Research and advocacy organizations are increasingly involved in developing non-formal environmental activities. Due to its success the WWF has started introducing the same concepts and approaches in other countries, such as Viet Nam. In this, students are encouraged to beautify the school garden, start a plant nursery or engage in other ‘green’ activities within the school premises. In Sri Lanka, a WWF-supported innovative environmental education programme involving over 750 schools has been implementing an approach called ‘greening of learning’. In Myanmar, an imaginative pre-school and lower primary environmental programme bases its teaching on a study of the surroundings, or patwinkyin, without formal textbooks. In Bangladesh, an environmental education programme called Muktangan Siksha, or open-air education, encourages field programmes related to the surroundings and communities. In several countries, there are efforts to get students to relate to local problems, while understanding their global implications.

Different communities, institutions and individuals choose methods and practices that best suit their local needs and capacities. Activities exist alongside the formal educational systems, at curricular and extracurricular levels, in occupational training, and through wide public awareness activities through non-formal channels such as mass media, and voluntary organizations.

Challenges of non formal education