EFFECTIVENESS OF ALTERNATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROGRAM IN PROMOTING CONNECTEDNESS WITH NATURE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS OF GOA

Abstract A Goan secondary school student today can name the planets of our solar system, draw a diagram of chloroplast, and recite the causes of air pollution. Yet, the same student playing a free fire or PUBG game on mobile under the shade of a well knitted natural canopy of green fronds of coconut doesn’t know that the Konkani ecological terminology used for this leaf is “Molla”. He is so much connected to screen that he is disconnected from nature and is unaware of the fact that the fallen cashew seeds under the cashew tree during summer sprouts up few days after “Mirgh” (Mrigh Nakshatra) monsoon to give us “Ghodhka” the soft, green -tender tasty cashew cotyledons which forms an traditional tasty monsoon recipe called ghodkachi xacuti on plates of majority of Goan’s This is the central paradox of modern environmental education in Goa. The emotional bond between people and nature has a curcial role in influencing their inclination to interact with natural environment (Hinds and P.(2008). A world famous biodiversity hot spot & tourist destination site where some nature loving tourist come only to study the endemism in Goa’s wildlife like bird watching. The challenge for 2025 is not to add more data, but to forge a new relationship of connectedness with nature (CWN) and contribute to the emergence of a generation that does not just live in Goa, but feels, knows, and fights for its soul. Connectedness with nature is a stable state of consciousness comprising symbiotic cognitive, affective, and experiential traits that reflect, through consistent attitudes and behaviors, a sustained awareness of the interrelatedness between one’s self and the rest of nature. CWN has been found as a reliable predictor and motivation for environmentally responsible behaviour (ERB). It is not a subject to be taught, but a latent sense to be awakened. It moves beyond assessing "alternative programs" to proposing a fundamental re-imagining of learning as an act of ecological belonging. The goal of environmental education is to develop a world population that is aware of, and concerned about the environment and its associated problems, and which has the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations, and commitment to work individually and collectively towards obtaining solutions for current problems and the prevention from forthcoming ones (UNESCO, 1976.