Young Children and the Environment

Julie Davis has a teaching Diploma, B. Environmental Studies, M. Environmental Education, and a Ph.D. in curriculum change. As an early childhood teacher educator, she taught and researched at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia for over thirty years focusing on embedding environmental and sustainability education into science, social studies and health education subjects. She co-founded the now-Queensland Early Childhood Sustainability Network in 1996. She has edited international textbooks for early childhood preservice teachers in ECEfS, and published multiple research and professional publications and reports. She initiated the international Transnational Dialogues on Research in ECEfS, and continues to write and research in ECEfS in retirement. Sue Elliott is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of New England, New South Wales. Sue co-authored the first Australian text on early childhood environmental education in 1991 and her commitment to global sustainability and early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) continues today. Sue is a co-convenor for the Transnational Dialogues in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability research network and also the European Early Childhood Education Research Association, Sustainability SIG. She is a consulting editor for the International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education and most recently co-authored Early years learning in Australian natural environments.

• Part I: 1. What is early childhood education for sustainability and why does it matter? Julie M. Davis and Sue Elliott; 2. Exploring a nature-sustainability nexus: Australian immersive nature play programs and education for sustainability Fran Hughes and Sue Elliott; 3. Two worlds, one culture: sustaining Dharawal cultural and language practices through play Jodi Edwards; 4. Missing voices: children's understandings of sustainability topics and the 4C pedagogical framework Dr Mia Christensen, Lyndal O'Gorman, Kerryann Walsh and Julie M. Davis; 5. Listening to young children with/in nature: relational, pedagogical, and community approaches that work Ali Black and Lisa Ryan, with Okjong Ji; 6. Practical possibilities and pedagogical approaches in early childhood education for sustainability: Australian perspectives Sue Elliott, Samantha Millard, Lisa Weidenbach, Yvonne Paujik, Linda Price and Rosanne Pugh; 7. Leadership and advocacy through early childhood for sustainability in times of crisis Wendy Boyd and Lisa Palethorpe; 8. Exploring the Sustainable Development Goals: beyond the environmental dimension Lisa J. Sonter, Sharon Kemp, Cherie Lamb and Stephanie Willey; 9. Harnessing children's interest in digital technologies for sustainability learning: catalyst for conversation Jo Bird and Melanie Pearson; 10. Healthy and sustainable environments for children and communities in a changing climate Sue Cooke and Andrea Baldwin; 11. Early learning for sustainability through STEAM Lyndal O'Gorman and Mia Christensen; Part II: 12. How preschool education in Sweden contributes to cultures for sustainability: rights and equity at the core of early childhood education for sustainability Ingrid Engdahl, Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson and Eva Ärlemalm-Hagsér; 13. Opportunities for early childhood for sustainability in the Americas: engaging with sustainability in early childhood teacher education Victoria Carr, Debra Harwood, Andrew Bernier and Martin Bascopé; 14. Sustainability education in early childhood education contexts: insights and alternate perspectives from India, Japan, China and Singapore Sylvia Christine Almedia, Midori Mitsuhashi, Minyi Li, G. Kaveri and Michiko Inoue; 15. Building knowledge and competence to promote sustainability in early childhood education: four European perspectives Eva Ärlemalm-Hagsér, Diane Boyd, Naomi McLeod, Maria Assunção Folque and Dr Deniz Kahriman; 16. Using systems thinking to mainstream early childhood education for sustainability Julie M. Davis and Sue Elliott, with Nadine McCrea, Glynne Mackey and Sule Alici.