Stultifera Navis: Institutional Tensions, Conceptual Chaos, and Professional Uncertainty at the Beginning of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

Abstract

The main idea this article develops is the conceptual chaos, methodological tensions and epistemological conflicts that are being experienced in the field of environmental education as a result of the uncertainty generated by some institutions and international organisms. The authors’ perspective starts from the idea that too many expectations have been invested in the celebration of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The celebration will contribute to making the tensions and fractures grow between the different collectives and professional cultures that inhabit this educational field. While some will find their channels of expression waning and their work models delegitimated, others will increase their popularity and extend their hegemonic power over the dominant models of intervention and the securing of financial resources through the programs and grant competitions they enter. The reason for these tensions lies in the underlying focus promoted by the model of celebration that has been advocated by the institutions leading the process.