Environmental education and sustainable lifestyles

Abstract

Environmental education (EE) has been conceived since its inception as a strategic tool in the face of the environmental crisis. In this sense, one of the explicit objectives of numerous EE initiatives has been the promotion of environmentally responsible behaviours. This article reviews the main criticisms that have arisen from the practice aimed at promoting responsible behaviour and analyses the emergence of the concept of "sustainable lifestyle" as an alternative reference for educational action. Among the arguments in favour of the change of approach, the following stand out: the depth of the changes required to place ourselves within planetary limits, which makes the policy of "small gestures" insufficient; the need to obtain a more comprehensive vision of our impact and to reconcile the individual and the collective in a global vision. Finally, it identifies a number of contributions and circumstances that can facilitate a change of approach, as well as the challenges for the environmental education sector itself.