Philosophical reflections on Education for Sustainable Development: A complex, transdisciplinary, and biomimetic approach

Abstract

This paper has as object of study reflecting on global sustainability from a convergence between philosophy of education and philosophy of nature. To this end, it combines the transdisciplinary methodology with the theoretical framework of «Big History» to address the co-evolutionary phenomena, processes, and strategies that life is developing on Earth since approximately 3.8 billion years ago. The reflections unify, integrate, and include the history of the universe, the solar system, the Earth and life along the history of the human being to promote a cosmodern consciousness. As result, the study identifies nine operational principles that life develops in nature to copy and to improve them biomimetically with the aim to achieve a more sustainable and resilient world. In short, this study is in harmony with the vision promoted by UNESCO in the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) proposed by the United Nations for the year 2030. In conclusion, it is necessary to adopt new philosophical perspectives to address the large ecological footprint that global citizenship actions are leaving in the complex ecosystem network of our biosphere.