Education for sustainability is one of the most powerful ways to involve everyone in the great need to preserve the planet’s ability to sustain life. As defined by Sustainability Schools, education for sustainability is an approach that seeks to mold young learners, academic institutions, and communities with the values and motivation to act for sustainability. It touches the key players on different levels – personal, community-wide, and global-scale.
The approach is designed to increase people’s awareness in sustainability concerns, how natural resources continuously degrade and deplete as mankind progresses. It gives light to certain issues like climate change, global warming, biodiversity loss, and other related concerns like poverty and inequality.
Furthermore, this approach seeks to produce students and schools imbued with the values of critical thinking and innovation and active people who can create solutions for a more sustainable way of living.
Environmentally friendly schools believe that this principle does not end in exploring theories and understanding values. The ultimate goal is to turn all these knowledge into skills and solutions that can create real change in the way we use the environment. It lets students and communities to be part of that change by first making them realize they are part of the planet and that its future lies in their hands.
Education for sustainability is future-oriented. It looks into ways to provide the future generations with a habitable earth by protecting what needs to be protected and conserving what needs to be conserved. The solutions to these concerns require careful consideration of different aspects including environmental, social, cultural, and economic systems. In simpler terms, all aspects of living must be considered in order to achieve sustainability goals. Every member of the community must take part in this undertaking. It is through a unified effort that people can attain sustainability and protect the planet from further irreversible damage.
If there is one word to describe education for sustainability, that would be “transformative.” It should inspire everyone to make smart decisions that involve not just their needs but also the needs of the natural environment. Lastly, education for sustainability should also make people realize that individual efforts and collective action can make a huge difference to achieve environmental goals for the benefit of everyone.
