Incorporating aquatic ecosystem services into environmental education curricula for promoting ecological stewardship in youth

Abstract

Aquatic ecosystems help to conserve biodiversity, regulate ecosystem functions, and serve human welfare. Unfortunately, they remain poorly integrated into educational and developmental initiatives. My study aims to include the value of these ecosystems in environmental education and help develop ecological literacy and stewardship in young people. This approach is mainly experiential, centered on inquiry and field learning. Integrative biology, geography, and environmental ethics stimulate systems thinking and stewardship toward the biosphere. The students in the pilot implementations of the curriculum showed remarkable understanding of ecosystem interdependence, the functions of water bodies, and local conservation practices, which is no small feat. This understanding of these valuable aquatic ecosystems is a great leap toward promoting sustainable practices and helps to amplify the level of ecological constructive action targeted by our youth. It shows the approach integrates science, education, and the community, and develops a new generation of citizens with high levels of environmental literacy to tackle the challenges the world's freshwater ecosystems and the environment will face, and helps the young people become active environmental stewards. To sustain this, the passage should merge the theoretical ecology of ecosystems with active, real-world, and experiential learning.