This is an essential text for students, teachers and practitioners in a range of early childhood education and care settings.

This text is a practical resource that explores how early childhood educators can work to tackle issues of sustainability.

In the first two volumes of the series we elected to cover a broad spectrum of topics in the environment and behavior field, ranging from theoretical to applied, and including disciplinary, interdiscipli nary, and professionally related topics. Chapters in these earlier vol umes dealt with leisure and recreation, the elderly, personal space, aesthetics, energy, behavioral approaches to environmental problems, methodological issues, social indicators, industrial settings, and the like. Chapters were written by psychologists, sociologists, geogra phers, and other social scientists, and by authors from professional design fields such as urban planning, operations research, landscape architecture, and so on. Our goal in these first two volumes was to present a sampling of areas in the emerging environment and behavior field and to give readers some insight into the diversity of research and theoretical perspectives that characterize the field. Beginning with the present volume, our efforts will be directed at a series of thematic volumes. The present collection of chapters is focused on children and the environment, and, as much as possible, we invited contributions that reflect a variety of theoretical and em pirical perspectives on this topic. The next volume in the series, now in preparation, will address the area of "culture and the environment. " Suggestions for possible future topics are welcome. Irwin Altman Joachim F.

This work provides a unique legal perspective on the global, topical issue of children and the environment.

Aboriginal children represent one of the fastest growing population segments in Australia, yet the lives of Aboriginal children in their environment has rarely been subjected to systematic and in-depth study. In this book, Angela Kreutz considers the relationship between the environment, attachment and development in indigenous children, examining theoretical constructs and conceptual models by empirically road testing these ideas within a distinct cultural community. The book presents the first empirical study on Australian Aboriginal children’s lives from within the field of child-environment studies, employing an environmental psychology perspective, combined with architectural and anthropological understandings. Chapters offer valuable insights into participatory planning and design solutions concerning Aboriginal children in their distinct community environment, and the cross-cultural character of the case study illuminates the commonalities of child development, as well as recognising the uniqueness that stems from specific histories in specific places. Children and the Environment in an Australian Indigenous Community makes significant theoretical, methodological and practical contributions to the international cross disciplinary field of child-environment studies. It will be of key interest to researchers from the fields of environmental, ecological, developmental and social psychology, as well as anthropologists, sociologists, and those studying the environment and planning.

Noting that children may be affected by environmental contaminants in ways quite different from the way adults are affected, this report is the second on trends in measures reflecting environmental factors that may affect the U.S. children's health and well-being. A list of measures and key findings begins the report, followed by five main sections. Several measures throughout the report are analyzed by children's race/ethnicity and family income. Section 1 presents measures showing incidence of exposure to critical concentrations of contaminants in outdoor air, indoor air, water, food, and soil. Section 2 presents measures of lead, mercury, and cotinine (marker of environmental tobacco smoke exposure) measured in the bodies of children and women. Section 3 presents trends in asthma, other severe respiratory illnesses, childhood cancers, and neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder and mental retardation. Section 4 concerns the emerging issues of mercury in fish and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Section 5 presents data specific to California and Minnesota. The final section of the report discusses improvements in the measures and data sources and new measures for inclusion in future reports. Major findings presented in the report include declines throughout the 1990s in the percentage of days with unhealthy air quality, median blood lead levels for children under 5, and median blood levels of cotinine; and overall increases in the percentage of children with asthma. The frequency of new childhood cancer cases has been stable since 1990. Recent data indicate that .6 percent of children are diagnosed with mental retardation and 6.7 percent of children are diagnosed with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. State data revealed that 32 percent of California public elementary schools have deterioration of lead-based paint, and 47 percent of Minnesota schools sprayed pesticides in classrooms. A glossary of terms completes the report. Four appendices include data tables and a list of environmental health objectives in the Energy Protection Agency's strategic plan. Each report section contains references. (KB).

This book, at the intersection of early childhood and reconceptualizing practice, looks at how practitioners, theorists, and teachers are supporting young children to care about the environment differently. Despite the current popularity of post-human perspectives, in social science more broadly and in early childhood studies more specifically, this is one of few to make visible international practices and perspectives that emerge at the intersection of early childhood education, environmental justice, sustainability, and intergenerational/interspecies communities. The book provides an innovative exploration of the links between children, elders, and nature. With contributions from established scholars, practitioners, and newcomers this book reframes educating for social justice within an ecological landscape; one in which young children and their elders are mobilized to understand, reconceptualize and even undo negative environmental impact, whilst grappling with the ways in which the earthly forces are acting upon them. Specific theoretical chapters (spirituality, nature, critical and post-human/materiality, pragmatics, and constructivism approaches) are blended with applications of pedagogic strategies from across the globe. This book responds to a growing interest among early childhood professionals and scholars for sustainably focused and ethically reimagined programs. This collection rewards the reader with opportunities to critically reflect on their own practice, delves into new terrestrial collectives, and explores new pedagogical pathways. It will be essential reading for practitioners and scholars alike.

This report, the final output of the Valuation of Environment-Related Health Impacts (VERHI) project, presents new findings on whether the value of reducing environmental risk greater for children than for adults.