Learning experiences in the natural environment are extremely important in developing students' environmental knowledge, attitudes and responsible actions.

There is a wealth of evidence highlighting the importance of learning in natural environments.

The Learning for Sustainability research project seeks to identify and investigate specific programme elements or pedagogies in the environment that are most effective in facilitating school students' learning for sustainability.

This research will improve understanding of the role and impact of nature-based learning experiences, and will support the development and implementation of best practice principles to enable Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres to optimise student learning for sustainability.

Project Methodology
The Learning for Sustainability research project will involve a qualitative and quantitative investigation of the connections between different O&EEC pedagogies, partnership approaches and student learning outcomes.

Project Aims
The project is designed to enhance our theoretical understanding of the role and impact of nature-based environmental learning experiences, identify factors that facilitate learning for sustainability, and develop empirically-based best practice principles to support O&EECs in optimising student learning for sustainability.

In essence, this project aims to enhance our fundamental knowledge and practice of education for sustainability by:

• Describing, documenting and examining a range of pedagogies and school-centre partnership arrangements used by O&EECs;
• Identifying and measuring the impact of program elements, pedagogies and partnership approaches on the nature and quality of student learning;
• Developing a theoretical framework regarding the role and impact of O&EECs; and
• Producing a set of 'best practice' principles in relation to connections between program elements, pedagogies and partnership approaches that will enable O&EECs to optimise student learning for sustainability