Nonformal and Informal Environmental Education

Much of what people know about the environment and the world around them is learned outside of schooling. Everyday and incidental learning (e.g., magazines, newspapers, Internet) have rapidly become more prominent with the mobility and interconnectedness of handheld electronics and nearly constant connectivity, yet two other structures of learning, those of nonformal and informal environmental learning, remain important ways in which people learn about the world around them. Whether map-led nature walks, exhibits in museums, or interpretive signage in a park or zoo, informal education efforts are important in the learningscape of an individual. The nonformal elements of workshops, programs, guided experiences, and museum shows or first-person interpretation often help learners transition from the “wow” to the “what” of our world, including the natural and constructed components of it. The differences between the structures of informal and nonformal learning are important for designing learning experiences that are highly transferrable to other informal and nonformal learning contexts.