The Riddle of Sustainable Development and the Role of Environmental Education |
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| Authors: | Malcolm Plant |
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| Institution: | Nottingham Trent University , UK |
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| Abstract: | This paper is largely concerned with exploring the meaning of sustainable development from two perspectives, the economic and the ethical. The economic perspective raises questions such as: what kind of development is to be sustained? Is it economic growth? Quality of life? Ecosystem integrity? The ethical perspective considers questions such as: what should be the criteria for ‘progress'? What is our moral obligation to future generations? The paper argues that education for sustainability programmes ought to acknowledge and address these questions. If they do not, then, given the complexity and volatility of late 20th century global society, the current stress on education playing a major role in achieving sustainability (IUCN, UNEP & WWF, 1991) may be unduly naïve and under‐theorised. Finally, I contend that the goals of environmental education need to be reconceptualised, continually and reflexively, in response to the globalisation of industrial risks. |
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