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Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education pp 419–424Cite as

Ecocentric Education

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Introduction: What Is Ecocentric Education?

Ecocentrism has roots in environmental philosophy, which questions the conceptual dichotomy between humans and the environment, acknowledging nonhuman species’ right to flourish independently of human interest (Naess 1973). Generally, ecocentrism refers to a planet- and nature-centered as opposed to the human-centered (anthropocentric) system of values. Inspired by this philosophy, ecocentric education focuses on intrinsic values of the ecosystem, environment, and individual living beings and habitats in environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD).

Originally, ecocentrism has played a large part in how environmental education was conceived. In part inspired by The Limits to Growth publication (Meadows et al. 1972), EE attempted to develop the necessary skills to address the challenges and foster knowledge, attitudes, motivations, and commitments for the protection of the environment, as expressed in the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Hague, Netherlands

    Helen Kopnina

Authors
  1. Helen Kopnina
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Correspondence to Helen Kopnina .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Sciences, World Sustainable Development Research and Transfer Centre, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

Section Editor information

  1. School of Architecture and Design,Program Manager, Master of Disaster Design and Development, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

    Judy Rogers

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Kopnina, H. (2019). Ecocentric Education. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11352-0_533

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