Towards a New Outdoor Education Program Designed to Enhance Environmental : Citizenship: Framing the Program Philosophy and Mission

With the support of the 2017-2019 Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), a research project is underway to design a new outdoor education program for university students to promote environmental citizenship. This research note, which intends to present the theoretical framework and scope of the program, started with a review of the concepts and standard definitions of outdoor education as outlined in the classic textbook “Outdoor Education” written by Gilbertson et al., followed by a study of diverse topics, including environmental education, citizenship education, education for sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, platinum society, and minor subsistence. The program is being implemented with the expectation that program participants will acquire relevant knowledge and skills through experiential learning and be motivated to engage in environmental citizenship activities.