The age of climate crisis and environmental disaster has come. In the last three centuries, large-scale development projects conducted by nations and corporations, and large and small daily activities of countless individuals, have created a catastrophic situation. The 2018 IPCC Special Report warned that there might be only 12 years left to deal with the climate crisis.

The Australian Climate Restoration Center's report, released in May 2019, made a bleak prediction that by 2050, people could no longer live in areas where nearly half of humanity lives. Although these warnings and predictions are pouring out day after day, the belief that a better life is possible through more consumption and possessions does not seem to shake much. And no matter how scientifically probable it is, it is questionable whether humanity has evolved wisely enough to prepare for the dangers that may arise in the future.
If we rely solely on our instincts and intuition, humans are in danger of continuing to make choices that will maximize their short-term self-interest in the future. Now we need a transition to sustainable ecological civilization, and the only thing we can trust is a bold and powerful education.
The National Environmental Education Center will be a “communication institution that closely connects environmental education policy with the field,” so that all citizens can participate in good environmental learning courses anytime and anywhere. We will support various environmental education programs and practices within and outside the school without neglecting any field such as nature experience education, living environment education, and global environmental disaster education. We believe that the fundamental force to overcome the global environmental crisis comes from democratic citizens with ecological abilities around towns and regions.

Jaeyoung Lee, Head of National Environmental Education Center