It is increasingly apparent that many of the current dominant human systems (economic, political, manufacturing, social etc.) are founded on unsustainable premises. Resource depletion, toxic pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss and population growth are putting pressures on the Earth’s life support systems to the point of collapse. Rigid and outdated governance systems, economic disparity, and forced migration contribute to increasing social unrest.

Many agree that rapid changes are needed to transition to more sustainable expressions of human civilization. Approaches however, primarily remain in the objective realm of technological advances, political actions, economic drivers, or social awareness/actions. Often neglected is the role of human ways of thinking and being that inform the worldviews on which the current systems are founded. Without the continued development of human consciousness, changes will fall short of the systemic transitions needed.

The current moribund systems are founded on mechanistic or linear worldviews that remain in ego-centric, ethno-centric or anthropocentric stages of development. Education is strategically positioned to contribute to the development of human consciousness needed to address these urgent problems. I believe it can do this through prioritising the development of more integrated ways of being human in the world.

See Article One for more on this topic.