From Global Challenge to Local Efficacy: rediscovering human agency in learning for survival

There is an assumption underlying education for sustainable development that all we need do is learn the skills and knowledge to live sustainably. Yet, many already know the issues and know we should act, but we don’t. This article argues that a key part of the problem is that we live according to myths and daydreams perpetuated by a growth oriented global economic system such that ecological collapse remains surreal in our lives. The article argues that for any meaningful progress to be made in response to environmental challenges we need to reconnect with the roots of our existence, become fully conscious of the contradiction between the living daydreams of our lives and the reality of our relationship with nature and become more critically self-aware about our choices, actions and impacts in our everyday lives at a local level. This requires a different approach to education.