Photovoice as a Tool for Increasing Awareness and Participation in Local-Based Environmental Education

Abstract

Photovoice is a participatory technique used in sociology for presenting research results in form of visual stories. It can be a valuable tool to increase awareness and participation of citizens in local-based processes related to environmental education. This paper highlights some advantages of using photovoice as a visual participatory technique in improving environmental education, exploring some evidences from recent literature and presenting a case study conducted in Brasov, Romania. The case study isan example of how photovoice can be successfully used in working with social science students, in order to improve their professional skills for promoting local-based environmental education initiatives.

Keywords

• photovoice
• environmental education
• sustainable development
• project-based learning
• local community