As a colleague, friend, questionnaire respondent, data contributor or
discussion partner you have helped me, shown an interest in or encouraged me
with regard to my Education for Sustainability project over the last three
years. Many thanks for this!
I now have the pleasure to announce the publication of the result of the
project:

Rolf Jucker (2002), Our Common Illiteracy. Education as if the Earth and
People Mattered. Frankfurt a. M.; Berlin; Bern; Bruxelles; New York; Oxford;
Wien, Lang [=Environmental Education, Communication and Sustainability; Vol.
10]). 364 pp. ISBN 3-631-39117-X, US-ISBN 0-8204-5483-4, ISSN 1434-3819.
[http://www.peterlang.com/all/index.cfm?textfield=jucker&vResult=true&vDom=3
&vRub=1060]

What is the book all about?
Our Common Illiteracy takes seriously the international consensus that
Education for Sustainability (EfS) is crucial to the survival of humankind.
It establishes the principles of a sustainable society and performs a
rigorous assessment of the reasons for our unsustainable present. Only on
that foundation, it is argued, can the role of education in the transition
to a sustainable society be meaningfully assessed. Such an approach is by
necessity complex, transdisciplinary and broad. It has to acknowledge the
limited significance of education within contemporary society, along with
other 'educators' such as the media, the economy, technology and the shadow
curriculum of institutional practice.
        The book aims to provide a basic curriculum to overcome our
widespread eco-illiteracy. It covers all the relevant areas (ecology,
empowerment, equity, economy and equipment), which need to be integrated and
considered together, are we to progress towards a sustainable society.
Aimed both at academics and interested lay readers, it is an attempt to
overcome the fear that we might embarrass ourselves by attempting a
transdisciplinary approach to EfS. It is very much ingrained in academic
disciplines not to dare to touch on other areas. Yet if we want to progress
towards sustainability both our professional activities and our daily lives
have to become transdisciplinary endeavours, attempting to come to terms
with the complexities of life and facing up to our responsibilities towards
our co-inhabitants on earth, our children and nature. EfS then cannot be a
specialist thing best left to the educational experts. It needs to be
something which informs all aspects of our lives, from our jobs, to our
consumption habits, to the way we treat our students and kids.
What struck me when reviewing the international debates surrounding
sustainability in general and sustainability education in particular, was
that the various dimensions of the debate are not brought together. But to
me, it does not make much sense, for example, to talk about enabling
citizenship or empowering students, when there is no discussion about our
current political system. Do we really have coherent concepts, let alone
practices, of democracy, which are compatible with sustainable parameters?
Or, have we really considered in depth the impact of the so-called
information revolution on our societies and on education within a
sustainability perspective? Similar questions have to be raised with regard
to the development discourse, the economy, the science/technology myths and
the distinctly Euro-American bias of much of the debate which pays virtually
no respect to the situation of Southern countries and indigenous knowledge.
On the contrary, a lot of the educational discussion, because it does not
seriously consider these other areas, is still very much caught in the
development ideology, to mention just one example.
As a response to this and in an attempt to address the above questions Our
Common Illiteracy endeavours to keep the complexity of the issues in focus
and to link up the various dimensions. This is also why I try to give
examples, provide material and sources. The international debate is loaded
with grand terms (education, empowerment, democracy, liberation, etc.), but
what this all means on the ground and with more rigorous assessment is not
always clear. My aim was to stay on the ground as it were, not drifting off
in theoretical debates. The book is not worth much if it does not lead to
'education for action'. That is the reason why it ends with 28 practical
strategies to foster Education for Sustainability.

Content:
Preface
Introduction
1. Sustainability as Intention and Paradigm
        a. State of the World
        b. The International Consensus
        c. Sustainability as a concrete paradigm
2. The Pathology of Denial
        a. Our unsustainable present (economy, political system, science and
technology)
        b. Legitimising Destruction (media, propaganda, education)
3. Educating for the Future
        Education for Sustainability (EfS)
Conclusion
28 practical strategies to foster EfS
Bibliography
Abbreviations
Index

With many thanks again for your interest and/or help
Best wishes
Rolf Jucker

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Dr Rolf Jucker
Senior Lecturer in German/Chair Environment Sub-Committee
Department of German
Keir Hardie Building
University of Wales Swansea
Singleton Park
GB-Swansea SA2 8PP
Wales, U.K.
Tel: ++44 (0)1792 205678, Ext. 4034.
Fax: ++44 (0)1792 295710.
email: [log in to unmask]
Internet: http://www.swan.ac.uk/german/staff/jucker.htm
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