The Ecological Imperative and Human Nature : A New Perspective on Ecological Education

Abstract

This paper aims at disclosing the essence of “environmental imperative” and “human nature”, identifying the interconnection and relationship of historical development and current processes of globalization in the system of education and training and their influence on the formation of human cultural values. Global society and its educational institutions are still not ready to meet the environmental challenges of the 21st century. The international community is starting to understand that the moral principles, spiritual world and human behavior in the biosphere do not meet the conditions of life, in which the society is immersed. People are now realizing that only the co-evolution with the biosphere will allow them to fit reasonably into the natural cycles and comprehend universal laws that prevail in the world. Similar trends bring the issues of environmentally safe development of civilization to the forefront of scientific inquiry, especially in education. For the sake of ecological survival, humankind must develop and actively implement a unified global strategy for the worldwide development on the basis of global cooperation in education that will ensure environmental quality for the civilization in the 21st century. Through nurturing environmental sensitivity, contemporary humankind is able to explore their own selves and come to new conclusions in experiencing their own realities and truths. Bringing the problem of a human in terms of globalization of education to the fore will eventually result in a new paradigm that reflects a specific holistic nature of humans, their involvement to the natural and cultural worlds and their aspiration to move beyond their own limits.