Ecological literacy (also referred to as ''ecoliteracy'') is the ability to understand the natural systems that make

life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

possible. To be ecoliterate means understanding the principles of organization of ecological communities (i.e.

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s) and using those principles for creating

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

human communities. The term was coined by Frank Herbert in his novel Dune - Liet-Kynes’s father tells him 'You must cultivate ecological literacy among the people'. It was later developed by American educator David W. Orr and physicist

Fritjof Capra Fritjof Capra (born February 1, 1939) is an Austrian-born American author, physicist, systems theorist and deep ecologist. In 1995, he became a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California. He was on the faculty of ...

in the 1990s – thereby a new value entered education; the "well-being of the earth".

Well-being Well-being is what is Intrinsic value (ethics), ultimately good for a person. Also called "welfare" and "quality of life", it is a measure of how well life is going for someone. It is a central goal of many individual and societal endeavors. ...

, Well-being, or wellbeing, also known as wellness, prudential value or quality of life, refers to what is intrinsically valuable relative to someone. An ecologically literate society would be a sustainable

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

which did not destroy the

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...

on which they depend. Ecological literacy is a powerful concept as it creates a foundation for an integrated approach to environmental problems. Advocates champion eco-literacy as a new educational paradigm emerging around the poles of

holism Holism is the interdisciplinary idea that systems possess properties as wholes apart from the properties of their component parts. Julian Tudor Hart (2010''The Political Economy of Health Care''pp.106, 258 The aphorism "The whole is greater than t ...

systems thinking Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.Anderson, Virginia, & Johnson, Lauren (1997). ''Systems Thinking Ba ...

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

, and

complexity Complexity characterizes the behavior of a system or model whose components interact in multiple ways and follow local rules, leading to non-linearity, randomness, collective dynamics, hierarchy, and emergence. The term is generally used to c ...

Overview

Ecoliteracy concerns understanding the principles of organisation of ecosystems and their potential application to understanding how to build a sustainable

human society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

. It combines the sciences of systems and

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

in drawing together elements required to foster learning processes toward a deep appreciation of nature and our role in it. Systems thinking is the recognition of the world as an integrated whole rather than a collection of individual elements. Within systems thinking, basic principles of organization become more important than the analysis of various components of the system in isolation. Ecological literacy and systems thinking implies a recognition of the manner in which all phenomenon are part of networks that define the way that element functions. Systems thinking is necessary to understand complex

interdependence Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or artificial. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structur ...

of ecological systems,

social system In sociology, a social system is the patterned network of relationships constituting a coherent whole that exist between individuals, groups, and institutions. It is the formal Social structure, structure of role and status that can form in a smal ...

s and other systems on all levels. According to

, "In the coming decades, the survival of humanity will depend on our ecological literacy – our ability to understand the basic principles of ecology and to live accordingly. This means that ecoliteracy must become a critical skill for

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

s, business leaders, and professionals in all spheres, and should be the most important part of education at all levels – from primary and secondary schools to colleges, universities, and the continuing education and training of professionals." David W. Orr has stated that the goal of ecological literacy is "built on the recognition that the disorder of ecosystems reflects a prior disorder of mind, making it a central concern to those institutions that purport to improve minds. In other words, the

ecological crisis An ecological or environmental crisis occurs when changes to the environment of a species or population destabilizes its continued survival. Some of the important causes include: * Degradation of an abiotic ecological factor (for example, incr ...

is in every way a crisis of education.... All education is environmental education… by what is included or excluded we teach the young that they are part of or apart from the natural world." He also emphasizes that ecoliteracy does not only require mastery of subject matter, but the creation of meaningful connections between head, hands, and heart as well. Others have reiterated the urgent importance of ecological literacy in today's world, where young people are faced with escalating environmental challenges, including climate change, depletion of resources, and environmentally linked illnesses. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of higher education institutions in advancing ecological literacy through sustainability education. A 2024 study discovered that universities are crucial drivers in integrating sustainability into curriculum, research, and campus operations, emphasizing on the idea that sustainability education cultivates values, critical thinking, and interdisciplinary collaboration essential for solving complex ecological problems. The framework for ecological literacy is based on how the knowledge of the environment is necessary for informed decision-making. The more recent framework of ecological literacy also emphasizes ecological thinking, cognitive thinking, and particularly scientific inquiry. An ecologically literate person knows and understands the reality of the environment by precisely identifying its cause-and-effect relationship. With an understanding of ecological literacy,

perceptions Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

naturally shift. The need to protect the ecosystems is not simply a belief held by

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

s; it is a biological imperative for survival over the time. This value will become a basic principle for prioritizing thought and action in a sustainable society. In the face of the increasing capacity of industrial systems to destroy habitats and the

climate system Earth's climate system is a complex system with five interacting components: the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water), the cryosphere (ice and permafrost), the lithosphere (earth's upper rocky layer) and the biosphere ( ...

, the explicit declaration of the principles of ecological literacy – and the resulting awareness of the importance of living within the ecological

carrying capacity The carrying capacity of an ecosystem is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. The carrying capacity is defined as the ...

of the earth, is increasingly necessary. Whether ecoliteracy can address the infamous value-action gap is unclear.

References

External links

Center for Ecoliteracy Welcome
{{Literacy Ecology Environmental education Sustainability

Overview

See also

References

Further reading

External links