Presentation: Higher education for planetary wisdom

Abstract: 

This presentation introduces the concept of planetary well-being and reflects on its meaning for higher education. Planetary well-being is a state where the integrity of Earth system and ecosystem processes remains unimpaired to a degree that species and populations can persist into the future and organisms have the opportunity to achieve well-being. In the field of education, there are several current frameworks, mostly based on the concept of sustainable development,  which have been applied to find solutions to the threatening ecological crisis. Rooted in the Enlightenment project, Cartesian dualism, instrumental rationality, anthropocentrism and the belief in endless economic growth, the current frameworks have considerable limitations in addressing the ecological crisis and bringing about the rapid societal changes urgently needed. As a conclusion, education for planetary well-being is argued to be a pathway to replacing the traditional anthropocentric humanism with a wiser form of humanity. The presentation opens up for discussion about how this might be realised through higher education curriculum and pedagogy.

Biography:

Hannu L. T. Heikkinen is Professor in Education in the Finnish Institute for Educational Research in University of Jyväskylä, Finland. He leads the research team ‘Eco-social sustainability and Education’ which is associated with the School of Resource Wisdom (JYU.WISDOM), a transdisciplinary multi-faculty research community of University of Jyväskylä. Heikkinen is also the Principal Investigator of the project ‘Wisdom in Practice’, funded by the Academy of Finland, which investigates how professionals face wicked problems in their work and, on that basis, develops pedagogy in higher education to prepare graduates capable of addressing sustainability problems and promoting planetary well-being in the everyday work. This project integrates philosophical and psychological traditions of research on wisdom with empirical research on professionals addressing complex problems.