Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) supports processes of change in complex socio-ecological systems. Where and how this change takes place are important considerations as we seek to enhance our capacity to challenge existing systems and thus produce and reproduce our life activities in more sustainable ways. This paper considers the possibilities for change in a system as deeply embedded in our social and material existence as capitalism. It rejects the notion that there is no alternative and considers the implications of Evald Ilyenkov’s exploration and development of the Dialectic of the Ideal as the basis for change. I reflect on Ilyenkov’s work in relation to a recent national (South African) study into the potential for creating a more sustainable banking sector and the associated education and skills development requirements. The individualising response to sustainability challenges is rejected through the opening up of a more nuanced understanding of the role of contradictions evident in the reciprocal movement and mutual transformations between society and the material structures, both natural and built, within which society exists.

摘要

可持续发展教育 (ESD) 支持复杂社会生态系统的变化过程。这种变化发生在何处以及如何发生是重要的考虑因素，因为我们寻求增强挑战现有系统的能力，从而以更可持续的方式生产和再现我们的生活活动。本文考虑了一个与资本主义一样深深植根于我们的社会和物质存在中的系统发生变化的可能性。它拒绝别无选择的观点，并将埃瓦尔德·伊利恩科夫 (Evald Ilyenkov) 对理想辩证法的探索和发展的影响视为变革的基础。我对 Ilyenkov 的工作进行了反思，该研究与最近的一项国家（南非）研究有关，该研究探讨了创建更可持续的银行业的潜力以及相关的教育和技能发展要求。