Developing the Ecological Awareness of College and University Instructors

Abstract

Society finds itself on the brink of ecological catastrophe. Today the limitations of the consumerist approach to nature are becoming obvious, subordinating nature to the needs of human beings and attempting to "correct" nature by means of technology. One of the causes of the ecological crisis is the fierce opposition between nature and culture that has defined the worldview of many generations.Human beings, who considered themselves the sovereign masters in the workshop of nature for so very long, are now forced to acknowledge that they have been too arrogant and have assumed that their power over nature was without limits and the riches of nature inexhaustible. Today it has been realized that the violation of the tradition of behavior that is in harmony with nature is the source of the ecological crisis and also the humanitarian crisis, because the cynical and irresponsible treatment of nature ends up destroying what is human in human beings. The problem is no longer merely how to preserve and safeguard the environment but, English translation © 2008 M.E. Sharpe, Inc., from the Russian text © 2007 "Pedagogika." "Razvitie ekologicheskoi kul 'tury prepodavatelei vuzov," Pedagogika, 2007, no. 5, pp. 65-71. A publication of the Russian Academy of Education.

Ecologically Civilized Campus: A Rational Choice for the Construction of Ecological Civilization

“…Ecological crisis and disasters didn't caused by the development of ecology, but the short of ecological concept and ethics [3]. The premier task of the construction ecological civilization is to let people Recognized, take action to maintain natural ecology and protect the environment.…”