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The Routledge Handbook of Global Sustainability Education and Thinking for the 21st Century
Author(s): Michele John (Editor)
- Publisher: Routledge India
- Publication Date: February 20, 2025
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 952 pages
- ISBN-10: 0367760657
- ISBN-13: 9780367760656
Book Description
This Handbook emerges as a pivotal resource in underscoring the important role of sustainability education in catalysing a global shift toward sustainable development. It articulates the need for a profound transformation within institutional leadership and educational frameworks to support the critical global sustainability transition.
This Handbook explores sustainability thinking as a critical paradigm shift in confronting the multifaceted challenges of sustainable development. It presents an urgent case for a systemic overhaul in our approach to education in the 21st century, advocating for multidisciplinary education and holistic systems thinking in order to more successfully navigate the complexities of sustainable development.
The text discusses the foundational elements of modern sustainability thought and management, including the significance of values, ethics, governance, and the pressing issues of environmental degradation and climate change. It offers an extensive trans-disciplinary overview of sustainability discourse, spanning a broad array of perspectives on sustainability management and education.
It provides a comprehensive introduction to the language of sustainability and a detailed examination of sustainability issues, highlighting their implications for education, training, and management development. It addresses urgent global issues such as decarbonisation, resource scarcity, population dynamics, pollution, and land degradation, emphasising the crucial role of educational initiatives in helping to mitigate these challenges.
This seminal work has been developed for a diverse audience, including academics, policymakers, students, and educators, serving as a valuable tool for those wanting to comprehend complex global sustainability challenges and the paramount importance of education in supporting global sustainability in the 21st century.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“As a resource for those seeking to foster a culture of humility, and an ethic of restraint and creativity to match our fraught moment in history, this Handbook may prove invaluable.”
Tim Winton AO, Australian author
“The Routledge Handbook of Global Sustainability Education and Thinking for the 21st Century takes on big topics like climate change, mass extinctions, food production, forests, population, energy, and waste, while speaking the language of higher education: faculty support and training, leadership, governance, pedagogies, competencies. May this handbook be the positive tipping point that transforms colleges and universities everywhere into the Noble endeavours we urgently need them to be.”
Krista Hiser, PhD Professor and Senior Lead and Advisor for Sustainability Education; Global Council for Science and the Environment, Washington, D.C.
“A comprehensive international guide to the big issues facing humankind and what educators can do. A vitally important and timely book for teachers at all levels. Highly recommended.”
David W. Orr, Professor of Practice, Arizona State University and Editor: Democracy in a Hotter Time (2023)
“Education is the single most important investment that any society makes – and this timely collection of essays underscores the fact that sustainability education must now be our #1 priority if we are to make sense of the emerging market and political dynamics of the Anthropocene epoch in which we now find ourselves.”
John Elkington, Co-founder of Environmental Data Services (ENDS), SustainAbility and Volans, Author: Green Swans: The Coming Boom in Regenerative Capitalism (2020)
“The current development trajectory is not sustainable. It is no exaggeration to say that our civilisation can only survive if we are educated about the principles of sustainable futures. This Handbook gives educators the tools and examples to fulfill their responsibility to future generations, helping us all to live sustainably.”
Ian Lowe, Emeritus Professor and Author: Australia on the Brink: Avoiding Environmental Ruin (2023)
“Progress toward sustainable development will require the reconceptualization and reorganization of our colleges and universities. Toward an essential transformation of sustainability education, this timely volume provides invaluable insights and practical guidance. The need to link knowledge with action is self-evident, and toward this end, the contributors provide a wide-ranging overview of the prospects for academic culture to contribute to shaping more sustainable futures.”
Michael M. Crow, President, Arizona State University
About the Author
Michele John is Professor of Sustainability and Director of the Sustainable Engineering Group (SEG), Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia. Michele has been involved in sustainability education development for the past two decades. This Handbook was developed to fill an urgent need for a comprehensive resource in 21st-century sustainability knowledge and thinking for both education and management.
