Educating for Sustainability through Leave No Trace for Life

Authors

  • Elizabeth Andre Northland College
  • Paul Stonehouse Western Carolina University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18666/JOREL-2025-12456

Keywords:

education for sustainability, outdoor education, transition, climate change education, Minimum Impact Principles

Abstract

Given the current environmental crises, the outdoor profession must play a part in helping our society transition to more sustainable systems and behaviors. Despite years of calls for the outdoor profession to develop and implement curricula aimed at cultivating a sustainability worldview in our participants, we have yet to see any widespread adoption of sustainability curricula. We argue that the nearly ubiquitous Leave No Trace (LNT) curriculum, although originally designed to address environmental impacts only within recreation areas, can serve as a springboard to teach and promote education for sustainability through commitments to “LNT for Life.” 

Published

2025-03-04

Issue

Section

Essays, Practices and Commentaries