Abstract
Over the last few years, a wide range of reports from foreign countries have addressed environmental education practices, including the concept of sustainability. In Japan, however, only a small number of such studies addressing this issue have been reported, and the old concept of environmental education as merely nature experience has persisted. In the present study, firstly, it was shown that the concept of environmental ethics is essential to any environmental education program that encompasses the issue of sustainability. In particular, a focus on both intergeneration ethics and nature values was considered to be appropriate from the viewpoint of environmental ethics, in concert with theoretical investigations aimed at sustainability. Secondly, through the nature experience afforded by an environmental education program aimed at nurturing the concept of environmental ethics in the minds of students, it was verified that both viewpoints could function effectively when planning and practically applying nature experience, including the concept of sustainability, in schools. In this connection, the results of analysis based on questionnaires distributed to students before and after experiencing the program were as follows: 1. Both forest conservation and riverbank cleaning activities were important for nurturing the basic concept of intergeneration ethics. 2. Nature experience in forests and activities focusing on native fauna in local areas, such as salmon in Sapporo City, were major factors encouraging the formation of inherent values.
