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Sustainability in environmental education: new strategic thinking

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  • Helen Kopnina

Abstract

Recently environmental education (EE) literature has been supportive of pluralistic rather than goal-oriented learning. Researchers argue that sustainability is not fixed but socially constructed and that sustainability issues should not be represented as indisputable targets. Countering this trend in environmental education research, this article argues that unsustainability should be treated as a concrete challenge that requires concrete solutions. The author will argue that there is a need for clear articulation of (1) what (un)sustainability is; (2) what are the key challenges of (un)sustainability; and (3) how the sustainability challenges can be meaningfully addressed. This article will outline a number of helpful frameworks that address obstacles to sustainability, ranging from population growth to unsustainable production and consumption practices. Solutions include investment in family planning to counter the effects of overpopulation, and alternative production frameworks, such as Cradle to Cradle that differs from the conventional frameworks. This article will conclude with the broader reflection that without goal-oriented critical learning explicitly providing sound models of sustainability, open learning may never permit transcendence from unsustainability. This article will develop a number of comprehensive frameworks targeted at solutions to sustainability issues both from ethical and practical perspectives. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Helen Kopnina, 2015. "Sustainability in environmental education: new strategic thinking," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 987-1002, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:17:y:2015:i:5:p:987-1002
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-014-9584-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ralf Isenmann, 2003. "Industrial ecology: shedding more light on its perspective of understanding nature as model," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(3), pages 143-158.
    2. Ayres, Robert U & Kneese, Allen V, 1969. "Production , Consumption, and Externalities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(3), pages 282-297, June.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ângelo Barroso & Cristina Chaves & Francisco Vitorino Martins & Manuel Castelo Branco, 2016. "On the possibility of sustainable development with less economic growth: a research note," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 18(5), pages 1399-1414, October.
    3. Janaka Kuruppuarachchi & Palaniappan Hemadila & Buddhika Madurapperuma, 2023. "Comparison of the Literacy Level on Major Environmental Issues of the G.C.E. (A/L) Students of Different Disciplines in Kandy District, Sri Lanka," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-18, February.
    4. Saida Teraa & Meriama Bencherif, 2022. "From hygrothermal adaptation of endemic plants to meteorosensitive biomimetic architecture: case of Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot in Northeastern Algeria," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(9), pages 10876-10901, September.
    5. Alexander Hellquist & Martin Westin, 2019. "On the Inevitable Bounding of Pluralism in ESE—An Empirical Study of the Swedish Green Flag Initiative," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, April.
    6. Tiago Francisco Camargo & Antonio Zanin & Sady Mazzioni & Geovanne Dias Moura & Paulo Sérgio Lima Pereira Afonso, 2018. "Sustainability indicators in the swine industry of the Brazilian State of Santa Catarina," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 65-81, December.
    7. Helena Fidlerová & Augustín Stareček & Natália Vraňaková & Cagri Bulut & Michael Keaney, 2022. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship for Business Opportunity Recognition: Analysis of an Awareness Questionnaire among Organisations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-15, January.

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