As a matter of survival, we need to educate current and future generations to live sustainably. We need to ensure that future generations have access to quality environmental education. This paper provides guidelines for educators and managers to use to better understand and manage the learning environment in which environmental education, particularly sustainability, programs take place. This is done through the introduction of two tools. Firstly, through a model of the learning environment that can be used to understand the educational environment and its various interactions and secondly, through the introduction of an Adaptive Management Conceptual Framework. This framework provides a step by step approach to guide the process of assessing the state of the current learning environment, and to guide the processes of decision making and implementation by educators. These tools have broad application to a variety of educational environments; schools, universities and community education. A specific case study of the application of these tools in a university environmental science degree is outlined. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)