Because of the need to develop and advance environmental knowledge and culture in the country, Payame Noor University, the first university in Iran to do so, began designing and implementing environmental education courses at the master’s level in 2007, as well as a specialized doctoral course in environmental education in 2011 and as of now more than 800 masters and 50 doctoral students have graduated from this field of study at Payame Noor University.
In addition, to achieve the educational and research goals of this field, the permits for the journal of Quarterly Journal of Environmental Education and Sustainable Development were obtained from the Ministry of Sciences, Research and Technology in 2015 and so far it has been published consecutively with a scientific evaluation grade of ‘A’ provided by the evaluation committee of publications from ‘MSRT’. Also, the Department of Environmental Education organized a festival, exhibition, and 6 national conferences on environmental education in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. The Scientific Association of Environmental Education has also started its activities in 2014 with a large number of master’s and doctoral students as its members, and the University’s Environment and Sustainable Development Research Center has been active since 2016.
Considering the allocation of the UNESCO Chair on Environmental Education to this university in 2016 and its renewal in 2021, it is expected that the scientific department of environmental education of Payame Noor University in cooperation with academics, as well as local and civil societies, decision-makers, researchers and other governmental and non-governmental institutions, will be able to develop creative methods of education, information and knowledge sharing, research, etc.