This chapter examines how urban environmental education can strengthen communities and enhance environmental quality in cities by focusing on three community assets—social capital, sense of community, and collective efficacy—that have been used to understand why some communities fare better than others and why people sometimes act not in their narrow self-interest, but for the common good. In order to better understand pathways toward urban sustainability that highlight collective action rather than changing individual behaviors, the chapter connects social capital, sense of community, and collective efficacy to urban environmental education. It shows that all three community assets are desirable outcomes for urban environmental education because they contribute to a community's well-being and its ability to act collectively for the common good. The chapter concludes by explaining how to build these community assets.
Social cohesion and social capital: Possible implications for the common good