Tenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Pope Francis published his second encyclical entitled Laudato Si: On Care For Our Common Home on the 18th of June 2015. Here he critiques unbridled consumerism and inauthentic human and economic development; laments environmental destruction and global warming; and calls everyone to take “swift and unified global action”. In the encyclical he speaks of “Ecological Education”, which is basically an education that promotes care for the environment. “Good education plants seeds when we are young, and these continue to bear fruit throughout life”. We have seen for ourselves that with technological advancements and innovations; problems with pollution and degradation; and even the depletion of our natural and human resources is already before us, happening before our very eyes. We are reaping the seeds of our abuse of these God-given gifts and resources. Is it really too late to do anything about it as what pessimists may say that the effects of climate change cannot be reversed anymore? Or can there still be hope for the future especially in our youth today? Thus, this research proposes a means of integrating reflections and insights from the encyclical Laudato Si towards a so-called “ecological education” that can be integrated into the curriculum of tertiary education.