The twentieth century saw astonishing changes in many areas, one of the most expressive changes was the population that increased 3.5 times reaching 6 billion. The premise of this book is that the twenty-first century will be a time of change no less dramatic than that twentieth century, but the changes will be of an entirely different nature. We will no longer be able to depend on the input of energy from fossil fuels, partly because oil production is set to peak and start its inevitable decline, threatening everything that depends on it. Increasingly, sustainability becomes a struggle not only to ensure that future generations have the means to survive, but also to meet the needs of the present in the deteriorating conditions of the world, needing a careful plan to transition our society.
To walk in the correct path is required sustainability literacy which, in this book, indicates necessary attributes to survive and thrive in the declining conditions of the world. Ray Anderson provides an example of a business that, with ecological intelligence, changed to a company that rents out carpet tiles, reuses them when no longer required, replacing only those that have worn out, and even then recycling the discards using energy generated from wind and the sun.
To explore the skills demanded of people in the twenty-first century, this book brings leading specialists from many areas, and the interaction with them is provided by workshops firstly exploring skills such as social conscience, permaculture design, or futures thinking, after that the book provide a list of resources for gaining a deeper insight into the skills described. The book aims to bring different perspectives that can shift the debate away from the narrow focus of the dominant discourse on ‘skill set’ for employability which often fail to take into consideration important environment characteristics therefore, are unlikely to serve the long term interests of everyone.
Having the chapters that talk about unnecessary actions and how to avoid them (Ecocriticism, Optimization, Grounded Economic Awareness, and Advertising Awareness), about saving resources while satisfying needs (Transition Skills, and Commons Thinking), the use of ecosystem services (Effortless Action, Permaculture Design, and Community Gardening), new ways of thinking (Ecological Intelligence, Systems Thinking, and Gaia Awareness), important things needed to be considered (Futures Thinking, Values Reflection and the Earth Charter, and Social Conscience), effective ways of sending the message of sustainability (New Media Literacy and Cultural Literacy), skills to reduce environmental footprints (Carbon Capability, Greening Business, and Materials Awareness), changing technology`s role in society (Appropriate Technology and Appropriate Design and Technology Appraisal), other factors that affect sustainability (Complexity, Systems Thinking and Practice and Coping with Complexity), the importance of psychology in sustainability`s path (Emotional Wellbeing and Experiencing Meaning without Consuming), why we depend on the world (Being-in-the-World, Beauty as a Way of Knowing), and the change needed in education to enable the success of sustainability (Citizen Engagement, Re-educating the Person, Institutional Transformation, and A Learning Society).