Ecoliteracy: Knowledge Is Not Enough

Abstract

In the early 1990s, Oberlin College professor David Orr coined the term “ecological literacy” (or ecoliteracy) to describe people’s ability to understand the complex natural systems that enable and support life on Earth. It embodied the implicit assumption that if humans were more ecoliterate, then we would be more likely to respect the limits of those systems and to create communities that operate harmoniously within the natural world—the key requirement of sustainability. Colleges and universities around the world have since launched hundreds of programs that aim to raise the level of ecoliteracy among students and, to some extent, within society at large.¹