Green education for a green future

Abstract

The modern man is facing many challenges, ranging from wars and economic crises, over security issues, nuclear threats, to the issues caused by the pandemic, mental health issues and pollution. The ecologic crisis the humanity is facing has already escalated to the point that the term “climate change” is no longer adequate and should be substituted by “climate crisis”, “climate breakdown” or “climate emergency”. The United Nations’ concept of education for sustainable development offers a systematic approach to dealing with different challenges through 17 Sustainable development goals, with the overall aim of transforming the world for the better and ensuring the survival of the humankind. The aim of the paper is to emphasise the necessity of green education at all levels of formal education systems, the role of Sustainable development goals and the importance of individual contribution of each and every person in this process. Qualitative methods of content analysis and autoethnography were applied. Education is one of the corner stones of each society and, as such, has the pivotal role in raising the awareness of children and youth about the challenges and responsibilities the world faces. In addition to the need to include the topics of green pedagogy, sustainability and ecological awareness in the curricula at all levels of education, an interdisciplinary approach across different scientific disciplines is needed, as well as integrating these topics with other key topics in education, including: the focus on the overall wellbeing of students, equity, equal rights to education and connection with the local community.