The Denaturation of Environmental Education: Exploring the Role of Ecotechnologies

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Gough ◽  
Noel Gough
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Global Citizenship ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Natural Resource Base

AbstractThis article explores the changing ways ‘environment’ has been represented in the discourses of environmental education and education for sustainable development (ESD) in United Nations (and related) publications since the 1970s. It draws on the writings of Jean-Luc Nancy and discusses the increasingly dominant view of the environment as a ‘natural resource base for economic and social development’ (United Nations, 2002, p. 2) and how this instrumentalisation of nature is produced by discourses and ‘ecotechnologies’ that ‘identify and define the natural realm in our relationship with it’ (Boetzkes, 2010, p. 29). This denaturation of nature is reflected in the priorities for sustainable development discussed at Rio+20 and proposed successor UNESCO projects. The article argues for the need to reassert the intrinsic value of ‘environment’ in education discourses and discusses strategies for so doing. The article is intended as a wake-up call to the changing context of the ‘environment’ in ESD discourses. In particular, we need to respond to the recent UNESCO (2013a, 2013b) direction of global citizenship education as the successor to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005–2014 that continues to reinforce an instrumentalist view of the environment as part of contributing to ‘a more just, peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable world’ (UNESCO, 2013a, p. 3).

Academic Contributions to the UNESCO 2019 Forum on Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
SDAG Lab
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Global Citizenship ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
United Nations Educational ◽  
Cultural Organization

International initiatives on orientating education toward sustainable development can be traced back to a proposal by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1995. According to this framework, UNESCO suggested reorienting environmental education and reshaping the educational process so as to build a more sustainable relationship between humans and the environment. Twenty-five years have passed, and much of this pursuit is still ongoing, with many unanswered challenges. In recognition of the importance of education and sustainable development, this book brings into focus some valuable insights from the perspective of a developing country, Vietnam. It is a collected volume of academic contributions to the UNESCO 2019 Forum on Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship, organized on July 2–3, 2019, by UNESCO in conjunction with the Ministry of Education Training (MOET) of Vietnam.

From environmental education to education for sustainable development in higher education: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Mauricio Acosta Castellanos ◽  
Araceli Queiruga-Dios
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations

Purpose In education concerning environmental issues, there are two predominant currents in the world, environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD). ESD is the formal commitment and therefore promoted by the United Nations, to ensure that countries achieve sustainable development. In contrast, EE was the first educational trend with an environmental protection approach. The purpose of this systematic review that seeks to show whether the migration from EE to ESD is being effective and welcomed by researchers and especially by universities is presented. With the above, a global panorama can be provided, where the regions that choose each model can be identified. In the same sense, it was sought to determine which of the two currents is more accepted within engineering education. Design/methodology/approach The review followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyzes parameters for systematic reviews. In total, 198 papers indexed in Scopus, Science Direct, ERIC and Scielo were analyzed. With the results, the advancement of ESD and the state of the EE by regions in the world were identified. Findings It was possible to categorize the geographical regions that host either of the two EE or ESD currents. It is important to note that ESD has gained more strength from the decade of ESD proposed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. For its part, EE has greater historical roots in some regions of the planet. In turn, there is evidence of a limited number of publications on the design and revision of study plans in engineering. Originality/value Through this systematic literature review, the regions of the world that are clinging to EE and those that have taken the path of ESD could be distinguished. Moreover, specific cases in engineering where ESD has been involved were noted.

scholarly journals Education for Sustainable Development Goals (ESDG): What Is Wrong with ESDGs, and What Can We Do Better?

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Helen Kopnina
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Ecological Justice ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Social Environmental

This article will discuss social, environmental, and ecological justice in education for sustainable development (ESD) and Education for Sustainable Development Goals (ESDG). The concept of sustainable development and, by extension, the ESD, places heavy emphasis on the economic and social aspects of sustainability. However, the ESD falls short of recognizing ecological justice, or recognition that nonhumans also have a right to exist and flourish. An intervention in the form of an undergraduate course titled Politics, Business, and Environment (PBE) will be discussed. As part of this course, students were asked to reflect on the three pillars of sustainable development: society, economy, and environment, linking these to the fourth concept, ecological justice or biospheric egalitarianism. Biospheric egalitarianism is characterized by the recognition of intrinsic value in the environment and is defined as concern about justice for the environment. Some of the resulting exam answers are analyzed, demonstrating students’ ability to recognize the moral and pragmatic limitations of the anthropocentric approach to justice. This analysis presents ways forward in thinking about the role of “ecological justice” as the ultimate bottom line upon which both society and economy are based.

A Long, Winding (and Rocky) Road to Environmental Education for Sustainability in 2006

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Gough
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
The Road ◽  
New Directions ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Way

AbstractThis article charts the history of environmental education over four decades - from the 1960s to 2006 - as a rocky road of determined chocolate with the possibilities of rocks (nuts) and easy passage (marshmallow). There were distractions such as suggestions of changing names and new directions (add fruit?) along the way but the road has continued to be well travelled. The article concludes that there is much in common with where we have come from (the 1975 Belgrade Charter) and where we stand now (in year 2 of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development). Where next?

scholarly journals Education for Sustainable Development: A Critical Analyses

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 181
Author(s):  
Abeer Mohamed Ali Abd Elkhalek
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Efficient Mechanisms ◽  
Developing And Developed Countries

Education has a key role in attaining sustainable development goals for both of developing and developed countries. Considering “the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” approved by United Nations, the gap between the real and the intended contribution of education to sustainable development must be assessed. The main aim of the current study is to evaluate the contribution of education to sustainable development and explore efficient mechanisms to maximize that contribution regarding the main pillars of sustainable development. This paper goes beyond a study concentrating exclusively on the role of education in achieving sustainable development goals as it also examines the relation between education and each dimension of sustainable development to conclude related policy recommendations which are exposed to be useful in that regard.

Education for Sustainable Development: Configuration and Meaning

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar González-Gaudiano
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Education Field

The inception of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–14) has excited controversy over the validity of the concept of education for sustainable development (ESD), as well as reactivating a critical review of the environmental education field as a whole. This article analyzes the peculiarities of ESD, the conditions that gave rise to it, the characteristics of its proposed configuration and the implications for environmental education.

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