Why care for Nature?: In search of an ethical framework for environmental responsibility and education (The International Library of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Ethics Book 9)

This book is a rigorous, yet accessible introduction into the current philosophical discourses underpinning practices of environmental education. It provides a comprehensive theoretical framework, relating philosophical key issues and educational concerns in an intrinsic manner, against the background of current practices and policies. While the issues discussed are complex and abstract, the book is readable for a general audience.

For environmental educators who are searching for theoretical foundations that support critical dialogue on why humans must care for nature, Postma gives a strong theoretical introduction to this under-explored field with extremely important consequences for the planet’s survival.

- Greg W. Misiaszek, Book Review in InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies, Vol. 5, Issue 1, 2009

The book addresses those educational professionals, policy-makers, academic researchers, students and scholars who are somehow involved in the discourse on environmental education and sustainable development. While the book is first and foremost a research monograph, it might be used as an introduction to environmental philosophy by postgraduate students in educational studies, or as an introduction to educational issues by postgraduate students in environmental studies. While the issues discussed are complex and abstract, the book is readable for a general audience. No specific knowledge and philosophical training are assumed. New terms, distinctions and jargon are introduced and explicated by the author. Furthermore, the crucial insights and arguments are frequently restated in intermediate summaries and conclusions.

That the subject area of environmental education is widely studied, discussed and taught is manifest in the widespread dissemination of journals on environmental education (there are at least five journals in the English speaking world), the manifold conferences and the existence of locally rooted networks of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners on this subject. Furthermore, the last few years, the subject of environmental education has attracted much attention in general academic media (take for instance the special issues of the Journal of Philosophy of Education, Cambridge Journal of Education, Education Philosophy and Theory). Moreover, the recent declaration of the upcoming decade of 2005-2015 as the United Nations Decade on Education for Sustainable Development is likely to increase potential readership in the near future. The subject of environmental education appears to be of particular importance in Australia and New Zealand, where the evident need for nature conservation and protection against ultraviolet radiation has granted relevance to environmental concerns in connection to educational concerns

Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? 1 George Orwell This book has been written in a time of environmental neglect. A time in which the expansive needs of multinational corporations, western consumer interests and the politically celebrated ideals of economic growth and technological progress appear to override any consideration for preserving natural beauty as well as consideration for those unable to speak and negotiate on their own behalf: third world citizens, future generations, animals, plants and landscapes. This neglect is evident in the withdrawal of national governments from the requirements of international agr- ments on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (Kyoto treaty), it is manifest in the organised inability and unwillingness to establish more equal trade relations between rich and poor countries as well as in the lack of political commitment to p- tect extraordinary sites of natural beauty from economic exploitation (Alaska, the Amazon rainforests, the Dutch Wadden Sea). In times like these, environmental e- cation is a hazardous and primarily ambiguous enterprise, since it easily comes to function as a means to foist present responsibilities onto future generations. Some proponents, for instance, argue that environmental education should ‘create a new generation of citizens who are greener than their parents'(Bell, 2004, p. 43). Thus, new born citizens are burdened with environmental responsibilities that we failed to live up to ourselves. What is it that inspires us humans tot take responsibility for our involvement with the natural environment? And how do we familiarise children with practices of environmental responsibility? These questions are at the heart of this book, resulting from a comprehensive inquiry into the ethical and politico-philosophical dimensions of environmental education. Two sources of inspiration and responsibility are discussed in particular. First, as citizens of a civil society, inspiration stems from our commitment to the continuation of the collective practices in which we are already engaged. Second, inspiration emerges from our sensual-aesthetic acquaintanceship with the natural surroundings in the course of our everyday activities. This study concludes that there is insufficient room for these sources of inspiration and responsibility within the prevailing framework of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). An alternative view on the nature and purpose of environmental education is put forward in light of these shortcomings. This view aims to retrieve an existential human sense of care for our natural environment, beyond the narrowly defined appeals made on behalf of future generations, as well as beyond the romantic appeals made on behalf of the intrinsic sovereignty of nature. CONTENTS......Page 6 About the Author......Page 7 Acknowledgements......Page 8 1. Introduction......Page 10 1.1 A brief history of environmental education......Page 11 1.2 ESD: Research questions and directions......Page 21 2. Because we are citizens......Page 28 2.1 Future generations as fellow citizens......Page 32 2.2 Future generations as heirs of our community......Page 62 2.3 Future generations as imagined strangers......Page 70 2.4 Education for an open future......Page 99 3. Because we are human......Page 113 3.1 In defense of an aesthetic account of intrinsic natural value......Page 115 3.2 On the status of nature and her evaluators......Page 133 3.3 Towards an ethic of environmental responsibility......Page 147 3.4 Conclusion......Page 178 4. Because we educate citizens caring for nature......Page 188 B......Page 211 D......Page 212 H......Page 213 K......Page 214 M......Page 215 P......Page 216 S......Page 217 U......Page 218 Z......Page 219 C......Page 220 G......Page 221 M......Page 222 R......Page 223 W......Page 224 What inspires us humans to take responsibility for the natural environment? How do we familiarise children with environmental responsibility? This book looks at a comprehensive inquiry into the ethical and politico-philosophical dimensions of environmental education. It discusses two sources of inspiration and responsibility in particular