Hosted by the Korea Environmental Preservation Association (President, Park Yong Sung) and Korea Environmental Education Network (Representative, Lee Jin), a workshop for the 2005 Seoul Environmental Education Tutors was held on 9th December, 2005 in the conference room at the government complex in Kwachun.

From around metropolitan districts, participating in the workshop were approximately 200 kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school teachers from the environmental education field.

Several topics were introduced in the workshop, aimed at raising publicly owned environmental information. Important points of the Workshop were the addressing of the importance of educational tools, the introduction of issues of critical national concern, and the building of a “working-together-nation” where we study and understand the global environment through environmental education.

At the workshop, under the topics of “Importance of Evaluating Environmental Education Programs”, “Procedures”, “Evaluating Standards of Field Programs of Environmental Education”, “Improvement Plans” and “Instrument of Environmental Education Programs” (Professor of Kongju University, Lee Jae Young), presentations were made and discussions took place.

In the opening remarks by Korea’s Minister of Environment, Lee Jae Yong, emphasis was made on the significance of sustainable development and environmental education, and the mingling of the two in order to accomplish environmental goals. Minister Lee also asked schools and local communities to work further on environmental education, and stated that the Ministry of Environment will greatly enforce environmental education by increasing the education budget from 3.2 billion won in 2005 to 4 billion won in 2006. By 2010, the budget will be raised to 10 billion won.

In order to establish a collaboration that strengthens the active sharing of information among environmental education leaders, the reinforcing of environmental education of tutors is increasingly valuable. MOE will support workshops for environmental education tutors locally, and will work to raise individual teachers’ scope of knowledge and in-depth understanding of the environment.