Education for sustainability as "civic engagement": from Agenda 2030 to Martha Nussbaum's lesson

Abstract

The topic of education for sustainability is a consolidated area of general pedagogy in which there is very important theoretical-empirical research. This paper starts with a reflection on how the pandemic emergency has had a negative impact on the achievement of some of the 2030 Agenda’s Goals, with a particular focus on the issue of gender equality. It then focuses on one of the common threads of sustainable development: the corner-stone of complexity as the threshold to a thought that recognises the indissoluble link between mind and nature. It then addresses the issue of the link between strengthening democracy and investing in education for sustainability. The paper also reflects on Martha Nussbaum’s capability approach as an important theoretical framework for tackling the problem. Among the principles of this approach is the idea that the paradigm of selfish individualism must be overcome in favour of the values of the common good. Central to this approach is the issue of the pedagogist’s responsibility in creating the conditions in which “capacitating contexts” for education can effectively contribute to the training of each person in civic engagement.