What We Need to Learn to Save the Planet

The author argues that education, as we see it today, is more a part of sustainable development’s (SD) problem than a part of its solution because it reinforces the principles and values of an unsustainable lifestyle and economy. He argues for an economy that is not centred on free market and profi t, and which circulates wealth with a logic of cooperation rather than competition. Solidarity economy has incorporated the principles of in-clusion and social emancipation. Sustainability and solidarity are emergent and convergent themes. Gadotti proposes that without social mobilisation against the current economic model, education for sustainable develop-ment (ESD) will not reach its goals. In addition, education for a sustainable life—not only for a sustainable development—is required. The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development is an opportunity for formal edu-cation to construct a new quality of education, a social-environmental quality, to replace the current education model that has been eroding the planet since the nineteenth century. As Paulo Freire (1997) has taught us, changing the world is urgent, diffi cult and necessary. But, in order to change the world, it is necessary to know, read and understand the world, both scientifi cally and emotionally, and above all, to intervene in an organised way