Sustainability: Why the Language and Ethics of Sustainability Matter in the Geoscience Classroom

• Published in: Journal of geoscience education 2017-05, Vol.65 (2), p.93-100
• Main Authors: Metzger, Ellen P., Curren, Randall R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Active Learning; Biodiversity; Classrooms; Climate change; Collaboration; Conservation (Environment); Earth science; Embedded systems; Environmental degradation; Environmental education; Ethical standards; Ethics; Geology; geoscience teaching; Human behavior; Institutions; Instructional Materials; Language; Language Usage; Morality; Norms; Philosophy; Players; Science Instruction; Scientific Concepts; Scientific Principles; Social Studies; Sustainability; Teaching Methods; wicked problems
• ISSN: 1089-9995; 2158-1428
• DOI: 10.5408/16-201.1

Because challenges to sustainability arise at the intersection of human and biophysical systems they are inescapably embedded in social contexts and involve multiple stakeholders with diverse and often conflicting needs and value systems. Addressing complex and solution-resistant problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation thus demands not only a scientific understanding of Earth systems, but consideration of the underlying human values, institutions, and norms that drive unsustainable ways of living. The search for solutions amidst a multiplicity of players and an array of potential outcomes inevitably leads to ethical quandaries. The purpose of this commentary is to synthesize perspectives from the geosciences and philosophy to provide a rationale for including the ethical dimensions of sustainability in geoscience education and to clarify the nature and ethics of sustainability. Drawing on an approach developed in the book Living Well Now and in the Future: Why Sustainability Matters (Curren and Metzger, 2017), we outline a way to conceptualize sustainability that bridges scientific and ethical perspectives and present four fundamental principles of sustainability ethics derived from our analysis and from core commitments of common morality. We supply a compilation of relevant teaching approaches and materials to help geoscience educators connect the enumerated concepts and principles to classroom practice and we conclude with a call for further cross-disciplinary conversations among geoscientists, philosophers, and social scientists who share a commitment to including sustainability concepts and ethics in their teaching.