Environmental literacy and the emerging roles of information professionals in developing economies

Environmental degradation has become a serious source of concern for contemporary society, giving rise to efforts in the way of advocacies, conferences and awareness campaigns at different levels. While information professionals in developing economies are positioned to contribute to environmental sustainability; they need to apply creativity and innovation to overcome issues like low literacy levels, poor infrastructures, political apathy of environmental information to achieve the intended goal of environmental literacy. New roles are evolving beyond mere provision of information; these include information professionals as change agents, educators, electronic experts and partners to other change agents. The paper argues that information professionals could be more relevant to the needs of sustainable environment by repositioning themselves in terms of their roles in their various communities. Some recommendations made in the paper include revitalizing public libraries, training in Information and Communication Technology skills and collaboration with interest groups.