Participation as a Key Principle of Education for Sustainable Development in the Postdigital Era

Abstract

This chapter explores the significance of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and media education for active participation and co-creation within postdigital structures. While democracy, co-determination, and active design were the hopes of the early Internet, these are only rarely compatible with the actual structures of postdigitality. Our ubiquitous digital environment and corresponding media structures are powerfully shaped by the monopolistic providers of a digital capitalism, especially in the education sector, and students are rarely introduced to alternatives. Yet a guiding didactic principle of ESD and media education is not to provide clear-cut answers but to enter into an exploratory and a co-creative process in the postdigital era. By jointly exploring and critically considering the implications of digital technologies for sustainable development, actors can better understand the madeness and feasibility of postdigitality and their role in it.