Sustainable development from the standpoint of future educators

The problem Serbia is facing refers to the fact that a small number of local initiatives and activities in the field of environmental protection have been completely carried out and become functional. The research presented in the paper aims at providing an answer to the question: to what extent education and future preschool and primary school teachers can influence the increase of ecological awareness of young people, leading to the improvement in the field. The paper presents the results of a research carried out at the Preschool Teacher Training College in Vrsac. Great attention has been paid to the following: have the students acquired ecological knowledge and awareness during their previous schooling and to what an extent; how much attention is paid by the current curricula to the field of environmental protections and what are the values identified by students as those important for their own and social prosperity and survival in general. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection