ABSTRACT
A central aspect of citizenship education (CE) in the 21st century is recognition of the need to equip learners with the resilience, skills and attributes to navigate the complexity of a rapidly changing and unpredictable world. This chapter considers the phenomena that Martin (2007) refers to as ‘mega-
problems’; issues of manifold crisis that go beyond the space of international boundaries and time. With a particular focus on the issue of climate change, it presents the need for a conceptualisation of CE that brings to the fore the notion of sustainability, drawing in particular from the current United Nations agenda of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This raises debate over whether or not notions of national citizenship or even anthropocentric notions of global citizenship are adequate conceptual models for the challenges of life in the 21st century. An emerging framework of sustainable citizenship education is proposed here that raises the need for a consideration of socio-ecological relationships within a contemporary conceptualisation of citizenship. In so doing this chapter also raises the importance of CE being implemented through participatory pedagogical approaches that are congruent with its overarching aims and objectives of empowerment and democratic engagement. Whilst relevant examples of such an approach are provided throughout this book, one further pedagogical innovation is briefly outlined here; the critical literacy methodology of Open Space for Dialogue and Enquiry.
