense of place in the
ecosystem, may see an entirely different
picture, one of unsustainable resource exploitation, climate change, fragile ecosystems
and alienation between humans and nature.
This paper adopts more of the ecological
perspective. It accepts that current patterns
of resource development cannot be extended
to all currently living people, or to future
generations (Daly and Cobb, 1989; Costanza,
1991; Goodland and Daly, 1995). Moreover,
it accepts that environmental pollution and
resource exploitation can be justified under
conventional resource development (Goodland et al., 1989) and this is manifest in a
diverse array of environmental crises that
challenges human and ecological well being:
If today is a typical day on planet earth,
we will lose 116 square miles of rain
forest, or about an acre a second. We will
lose another 72 square miles to encroaching deserts, the results of human
mismanagement and overpopulation.
We will lose 40 to 250 species, and no
one knows whether the number is 40 or
250. Today the human population will
increase by 250 000. And today we will
add 2700 tons of chlorofluorocarbons and
15 million tons of carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere. Tonight the earth will be
a little hotter, its waters more acidic,
and. . . (Orr, 1994, 1).

A sustainable future
Just as fair-minded people could reasonably
disagree on the nature of current patterns of
resource use, they could also disagree on an
appropriate vision of the future. Sustainability is a fluid and emergent concept and
has attracted considerable discussion and
criticism (e.g. Dovers, 1993; Sachs, 1993).
However, internationally it has become the
principal aim of environmental policy (Glasbergen, 1996), and for many resource and
environmental managers it has become an
appropriate vision of the future (Mitchell,
1997). Various models of sustainability can
be found in the literature but those that
follow a three component or a multiple capital
framework (Hardi et al., 1997) typically

include elements relating to equity, empowerment, social cohesion and participation (e.g.
Goodland and Daly, 1995).
One aspect of participation relevant to sustainability is public involvement in resource
and environmental management. Public involvement in resource management functions
is of fundamental importance because it is
consistent with the principles of participatory
democracy, improves planning and decision
making, helps resolve conflicts and makes
difficult political decisions more acceptable
(Pateman, 1972; Gibson, 1988; 1993; Sinclair
and Diduck, 1995; Lummis, 1996; Mitchell,
1997). Further, numerous resource management practices and processes recognize
the value of public involvement, e.g. integrated resource management (Born and
Sonzogni, 1995; Margerum and Born, 1995),
adaptive environmental management (Walters, 1986; Lee, 1993; Holling, 1995), co-management (Berkes, 1989; Palsson, 1998) and
environmental assessment (Gibson, 1993;
Roberts, 1995; Wood, 1995). However, in recent years various dimensions of public involvement have come under criticism. Wood
(1995) identified inefficiency created by excessive delay as the principle criticism made
of EA systems with extensive public involvement requirements. Kagonge (1996) raised
questions of fairness by arguing that participation does not necessarily include wide
representation from affected communities.
Diduck and Sinclair (1997a) presented a case
study in which effectiveness of the publics
involvement was questioned both by proponent and government officials.

Education as part of the

solution
If current patterns of resource use are unacceptable, and if sustainability is an appropriate vision of the future, by what means
can society move from the present towards
the vision? A detailed and comprehensive
response to this question is well beyond the
scope of this paper, but a reasonable survey
of the alternatives would likely include discussion of resource and environmental management, education and learning, and social
and political theory. Critical EA education,
the model explored in this paper, draws on

Learning for a sustainable future

each of these broad disciplines and offers a

tool for resource and environmental managers to use in managing public involvement
processes. Critical EA education is not intended as a departure from, or alternative to,
various concepts found in the environmental
education literature, such as education for
biodiversity and education for sustainable
development. Rather, it is an attempt to apply
selected concepts from environmental education (along with ideas from transformative
learning and participatory democracy) in a
new context, namely public involvement in
resource and environmental management.

Towards a conceptual
framework
Critical EA education was initially conceived
during a study which explored education and
learning in the context of an environmental
assessment of a major water development
project in southern Manitoba, Canada. Diduck and Sinclair (1997a; 1997b) identified
correlations of varying strength among a
number of variables:
readership of documents presenting the
pro-development position;
understanding of the pro-development position;
understanding of the EA process;
critical thinking towards the prodevelopment position;
critical thinking towards the EA process;
whether or not the participant was involved
in the public hearings; and
level of involvement in the public hearings.
Further analysis, adopting a critical approach to education (Freire, 1970; 1985), suggested additional variables that may be
important in the process:
understanding of and critical thinking towards positions that are counter to the
dominant, pro-development position;
understanding of and critical thinking towards the counter positions;
quality of public involvement in the public
hearings and other aspects of the EA process;
understanding of and critical thinking towards interests and structures underlying
the positions presented in the case;

dialogue and cooperation among participants with similar interests; and

efforts to effect personal and social change.
A conceptual framework was built around
the variables noted above. However, it became apparent that the framework revealed
a need to more fully account for learning
processes in adulthood and the forms of knowledge most compatible with social change for
a sustainable future. The following discussion
begins to address these concerns and continues the conceptualization of critical EA
education.
As noted above, critical EA education was
initially conceived in the context of environmental assessment. This was a convenient
forum because most EA processes include a
public involvement component and recognize
the value of sustainable development. In addition, a number of observers had begun to
discuss adult education and learning in the
context of public involvement in EA (e.g. Sinclair and Diduck, 1995; Webler et al., 1995;
Regnier and Penna, 1996). The position taken
in this paper, however, is that critical EA
education, as a model, is portable to other
resource management processes that include
public involvement and are targeted to sustainable development. Such processes provide excellent opportunities for non-formal
adult education, defined here as education
for adults that occurs outside of traditional
school settings, such as activities organized
by environmental non-governmental organizations (Merriam and Caffarella, 1991).

Purposes
The essence of critical EA education is education and learning that facilitates public
involvement in resource management and,
thereby, empowers local communities to take
greater control of resource use decisions that
directly affect them. In the model, involvement in the civic life of the community is
considered a virtue. As Orr (1994) described,
this is consistent with classical conceptions
of democracy. For the Greeks and Romans,
[v]irtue was regarded, first, as an exercise in
participation and fulfillment of the obligations of membership in a community that
was embedded in a larger cosmic order (Orr,

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A. Diduck

1994, p. 61). It is also consistent with modern

conceptions of the citizens role in community
governance (Mill, 1861; Roberts, 1995). Further, it is consistent with current participatory democracy theory, which asserts
that participation in civic decisions is moral
because it permits the expression of individual attributes and capacities, and facilitates cooperative social interactions
(Pateman, 1972; Gibson, 1975). Participation
in the civic life of the community has been
extended to resource and environmental
management by Nelson (1995a) and Nelson
and Serafin (1996). Their civics approach
has been offered as an alternative to the
reductionist, command and control approach
to environmental management and decision
making.
A liberationist approach (ONeill, 1981),
such as the critical education described by
Paulo Friere (Freire, 1970; 1985), should be
adopted in conducting critical EA education.
Whatever its formal structure or precise purpose, the objectives of critical education are
critical consciousness and the development
of appropriate skills and competencies related to social action (Mackie, 1980; Aronowitz, 1993; Heaney, 1995). As Greenall Gough
and Robottom (1993) described, critical education empowers learners to participate in a
democratic transformation of society.
Critical education has been criticized for,
among other things, neglecting gender issues,
taking an overly optimistic view of agency,
relying on simplistic conceptions of power and
overlooking social context (Gore, 1992; hooks,
1993; Heaney, 1995). However, it has numerous advocates (e.g. Freire, 1973; Gibson, 1986;
Young, 1989; Hart, 1990; Mezirow, 1990;
Shor, 1993; Welton, 1993) and has been applied in the environmental dimension at
theoretical levels, in empirical studies, to
formal education for youth, and to non-formal
adult education (e.g. Greig et al., 1987; Pepper, 1987; Robottom, 1987; Viezzer, 1992;
Fien, 1993; Greenall Gough and Robottom,
1993; Clover et al., 1998). There is also a
small literature on the application of a critical
approach to non-formal adult education in
the specific context of environmental and resource management. These studies relate
primarily to conducting research within a
participatory paradigm (Ibikunle-Johnson,
1989; Merrifield, 1993; Guevara, 1996), but

include a report of managing public involvement in environmental assessment

(Regnier and Penna, 1996).
Along with facilitating critical consciousness and developing skills and competencies related to social action, the
purposes of critical EA education should include improving instrumental and communicative competence and developing more
functional frames of reference. These ideas
are adopted from Mezirows transformative
learning, which attempts to provide a comprehensive theory of how adults learn (Mezirow, 1981; Merriam and Caffarella, 1991;
Mezirow, 1991; Clark, 1993; Mezirow, 1994;
1996).
Instrumental competence refers to learning
how to control or manipulate the environment, i.e. how to cope with the external world.
Communicative competence involves trying
to understand what someone means when
they communicate with you. It helps the
learner negotiate meanings, intentions and
values, rather than merely accepting those
of others. A frame of reference consists of
two dimensions: meaning perspectives (broad
epistemic, psychological and sociocultural
predispositions); and, meaning schemes (specific beliefs, feelings, attitudes and value
judgements). Frames of reference are more
functional when they become more inclusive,
differentiating, permeable, critically reflective and integrative of experience.
Transformations in frames of reference
occur through critical reflection on the underlying assumptions of the various elements of
the meaning perspective or meaning scheme.
The most significant transformations occur
when elements of the meaning perspective
are transformed through critical self-reflection. These are often precipitated by a
disorienting dilemma or a series of smaller
transitions, followed by the phases summarized in Table 1. Critical self-reflection
regarding sociocultural presuppositions (such
as social norms, ideologies, and philosophies)
may involve a critique of alienating social
forms and may result in collective social action.
Early versions of transformative learning
theory drew criticism for relying on Habermas concepts of instrumental, communicative and emancipatory knowledge,
while failing to incorporate the social critique
and consequent demand for collective action

Learning for a sustainable future

Table 1. A process of critical self-reflection (after
Mezirow, 1981; 1994)
1. A disorienting dilemma or a series of smaller
transitions.
2. Self-examination.
3. Critical assessment of role assumptions and
social expectations.
4. Recognition that ones problem may be
shared by others in the community.
5. Exploring new patterns of behaviour.
6. Building competence and self-confidence in
those new patterns.
7. Planning a course of action.
8. Gaining knowledge and skills for
implementing ones plan.
9. Provisional efforts to try new roles and gain
feedback.
10. Reintegration with a new perspective.

that are inherent in Habermas work (Collard

and Law, 1989; Hart, 1990; Pietrykowski,
1996). They were also criticized for misapplying certain concepts from Freires critical pedagogy (Collard and Law, 1989;
Tennant, 1994; Pietrykowski, 1996). Recent
statements on transformative learning
theory (Mezirow, 1994; 1996) have begun to
address these concerns and some writers
have suggested that transformative learning
holds significant potential for moving towards
a comprehensive theory of adult learning
(Merriam and Caffarella, 1991; Merriam,
1993). Further, informal learning that occurs
during public involvement in resource management functions reveals evidence of dimensions of transformative theory, including
instrumental and communicative learning
(e.g. McMullin and Nielson, 1991; Sullivan et

al., 1996; Moote et al., 1997; Marshall, 1998;

Owen, 1998) and changes in meaning
schemes and perspectives (e.g. Webler et al.,
1995; Daniels and Walker, 1996; Regnier and
Penna, 1996).

Methods
The methodological implications of Freires
critical education have received considerable
attention in the literature (e.g. Aronowitz,
1993; Shor, 1993; Gibson, 1994). Freire
viewed education as a social interaction that
can either empower or domesticate the
learner (Shor, 1993). He placed a premium
on democratic dialogue that shifts the center
of the learning process from the facilitator
(or teacher) to the learner. In the Freirean
method (summarized in Table 2), the facilitator poses critical problems for inquiry
relating to important features of learner experience. This allows the participants to see
their thoughts and language reflected in the
course of study. The dialogical approach invites learners to think critically about the
subject matter being discussed, related doctrines, the learning process itself and society.
It also challenges learners and facilitators to
empower themselves for social change and
to advance democracy and equality (Freire,
1970; Shor, 1993). This occurs through praxis,
a cycle of actionreflectionaction (Freire,
1970; Lather, 1986; Hall, 1993; Heaney,
1995).
A participatory, dialogical and actionoriented approach, such as that referred to

Table 2. Descriptors of Freirean method (after Shor, 1993; Gibson, 1994)

Descriptors
Participatory
Multi-cultural
Situated
Critical
Democratic
Dialogical
Desocializational
Research oriented
Activist
Affective
Reliant on praxis

Conceptual definitions
Participants are involved in making their own education.
Cultural diversity of society is recognized and accepted.
The course content is situated in participant thought and language.
Discussion encourages self-reflection and social reflection.
Discourse is constructed mutually by both the facilitator and the participants.
The basic format is based on dialogue around problems posed in the class
setting.
Participants are desocialized from passivity in the classroom setting.
The facilitator researches the speech, behaviour and cognitive development of the
participants, while the participants research problems posed in class.
The classroom is active and interactive.
The dialogue is interested in a broad development of human feeling.
The process relies on the actionreflectionaction learning cycle.

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A. Diduck

above, is also found in critical environmental

education. Echoing the Freirean reliance on
praxis, Peppers (1987, p. 74) view was that
meaningful social and ecological change
through environmental education could only
come about through concurrent development
of theory and practice. Relying on the
McLuhan observation that the medium is
the message, Greig et al. (1987) argued that
method of instruction must be consistent with
curriculum content. If environmental education places a premium on democracy,
participation, empowerment and action, the
learning process must, therefore, be democratic, participatory, empowering and active.
In the area of non-formal adult education,
Clover et al. (1998) (also see Clover, 1995;
1996) reported on a successful model of critical environmental education that is congruent methodologically with the Freirean
approach. Critical EA education, therefore,
adopts the participatory approach to instruction summarized in the foregoing discussion.

Content
In critical EA education, improving instrumental competence should mean developing
deeper understandings of the relationships
among natural and human systems. Aldo
Leopold provided insight into the nature of
this type of instrumental learning. For Leopold, the very purpose of education should
be to guide us in the direction of a Land Ethic
that values harmony with nature, nonmaterialistic self-actualization and recognition of the intrinsic value of the natural
environment (Leopold, 1966; Pearce and
Turner, 1990). For Leopold, education should
teach us our place in the ecosystem and how
to work with ecological mechanisms to create
mental and material wealth. It should also
teach us that if we fail to work with those
mechanisms, humanity would ultimately be
destroyed.
Orr (1994) provided a set of concept areas
for education to guide us toward an ethic
such as that described by Leopold. Generally,
he advocated for an ecoliteracy that involves,
among other things, an understanding of the
connection between thermodynamics and the
human economy, the basic principles of ecology and physics, environmental ethics, and

Table 3. General concept areas for environmental

education (Orr, 1994)
Environmental education concept areas

The laws of thermodynamics

The basic principles of ecology
Carrying capacity
Energetics
Least-cost, end-use analysis
Limits of technology
Appropriate scale
Sustainable agriculture and forestry
Steady-state economics
Environmental ethics
Practical knowledge about ones local
ecosystem

practical knowledge about ones local ecosystem (Table 3). Critical EA education adopts the notion of ecoliteracy but also accepts
that progressive ecological change can only
be achieved in a dialectical relationship with
social change (Pepper, 1987). Education that
improves our instrumental competence will,
therefore, also include learning about the
social justice dimensions of development. It
will be a holistic and moral education that
explores linkages among environment, race,
gender and poverty issues (Greig et al., 1987;
Courtney Hall, 1997; Clover et al., 1998).
Consistent with education for sustainability (Disinger, 1990; Sterling and EDET
Group, 1992, cited in Palmer, 1998) and education for the environment (Fien, 1993),
critical EA education should improve communicative competence. This will involve
education that facilitates socio-political empowerment (Rocha, 1997) to create a future
that is less tied to the dynamics of industrial
capitalism. Friedmann (1987) argued that
this involves two broad goals: collective selfreliance in development and the recovery of
political community in civil society, referring
to that aspect of a society that organizes itself
autonomously from the state and the market
(Friedmann, 1987; Lummis, 1996; Miller,
1997).
In critical EA education, improving communicative competence should also involve
education that helps move self-conceptions
along the spectrum from market rationality
to social rationality. Market rationality is
grounded in a metaphysics of possessive individualism, in which the individual is assumed to be logically prior to society and the

Learning for a sustainable future

satisfaction of material needs is the principal

reason people live in social groups (Friedmann, 1987, p. 20). Social rationality assumes
that social formations are logically prior to
the individual and separate identity as a
person is derived from membership in a specific group (Friedmann, 1987). For Gibson
(1975), the conception of human nature
underlying social rationality is that humans
are not mere consumers of satisfactions. He
argued that the basic human personality is
compatible with collective life and will express itself in increasingly desirable ways in
terms of both individual and social interest
if it is nurtured and allowed to grow (Gibson,
1975, p. 23).
In the specific context of environmental
assessment, the education described above
could help participants increase their understanding of both process and substance
issues. Such issues would include the engineering aspects of a project, ecological and
economic analyses of proposed project alternatives, how communities and ecosystems
work, and how status quo decision-making
processes and project decisions can be challenged.
Another relevant issue would likely be how
members of the public can work together to
define and pursue their own goals. This could
involve analysis of basic interests of individuals and groups involved in the EA process. This might be assisted by education
that clarifies the often complex, jargon-laden
discourse encountered in EA. Such experiences could reveal the often-conflicting
interests being served in the EA process.
Moreover, the revelation of these interests
could provide insight into underlying socioeconomic structures, which may or may not
be compatible with the needs, values and
ideals of the various participants.
Identification and analysis of basic interests also enables EA participants to evaluate pro-development discourses and present
credible and forceful counter discourses. Such
counter discourses cover a range of disciplines
and topics and could include portrayal of
cooperation among resource communities and
alternative models of economic development.
Finally, it could include learning about how
local initiatives can affect change in existing
institutions and structures of power.
The education and learning processes envisioned here are adaptive and non-linear,

involving numerous feedback loops. At a

macro level, participation in the management
process could reinforce critical consciousness,
facilitate perspective transformation, and become an educational process in itself. After
all, the educative function of participation is
an integral part of participatory democracy
theory. Participation develops and fosters the
very qualities necessary for it; the more individuals participate the better able they become to do so (Pateman, 1972, p. 43). For
example, EA participants could learn by
doing and gain experience in making presentations, filing appeals, lobbying and advocacy, and interacting with technical
experts.

Reality check
As they are in most areas of life, change,
complexity, uncertainty and conflict are enduring themes in resource and environmental
management (Mitchell, 1995; 1997). The ensuing discussion, therefore, relies on these
themes to examine and assess the concept of
critical EA education. The implications of
change, complexity, uncertainty and conflict
for critical EA education are considered, as
are the implications of critical EA education
for the four themes. This discussion provides
a reality check, or test, for critical EA education and results in a more viable and robust
concept. It also provides insight into basic
principles and continues the process of attaching details to the conceptual framework.

Change
Major and continued change is the social fact
of our time. To survive, . . . we must embrace
the concept of change (Bauman and Werick,
1993, p. 3). In resource and environmental
management, change occurs in and among
natural and human systems and manifests
itself in new situations, threats, opportunities
and solutions (Mitchell, 1997).
An objective of critical EA education is to
enable members of the public to recognize
and respond to the need for social reform.
Thus, critical EA education could become a
force for change in resource and environmental management. It could affect change

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A. Diduck

at two levels, namely cognitive development

and greater personal autonomy. The cognitive
dimension has obvious personal implications
but it also has interpersonal, or social, implications. Public knowledge or awareness is
often a key element in social reform. For
example, the Brundtland Commission recognized that, in addition to legal and institutional changes, changes in public
attitudes and awareness are necessary to
achieve the objective of integrating environmental and economic concerns in decision making (World Commission on
Environment and Development, 1987).
The personal autonomy dimension has potentially far-reaching political implications.
Personal autonomy empowers individuals to
become agents for change. The direction of
such change is difficult to predict and depends
on local environmental and cultural conditions. However, a growing body of literature
links local control of resource management
systems with sustainable resource uses (e.g.
Gibbs and Bromley, 1989; Regier et al., 1989;
Nelson, 1995b). Of course, there is always
the danger that local users will not worry
about impacts on users outside their own
area and, thereby, create problems for sustainability elsewhere. This underscores the
uncertainty associated with social and political change.
A further implication of critical EA education is that it supports analysis of environmental change within a political ecology
framework. Political ecology was developed
to further understanding of the socio-political
context of environmental change, particularly
in developing nations (Bryant, 1992). It relies
on analysis of competing interests to explain
political sources, conditions and ramifications
of environmental change. Critical EA education would rely on similar techniques,
namely discourse and interest analysis, to
deconstruct complex social problems to reveal
competing interests in society. Further consideration of political ecology concepts may
prove instructive for development of critical
EA education at conceptual and normative
levels.

Complexity
Biophysical and social systems, and the
interrelationships between the two are

fundamentally complex. Moreover, the turbulence, or change, frequently experienced

in natural and human systems exacerbates
complexity. Environmental change, for example, occurs in a context of multilayered
and cyclical interactions among social, political and economic variables, occasionally
involving violent conflict (Homer-Dixon,
1991). Complexity, for its part, can affect
change, given the propensity of complex
systems for spontaneous, disorderly and
unpredictable change (Waldrop, 1992).
The implications of critical EA education
for complexity in resource and environmental management are several. As noted,
by relying on the disclosure of basic interests
of individuals and groups involved in the
EA process, critical EA education could
simplify discourse encountered in EA. Of
course, if the underlying interests were more
subtle and complex than the overt discourse,
critical EA education would contribute to
the complexity of the situation. A further
implication relates to the potential emancipatory effects of critical EA education.
Increased personal autonomy, fostered by
critical EA education, offsets the sense of
frustration and powerlessness which members of the public experience in the face of
the complexity (and uncertainty) associated
with most EA scenarios.
An implication of complexity is that integrating notions of problem bounding could
strengthen critical EA education. Bounding
filters the vast array of variables and interrelationships found in EA and focuses
on a selective range of key issues and
participants. Similar reductive exercises are
found in integrated resource management
(Born and Sonzogni, 1995; Margerum and
Born, 1995) and adaptive environmental
management (Walters, 1986; Lee, 1993; Holling, 1995).
A further implication is that it may be
difficult or impossible to predict the effects
of critical EA education, particularly over
large temporal and spatial scales. As noted
earlier, complex systems are subject to disorderly and unpredictable, or chaotic,
change. Cartwright (1991) asserted that in
situations reflecting chaos, planners and
analysts may understand local conditions
and interrelationships, but cannot predict
outcomes or impacts at a global scale.

Learning for a sustainable future

Uncertainty
The complexity and change encountered in
resource and environmental management
contribute to situations characterized by substantial uncertainty. Wynne (1992) described
four categories of uncertainty:
riskworkings of the system are known
and the probability of various outcomes can
be derived;
uncertaintyprobability of various outcomes cannot be determined, although key
variables or parameters of the problem are
apparent;
ignoranceimpending circumstances escape recognition, i.e., the problem is not
apparent; and
indeterminacycause and effect relationships are not apparent and understanding
is not possible.
Critical EA education has various implications for uncertainty in resource and
environmental
management.
Increased
awareness can illuminate unknown situations and help identify problems, thereby
reducing ignorance. Discourse and interest
analysis, inherent in critical EA education,
can reveal causal chains or intentions in
human systems and, thereby, reduce indeterminacy. Interestingly, reducing uncertainty may reveal greater complexities in
the systems being examined.
As noted earlier, a potential effect of critical
EA education is that individuals become empowered as agents for change. This has implications for uncertainty because, when
people are agents of change, they may become
more certain in their actions as they drive
change toward a desired future.
Uncertainty also has several implications
for critical EA education. First, the conceptualization of critical EA education would
be enhanced by integration of adaptive management concepts. An adaptive approach, emphasizing flexibility, continuous monitoring
and the willingness to learn from mistakes,
is how to cope with the uncertain, the unexpected, and the unknown (Holling, 1978,
p. 7). Monitoring at the operational level provides feedback for consideration at normative
and strategic levels.
A further implication relates to planning
at the operational level. Although transactive
planning, with its emphasis on community

participation, dialogue and mutual learning,

is consistent with the underlying philosophy
of critical EA education, EA educators should
be prepared to adopt different planning models based on local needs, expectations and
conditions. Dale and Lanes (1994) strategic
perspectives analysis, a flexible approach to
participatory social impact assessment that
recognizes various operational contexts, may
be instructive in this regard.
Yet another implication is that uncertainty
confirms the value of a Freirean approach
to education, with its emphasis on critical
thinking, empowerment and problem solving.
The critical approach is less reliant on the
certainty and veracity of information than is
the banking method of instruction. Freire
(1970, p. 58) described the banking method
as an act of depositing, in which the students
are the depositories and the teacher is
the depositor. . . . [T]he teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the
students patiently receive, memorize and repeat. Political questions aside, the merit of
the banking method is debatable in a climate
of uncertainty and turbulence, given that the
value of the deposit is subject to change as
shifts occur in resource management theory
and practice.

Conflict
It is often suggested that resource and
environmental managers do not manage
natural systems, but manage human interactions with natural systems. Mitchell (1997)
argued that if this proposition is true, much
of resource and environmental management
is management of conflict. Dorceys (1986)
typology presented four basic forms of conflict:
cognitivethe parties have different understandings of a situation;
valuethe parties cannot agree on the objective to achieve, but can agree on the
consequences of alternative objectives;
intereststhe parties cannot agree on the
distribution of costs and benefits; and
behavioralpersonal or historical differences color the relationship of the parties.
Critical EA education has a number of implications for conflict. Increased knowledge

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A. Diduck

can clarify terms and conceptual models, provide a common base of understanding and
thereby resolve conflict at the cognitive level.
Increased awareness can also clarify and
make explicit the opposing values, interests
or actions at the heart of a conflict. Such
awareness may not resolve the conflict, but
understanding is often the first step toward
reconciliation. In addition, public participation in resource management functions
can be viewed as a means of dispute resolution (Carpenter, 1995). It has been argued
that the educative function of public participation enhances social rationality and increases social cohesion (Pateman, 1972;
Gibson, 1975; Lafferty and Meadowcraft,
1996; Lummis, 1996). If this is true, critical
EA education could facilitate conflict resolution by fostering public involvement.
Conflict also has implications for critical
EA education. As indicated by Mitchell
(1997), conflict is a positive force when it
identifies inadequate or misleading information. In such cases, EA educators can
use conflict as a guide in making strategic
and operational decisions. The pervasiveness
of conflict also implies that EA educators
should be versed in alternative dispute resolution techniques such as negotiation and
mediation. Knowledge of basic legal processes
and arbitration models would also be an
asset.

Conclusion
Changing from current patterns of resource
use to a sustainable and equitable economy
is a complex and intractable problem. This
paper suggests that critical EA education, as
a means to facilitate public involvement in
resource management and thereby empower
local communities to take greater control of
resource use decisions, may form part of the
solution. This model of non-formal, environmental education for adults challenges
unsustainable resource exploitation and
helps address criticisms of public involvement in management practices. Critical EA
education, involving both cognitive development and personal empowerment, focuses on
critical intelligence, problem solving and social action.

The concept of critical EA education is

tested and enriched by analysis in the context
of four enduring themes in resource and environmental management: change, complexity, uncertainty and conflict. Directions
for further conceptual development are apparent, namely integration with adaptive
management concepts, development of a
problem bounding (or reductive) component,
analysis within a political ecology framework,
and synthesis with elements of planning
theory. Positive implications of critical EA
education for change, complexity, uncertainty
and conflict are also apparent. Examples include: cognitive development and personal
empowerment at the level of local resource
communities; simplification of the often complex discourse encountered in resource management processes; reduction in feelings of
powerlessness often experienced by members
of the public in EA scenarios; a reduction
of ignorance and indeterminacy regarding
resource management issues; conflict
resolution at the cognitive level; and, clarification of the opposing values, interests or
actions at the heart of a conflict.

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