The teachers who run Queensland's 24 environmental education centres will gather on North Keppel Island to discuss issues including what author and child advocacy expert Richard Louv has dubbed the 'nature deficit'.

Canada's Louv will address the delegates via videoconference about links between the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation and some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as obesity, attention disorders, and depression.

Louv's 'Last Child in the Woods' is the first book to bring together a new and growing body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of children and adults. He has since written ''Nature Deficit Disorder'.

The 50 delegates for the teachers' conference will gather at the North Keppel Island Environmental Education Centre from September 17-21, with some being accommodated at nearby Pumpkin Island.

Conference organiser Greg Hossack said Education Queensland's environmental education centres are based at island, coastal and inland locations across the State and support 90,000 students each year. The centres are diverse in their programs and environments and support students from prepatory years through to university.

The conference is sponsored by Central Queensland University and Rio Tinto. A range of workshop sessions will include state, national and international experts and will incorporate recent educational research into effective programs.

CQU is supporting the international video link to Richard Louv. One of the University's academics - Dr Ken Purnell - will discuss the latest research on schools' energy efficiency and the effects of the middle years of learning on adolescents. CQU's Professor Bob Miles will also be presenting on the global warming phenomena in Australia.

"The conference theme is 'A Climate for Change' and goes beyond the physical environment and global warming research to include a more sustainable future for the centres throughout Queensland as well," Mr Hossack said.

"Centres are helping schools and communities become more sustainable- with some CQ schools for example reducing their environmental footprint by up to 47% in areas of energy use, waste, water use and improving their school's biodiversity after working with staff from centres."

The conference will also profile:

- Victoria's extended residential programs that see year 9 students in residential settings for 9 weeks at a time;

- GIS and GPS technologies

-  the GBRMPA's Reef Guardian programs, and

- Queensland's Sustainable Schools Initiative.

A Rio Tinto representative will discuss that company's commitment to the environment, highlighting a range of effective strategies, including educational programs.

"Other program highlights will include a range of physical activities aimed to connect statewide delegates to our local environment - such as scuba diving, snorkelling, minimal impact extended bushwalks, outrigging, and visiting the Rockhampton Art Gallery's  exhibition on Environmental Art," Mr Hossack said.