A Necessary Lever, Not a Sufficient Saviour – Why Sustainability Education Will Neither Save the Planet nor Humanity on Its Own
Journal
Evidence-informed Sustainability Education (EvSusEd)
Type
digital resource
Date Issued
2026-07-21
Author(s)
Abstract
The myth holds a real kernel of truth: no sustainability transition is conceivable without teaching and learning, and education can cultivate the judgment, dialogue, and critical sensibility transformation needs. The error is the inference, from education is necessary to education is sufficient, from an indispensable lever to the mechanism that moves all the rest. We cannot educate our way out of a crisis whose drivers are largely political, economic, and technological, the imperial mode of living and producing among them (Brand & Wissen, 2017). Orr’s argument still holds: education as such will not save us; education of a certain kind might, and only alongside political will, economic restructuring, and cultural change (Orr, 2004).
Language
English
Keywords
sustainability
education
omnipotency
planet
humanity
hope
instrumentalization
polycrisis
wishful thinking
fatalism
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
No
Official URL
Division(s)
Contact Email Address
stefan.siegel@unisg.ch