Delicate empiricism and romance in education for sustainability

Abstract

The education for sustainability must start with the awareness of our relationship with the natural world. The absence of direct and sensorial experience with the natural world, leads to a narrow understanding of environmental phenomena and a weak awareness of their relationship with human life. In this article we explore the concepts and methods of Goethe’s “delicate empiricism” and Whitehead’s “romance”, which we applied in the project Education for Sustainability - ID-Natura (University of Évora). This project, involving teachers, researchers and pupils (from pre-school to secondary level education) from schools in Évora, Portugal, is based on the idea that experience in proximity with the natural world is an important basis of knowledge processes and of the development of environmental awareness. The testimonies of the pupils resonate with “romance” and “delicate empiricism”. Their lived experiences and reflections portray the interconnected intellectual and sensory dimensions of an educational path to gain knowledge that recognizes the values that are fundamental to the caring for the Earth, our common home.