Environmental education faces special challenges in areas of acute conflict over resource use. This thesis assesses the role of popular environmental education workshops carried out by an external non-governmental organization in a forest-based community in Morelos, Mexico. Factors investigated as possible influences on the impact of workshops included: the pedagogy employed; local perceptions of environmental problems; obstacles to participation; and motivations of participants. The research indicates that the potential role of environmental education for collective action is enhanced when workshops not only increase access to, and sharing of, relevant information, but encourage organizational capacity and inspiration through group work. Furthermore, environmental education must be relevant to major local concerns and forms of communication. Initial workshops on the forest have demonstrated local desire for community management to solve deforestation problems. A political ecology approach could be useful in workshops for in-depth analysis of the decision-making levels affecting the local environment.

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