Sustainable development and environmental education: a common trend with many challenges

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present the emergence of a conception of environmental education (EE) associated with the movement of sustainable development and a proposal for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in view of its application in Business Administration, for as will be shown in its design gave particular attention to the professionals whose activities and decisions have significant repercussions on the environment, such as administrators, economists, engineers, architects, product developers, policy makers, among others. It will present the main intergovernmental events that gave rise to this conception of EE, the main guidelines and recommendations appllied to these professionals and a proposal for EDS and its relationship with EE. Afterward, it will present a discusion about EE and ESD because there are diametrically opposed understandings about these two conceptions of education. Distinct aspects of the concept of sustainable development and the controversial issues that generate doubts and objections about it will also be presented, in order to clarify myths and avoid naive conceptions. It will address issues related to economic growth, one of the main questions concerning the concept of sustainable development. This article discusses the concepts and recommendations contained in intergovernmental documents, especially those created by agencies of UN, that established milestones for the debate and introduced elements that initiated global EE actions. Finally, it presents some of the main voluntary initiatives for the integration of Higher Education Institutions, just as Talloires Declaration, in the movement of sustainable development, to implement the EE and ESD.