If you like to walk in the woods, raft a river, dig in a garden or look at butterflies, you could become an agent of change.

Elementary school students in Palo Alto, California, check for eggs at their school farm. (Image credit: Nicole Ardoin)

Science and policy may not be enough to solve complex environmental challenges ranging from species extinction to water pollution, but actively engaged citizens could tip the balance, according to a new Stanford-led study that provides a blueprint for empowering people to turn the tide of environmental destruction. In Biological Conservation, the researchers outline four key facets of programs that have been successful in motivating and training people to have a meaningful impact.

“Effective environmental education moves people to persistent action through engaging with issues in relevant ways,” said study lead author Nicole Ardoin, an associate professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. “Without it, making sustained change on environmental and sustainability issues simply is not possible.”

While the rate of climate change and species extinction intensifies, the U.S. outdoor recreation sector is growing more than one-and-a-half-times faster than the overall economy. Historic federal legislation passed earlier this year is opening more than a million acres of wildlands to public access. Increasingly, nonprofit groups and government agencies are harnessing this growing interest in nature as a force for conserving it. The question for them has been what kinds of activities or educational engagement have the most measurable impact.