Stephen Sterling is a pioneer in sustainability education. This collection of his essential writings is freshly curated by the author and offers a new overview and chapter by chapter introductions that link together his thinking. Sterling’s work offers a compelling and stimulating perspective on the critical issue of how learning and education can make a decisive difference to securing the future in an increasingly uncertain and threatened world. Together these essays provide a critical perspective on the historical context of the role of education and learning with respect to the possibility of securing the future against current negative trajectories. They offer a commentary on current debates on rethinking education in the light of multiple global crises and lay out the key elements of educational thinking and practice based on ecological and relational principles that offer a way forward. These essays inform the growing and urgent debate on the role and nature of education appropriate for these unprecedented times and are essential reading for educationalists and sustainability advocates. Education is at a watershed: either we drift along with today’s mechanistic, maladapted status quo, tweaking the curriculum here and there as we head towards an ecological abyss, or we work with active agents of change to transform the entire educational system. Stephen Sterling has been at the heart of this debate for 50 years, and has become the go-to philosopher and thought leader for everyone who cares about the future of education and of life on Earth. -- Jonathon Porritt, Forum for the Future Unlike typical works addressing the imperative to reimagine higher education in the face of contemporary challenges, this book presents a unique opportunity to delve into the profound insights of an inspiring sustainability thinker, researcher and educator. By reading these essays, one understands how best to connect critical thinking, vision and design to develop the kind of education that will provide the next generation with the ability to respond to today’s dangerous times and make the positive difference they are determined to make to their future. -- Hilligje van‘t land, Secretary General, International Association of Universities Stephen Sterling's book distills the wisdom of a lifetime of sustained effort, careful reflection, and drive to communicate and inspire action on these most important of contemporary issues. Whilst stimulating and challenging, his argument is anchored in care for and indeed love of our planet and all human and non-human life. The message, that education can and must change, not 'just' to support a transition towards a sustainable future, but because we need to develop education systems capable of self-reflection and evolution is an urgent one. Consequently, this engaging and inspiring book is not 'just' for those involved in 'sustainability education' but needs to be read and acted upon by anyone involved in formal education at all levels, and perhaps most pressingly by those involved in policy and curricular development. I cannot recommend it highly enough. -- Peter Higgins, Professor of Outdoor Environmental & Sustainability Education, University of Edinburgh Stephen Sterling has been a crucial contributor to the global discourse on sustainability within education as we know it today. He is a critical advocate for more holistic and transformative education approaches. This book is both a compilation of his perspectives, reflecting on a lifetime of integrating sustainability principles into all aspects of education and a thoughtfully curated, future-oriented, and inspiring read. It will serve those interested or involved in embedding sustainability throughout all aspects of formal and non-formal education to address today’s multilayered challenges and to be well-prepared for yet unknown futures. -- Charles Hopkins, UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability, York University, Toronto Through this well-crafted anthology of his own writings, Stephen Sterling displays all the characteristics of the critically reflective scholar-practitioner that he has long been. This a very powerful and significantly provocative narrative. Yes, he argues, the world is indeed a dangerous place, but as a self-confessed ‘possibilist’ he argues the case for what he refers to as sustainable education as an empowering movement. His call is for the transformation of the prevailing culture of education itself that far transcends the conventional pedagogical interpretations of education for sustainability and sustainability education. It is a call that urgently deserves our considered attention and one which I strongly endorse. -- Richard Bawden, Professor Emeritus, Western Sydney University and co-author of Coming to Critical Engagement This anthology is a masterclass in exploring how education could and should play a substantive role in achieving a sustainable and equitable society on this more