Cultural probes for environmental education: Designing learning materials to engage children and teenagers with local biodiversity

Introduction Environmental Education (EE) strives to create "opportunities to explore nature in the out- doors", to provide "information about conservation and environmental issues", and to convey "knowledge and skills that can be used to defend, protect, conserve, or restore the environ- ment" [1]. To this end, EE also often "encourage(s) different ways of generating meanings of, valuing, conceiving, and contextualizing "nature"" [2]. Paired with EE’s interest in "collective and community learning and action" [3], in this study, we propose the cultural probe (CP) technique as a novel and meaningful approach in EE to engage children and teenagers with local biodiversity. Drawing on Ardoin et al.’s "exploration of future trends in environmental education research" [3], EE, as a field, includes work from both "natural and social science" and therefore is a "multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary field". Nonetheless, "the two fields that most pre-dominantly engage in EE" are "Education and Communication" [1]. While research produced by EE will often focus on "the integration of EE into formal schooling", the field also contributes knowledge that reflects on "informal settings" [3]. Its contributions also have implications for both the theory and practice of EE. Perhaps, most notably for our proj- ect, the field has come to stimulate" (. . .) researchers to think pedagogically from the student/ learner perspective" [3]. As in any field of scientific inquiry, EE "is also continually evolving",

whereby "more recent approaches seek to focus on the social dimension of environmental challenges, to more actively address behavior change, and to facilitate rather than lead learn- ing" [1]. Environmental education materials (EEM) can be key in supporting meaningful interaction with nature, both the classroom and in outdoor settings. When developing and designing printed leaflets, books, audiovisual materials, websites, and content for digital devices, it is essential to consider that “materials should acknowledge that feelings, experiences, and atti- tudes shape environmental perceptions and issues” [4]. For example, EE guidelines, written in support of EEM, highlight the importance of "fairness, accuracy, depth, skills and action build- ing support, instructional soundness, and usability" of materials [4]. Yet, while the literature devises criteria to help those involved in EE select suitable existing EEM [5], there is less sup- port for those wishing to generate context-specific materials. EE guidance indeed recognizes that materials should “meet the specific needs of the site or community where they will be employed", stating that "content should emerge from and address the needs of a local community" [6]. In fact, “pre-formulated” and “off-the-shelf mate- rials” might not always be efficient and can be replaced by the collaborative creation of tools for education for sustainable development [7]. When working with specific communities, con- text specificity should reflect the “place” of a community as well as its “identity” or “shared interests” [8].

We developed this study in the Azores, the northernmost of the four Macaronesia archipel- agos featuring a Mediterranean hotspot of biodiversity [9], characterized by high levels of endemism [10, 11] and important areas of native vegetation [12], including relict species. Not- withstanding, exotic invasive species (e.g., Hedychium gardnerianum, Pittosporum undula- tum), climate change [13, 14], the building of new infrastructures within protected areas (e.g., roads, geothermal facilities), the degradation and fragmentation of habitats due to human activities such as intensive pastures and urbanization [15], pose significant threats to the con- servation of these unique habitats [16]. As a backdrop to the study, we have Field Guide (FG), a project [17] comprising a team of researchers, many of whom are based in the Azores, with expertise in the fields of biology, nature conservation, environmental education, environmental psychology, and human- PLOS ONE Cultural probes for environmental education PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262853 February 10, 2022 2 / 30 Tecnologia, I.P., under the Norma Transito´ria – DL57/2016/CP1375/CT0003. Competing interests: The authors have declare that no competing interests exist.