Although the new 2020 consists of the two same numbers, many announce it as the year of changes. One thing is certain – these changes may be initiated by all the ones dealing with the transfer of knowledge, information, thoughts. In terms of environment, it is more than obvious that it is time for every individual to do his/her best and start doing what he/she can to save the planet.

2020 started with the news of enormous catastrophes, from the wildfires in Australia to the highest level of air pollution in the Balkans. The only thing that can mitigate the negative effects of the human factor in devastation of the planet is raising awareness of humans and their communities.  

Although all the supporters of the environmental protection agree that raising awareness and sensitisation of people in this respect should start at an early age, it seems that the educational institutions for the youngest in which the generations born in 1980s, 1970s and the ones before them were educated, have not dealt with this burning issue seriously, at least in the Balkans. Awareness of environmental protection, recycling, importance of green surfaces in larger towns and cities are at a far lower level in the West Balkans than in a more developed countries, and this represents a good basis for the development of the educational strategies for a wider population.

At the same time, our country has been suffering with demographic decline due to a low birth rate for many years, leading to ageing population. Population ageing is obvious at the global level, in various degrees in various countries.

The fact that the population is ageing opens the door to the importance of the quality of life preservation and the need for lifelong learning and training.

After overlapping of the mentioned topics, environmental protection and global population ageing, adult education seems as a golden solution, regardless of the method by which the important information will be transferred. Content can be transferred through independent learning, training courses, workshops, media, etc., as well as by referring to the importance of the topic through the content transferred by any actor of an educational process of any kind.

Older generations are obliged to transfer good practices, healthy habits and general awareness of environmental protection to younger generations, but to do so, they themselves need to have an awareness of those topics. Today's grandparents, who may not have sufficient knowledge of practical methods of preservation of nature and planet, represent one of the main target groups for this type of training. They can pass on that knowledge to the grandchildren they spend time with 

The Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations adopted in 1972, provides a definition according to which a human being is the product and the creator of his/her own environment, and the UN Rio Declaration from 1992, emphasizes that peace, development and environmental protection are mutually dependent and inseparable.

All the aforementioned conclusions lead to the same goal – education about protection that the pedagogic and educational entities should make a compulsory item in knowledge transfer.

The bases of this type of education are the abovementioned awareness raising and sensitization that can be implemented through the activities of all kinds of educational centres.

Among other good practices, there are the thematic workshops on the creative recycling, at which adults can be trained on how to use waste materials. Starting from this idea, the aim of the local festival Fiestas de Gracia held in Barcelona every August, that attracts many tourists, is to decorate the streets of a part of the city with the ornaments made of recycled materials, with every street having a different topic.  The streets represent different small worlds, from the underwater world, through safari to jungle environment, and the ornaments are made of the used plastic bottles, bottle caps, CDs, paper, tapes from video and audio cassettes, etc. The decorations become real works of art, made through joint efforts of groups of neighbours, working together in their streets for days before the festival.

There are fantastic examples of spontaneous good practices worth public attention, such as organized and increasing groups on the social networks, such as Facebook group Zero&LowWasteSerbia in which more than 10,000 members  share ideas on the best methods for recycling, making of natural cleaning and maintenance products, natural hygiene products, compost, toys, etc. Knowledge is shared in the group, and it could be transferred to adults in the real life through workshops or thematic events, having in mind the daily functioning. 

Outdoor classes also represent a good way to sensitize adults about the natural environment, with particular emphasis on kinaesthetic learning, that is becoming more and more important today when people sit too much, thus impairing their health. Active and dynamic learning, with the prospect of outdoor option, is a good practice and example of awareness raising on two topics of key importance for human lives: health and environment.  

Strategies adopted in 2013 by the Andalusian Ministry of Environment and Territory Regulation, concerning developing of a curriculum for adult education in the field of environmental protection, include defining of the basic aspects of resolving the issues, the respective activities, and how to compose, design and evaluate those activities, promote activities and attract the audience, the schedule of the educational processes and the method for their control.

There is a vast field of adult education on the environmental protection, it is open and it provides inexhaustible possibilities for action, and having in mind its importance for each individual, it should be at the top of the list and be truly morally and financially supported by the authorities and the society.