The Need for Sustainability Science Education in Indonesia

The pursuit of continuous economic development for the sake of human well-being has resulted in worsening environmental conditions. This development, which shows no sign of deceleration, means that the human biosphere is facing complex and interrelated problems that threaten the sustainability of human existence on Earth. With regard to this, Sustainability Science emerges as a new kind of science that needs fundamental reorientation among human beings. Sustainability Science is a discipline that points the way towards a sustainable society. It is transdisciplinary effort addressing symbiosis between human activity and the environment. Basically, Sustainability Science is a use-driven (problem-or need-oriented) science that uses an inter (trans) disciplinary approach and focuses on human-environment systems, it aims to seek solutions for present and future environmental-related problems (web of problems) in order to achieve a sustainable society (indicated among others are changes in values, attitudes and actions). In the context of Indonesia, where economic development has put environmental sustainability in jeopardy, Sustainability Science education seems to be very relevant. This paper describes a proposed curriculum developed for a post-graduate program for Sustainability Science education. The proposed curriculum adopts the Mind-Skill-Knowledge model.