The Blue Car in the Forest: Exploring Children’s Experiences of Sustainability in a Canadian Forest

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Early childhood has long been recognized as a period of a child’s life where the foundations for thinking, learning, and being are shaped, including their relationships to others and a sustainable world (Sameulsson & Kaga, 2008; Sameulsson & Park, 2017). Although a universal definition does not exist, sustainability is generally considered as the interconnection of the social, political, environmental, and economical facets that underpin a sustainable world (UNESCO, 2007). Broadly speaking, early childhood for sustainability (ECEfS) is about “learning to think and act in ways that will safeguard the future well-being of people and the planet” (Ministry of Education New Zealand, 2015).