ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND THE UNIVERSITY: THE “PROBLEM SOLVING‐DECISION MAKING ACT” WITHIN A CRITICAL SYSTEM‐THINKING FRAMEWORK

Current human expectations are too high and cannot be met in the finite world of conflicting interests and unevenly distributed resources. While human activity has caused the current global environmental crisis, education has not prepared people to handle systems of such size and complexity. In order to survive, the time has come to make rational and intelligent decisions and accordingly to take appropriate actions. Thus, environmental education (EE) has become an imperative component of both science and liberal education. STES (Science‐Technology‐Environment‐Society)‐literate people in terms of the “Problem Solving‐Decision Making Act” is advocated as a precondition for the responsible and rational management of the environment in order to ensure future sustainable development; however, STES literacy requires critical system thinking capability on the part of all who are expected to actively and responsibly participate in the democratic decision‐making process. The needed leadership and contribution of the university in the endeavour to attain the ultimate goal of EE, STES‐literate citizens, is contingent on its readiness to restructure education including course offerings, teaching strategies, and evaluation means, as well as to modify environmental research programmes.