Education for Sustainable Development: Nature, School and Democracy

This textbook aims at making a contribution towards advancing the necessary knowledge and skills required in order to teach on the subject of sustainable development. This includes developing the ability to make conscious choices among the available alternatives in teaching contents and methods in such a way as to expand and deepen students perspectives on sustainable development. Part I of the book presents the history of humankind s interaction with the natural world from the hunter-gatherer period up to the industrial societies of today. There is also a particular focus on how current environmental commitment has evolved, transformed and intensified over the years. Part II focuses on four current ways of putting environmental and developmental issues into perspective: An ecological perspective on what characterises the natural world; an environmentally ethical perspective on the different ways of morally relating to the natural world; a political perspective on environmental and developmental issues; and an economical perspective applied as a means of achieving sustainable development. Part III deals with educational aspects including: A comparison between Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and other traditions within Environmental Education; a discussion on the democratic role of education; a perspective on the learning process; a presentation of a teaching perspective on ESD; and finally a study of the practical implications of ESD.