Educational Eco-Urbanism is a Modern Direction of Pedagogical Theory and Practice

Abstract

The growth of urbanization is one of the confirmations of the global evolutionary process acceleration. Sustainable cities and towns is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals for the period up to 2030 (No. 11). One of the key tasks of modern education and enlightenment is the formation of a sustainable lifestyle among the urban population and the reduction of anthropogenic pressure on the environment. However, the corresponding psychological and pedagogical direction, which can be conditionally called educational eco-urban studies, is only being formed today. The purpose of the research is to identify the prerequisites and basic approaches for the formation of a new direction in pedagogical theory and practice – education for urban residents. The research methods are: analysis of international and Russian documents relating to various aspects of urban development; study of existing experience – educational initiatives in the field of formal, non-formal and informal education in the city and for the city; pedagogical observations and conversations were held with schoolchildren and students of Moscow, as well as a number of other regions. These methods have made it possible to conduct a comparative analysis and identify the specifics of ecological culture (as a way of interacting with the immediate environment – the city) of the inhabitants of the metropolis and small towns. The article discusses possible methodological approaches, content and forms of implementation (training courses, summer schools, competence centers, etc.) of education for sustainable urban development. The main conclusions and results of the work include the need to use an interdisciplinary approach in the development of the main provisions of educational eco-urban studies as an independent direction of pedagogical theory and practice since the complex synthetic nature of the object under study – education for the city and the formation of the ecological culture of urban residents cannot be fully described and studied from the standpoint of any particular science, theory or concept.