Education for Flourishing in a Sustainable World

In the era of the Anthropocene, human activities have a profound and often destructive impact on global ecosystems. In this module, students explore how (humanistic) education and training can contribute to address these challenges by critically questioning anthropocentric paradigms and placing ecological awareness and sustainability at the center.
Students are challenged to consider ecological crises as existential and ethical issues that require changes in human behavior and social structures. They critically reflect on core values around "a meaningful life in a just and caring society," by focusing on both individual meaning-making and collective and ecological well-being in a sustainable world. Key themes include reframing human dignity and agency and rethinking the concept of flourishing.
The module highlights a crucial role of ‘meaning professionals’ in promoting critical reflection, ethical responsibility and interconnectedness of all life forms. Themes such as cultural and technological influences, lifelong learning and the promotion of ecological justice are discussed in this context. Against this background and by exploring different ideas and practices, students develop skills to design and facilitate brief educational interventions (such as a series of lessons or workshops) in a variety of contexts (such as school, business world, civil society-based organization or Chaplaincy practices in the Army, Prisons or Care Institutions).
The main objective is to prepare students to develop educational interventions that contribute to a sustainable and meaningful future.

• Academic knowledge: Students (1) develop knowledge and understanding of the relationship between humanistic traditions and values, education, and the challenges of the Anthropocene; (2) learn to critically reflect on anthropocentric paradigms and compare them with more ecologically oriented approaches; (3) learn to rethink core concepts such as human dignity, agency, and "flourishing" in light of ecological and social justice and (4) connect ethical and existential dimensions of ecological crises with (humanistic) educational perspectives.
• Skills: students develop practical and reflective skills, including (1) designing and facilitating (short-term) educational pathways focused on sustainability and ecological justice; (2) critically analyzing and integrating diverse cultural, technological and social influences into educational practices; and (3) promoting ethical reflection in educational contexts.
• Personal development: students learn to position themselves as engaged meaning professionals in a time of ecological and social crises by: (1) critically reflecting on their own values and beliefs regarding meaning, sustainability and justice; (2) fostering empathy (geopathy), ethical responsibility and interconnectedness with all forms of life and (3) developing a vision of how they can contribute to a just and sustainable society through educational interventions.

The following competences of Programme qualifications MHUM are applicable:

• 1a: Knowledge and insight A
• 1b: Knowledge and insight B
• 2a: Apply knowledge and insight A
• 2b: Apply knowledge and insight B
• 2c: Apply knowledge and insight C
• 3a: Judgement A
• 3b: Judgment B
• 4a: Communication (and professional) skills A
• 4b: Communication (and professional) skills B
• 5: Learning skills

• ~Hoorcollege