Learning to Navigate (in) the Anthropocene

Abstract

Over the last decades, the extent of human impact on Earth and the atmosphere has been the subject of large-scale scientific investigations. It is increasingly argued that this impact is of a geologically-significant magnitude, to the extent that we have entered a new geological epoch—the Anthropocene. However, the field of Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD) research has been slow in engaging in the Anthropocene debates. This article addresses that research gap by offering a theoretical analysis of the role and position of HESD, and more particularly of the lecturer and the student, within the Anthropocene. At present, the majority of HESD research can be categorized as either instrumental or emancipatory. This article’s central aim is to develop a third, navigational approach toward HESD research. In order to do so, the article first argues that developing understandings of the Anthropocene reconfigure traditional humanist conceptualizations of time, space and collectives. The article proceeds with advancing new, relational conceptualizations of educational spaces (as learning milieus), educational times (as rhythms that slow the present) and learning (as a situated activity that takes place through belonging). Embedded within these new conceptualizations, the proposed navigational approach aims to enable educational actors to orient themselves and to consequently navigate in, and to learn by making connections with, our more-than-human world.

Time and educational (re-)forms—Inquiring the temporal dimension of education

“…The purpose of this Special Issue, then, is more specifically to bring together distinct analytical perspectives regarding processes of educational time-making; perspectives that deliberately seek to disturb the status-quo. Accordingly, the Special Issue aligns with other recent explorations in the field that all tentatively suggest that we are beginning to experience new forms of educational temporalities that are no longer analysable-and, in a strong sense, even no longer conceivable-in modernist terms (some examples: Amsler & Facer, 2017;Chen & Bu, 2019;Decuypere, Hoet, & Vandenabeele, 2019;Hassan, 2017;Lingard & Thompson, 2017;Papastephanou, 2014). In line with these and many other studies, the Special Issue examines how time is crucial in the constitution of contemporary education and most notably in the constitution of educational governing-presently often conceptualised and given form as governance (cf.…”

Analysis of Sustainability Knowingness, Attitudes and Behavior of a Spanish Pre-Service Primary Teachers Sample

“…For a correct HESD implementation, lecturers ought to create intra-and inter-disciplinary scenarios where learners have the opportunity to recognize themselves as principal actors. Consequently, they can re-evaluate and realize their responsibility and the global planetary repercussion of their conduct [39].…”

Conceptualising Sustainability Using a Cognitive Mapping Method

“…Underpinning the business case approach is the assumption that well-being is material wealth [26]; an assumption that would lead to an interpretation of the WCEDs needs-based definition of sustainability, as the need for material wealth. A holistic or integrative view applies paradoxical thinking to accommodate this tension by focusing on the interconnections between each sustainability element [29], integrated [22] into a holistic vision of sustainability that identifies preferred developmental paths that ensure intergenerational justice [5,24,30].…”

“…Within business, an altruistic motivation to strive for sustainability because it is the right thing to do, contrasts with enlightened self-interest [28], where sustainability is pursued because it is believed to be good for business, which suggests that actions to achieve sustainability will cease if the financial analysis suggests it is unprofitable. The anthropocentric belief in human exceptionalism underpins this more instrumental, business-case view of sustainable (economic) development [30]; whereas, privileging natural systems is an ecocentric view aimed at emancipation from human-caused environmental destruction.…”