Environmental Education Prepares Students for Tomorrow
Environmental education teaches students about the world around them, preparing them for their future by providing access to environmental topics and shaping the way they look at and approach problems. While environmental education is often viewed through nature and its systems, its benefits for K-12 students are wide reaching. According to the North American Association for Environmental Education, K-12 students engaged in environmental education have improved outcomes in many subjects, including science, mathematics, reading, and writing.
But environmental education’s impact goes much further. Environmental education is a powerful tool for the development of key soft skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and more. These skills are incredibly important in today’s world. They enable a higher level of communication and problem solving, both skills that are important in building strong interpersonal relationships, navigating complex situations, and achieving personal and professional goals.
Environmental Education and Careers
Research shows that 83% of students struggle to connect what they learn in school to potential future careers. Environmental education can bridge that gap by connecting students to unique industries and offering materials that challenge the way they approach tasks. This focus on skill development is a deliberate response to the growing demand among companies for a highly skilled and adaptable workforce.
According to the World Economic Forum, 85% of employers are prioritizing upskilling their workforce, as workers can expect that, on average, two-fifths of their existing skills will change or even become outdated over the 2025-2030 period.
Students who participate in environmental education are better prepared to thrive in today’s evolving workforce, already equipped with the very skills many employers are working to develop in their existing employees. Environmental education teaches students to think creatively, communicate effectively, and work across diverse teams, skills that will set these students apart in the coming years.
The Environmental Education Initiative
Teaching students about the world around them and preparing all learners for a better tomorrow is why Discovery Education, NEEF, and others have partnered to create the Environmental Education Initiative (EEI). Through high-quality resources, project-based learning experiences, and robust research that explores the environment and builds students’ knowledge and skills, the EEI helps students build the knowledge and skills needed for future success.
Generation Innovation, for example, encourages students to think creatively and critically by placing them at the center of the decision-making process, challenging them to develop innovative solutions to real-world environmental issues. Through a growing collection of multimodal resources, educators can help kickstart student curiosity by showing how this type of problem solving can be adapted to a wide range of industries and issues.
All the high-quality instructional materials are standards-aligned and highlight the four pillars of innovation: environment, community, resources, and STEM. By providing students with engaging environmental resources, the EEI fosters essential skills that enrich their learning today and empower them to thrive in tomorrow’s workforce.
Looking Ahead
NEEF and Discovery Education will continue to offer dynamic resources to students at no-cost, encouraging educators and school districts to get ahead on environmental stewardship, one of the fastest growing skills, according to the Future of Jobs Report 2025. Students around the world will be able to benefit from these materials and build real-world connections to industries as they work to become creative problem-solvers and innovative thinkers.
By inspiring curiosity and meaningful learning today, environmental education builds important skills, strengthens students’ academic outcomes, and lays the foundation for future career success.
