ABSTRACT

It is non-formal environmental education (EE) that shapes public opinion and the response to local, regional and global environmental problems. The summing up and generalisation of information at the final stage of schooling combined with periodic integration of knowledge received in the process of general education would undoubtedly help to create a comprehensive picture of the environmental problems and develop students abilities to solve them. EE in schools in the USSR is part of the general education. Students are taught the fundamental principles of the interaction between nature and society and acquire some practical skills. For a number of years Soviet specialists discussed the problem of whether it was necessary to introduce the speciality ecology at the university. EE at the tertiary level is considered to be most effective when it is based on a standard interdepartmental programme that takes into account the field of specialisation.