Complexity and Transdisciplinarity as a means to Environmental Education necessary to the present moment

This theoretical essay proposes that the foundations of Environmental Educations (EE) get reassessed in order to incorporate the theory of complexity as its central pillar. This change intends to contribute to how effectively EE handles the crescent socio-environmental global challenges. The reflection springs from Layrargues and Lima's (2014) macrotrends for EE, which, based on political- pedagogical criteria, classify EE as conservationist, pragmatic and critical. This classification was chosen because it is one of the most accepted categorizations by Brazilian EE's guiding core, besides the fact that it incorporates the critical EE, which is the macrotrend recommended by Brazilian EE's policies. We argue that the three categories, although useful, tend to simplify the comprehension of what the environment is, as well as the pedagogical approaches, limiting thus our capacity of facing socio-environmental problems. The present manuscript proposes a further exploration of Morin's epistemology of complexity when it comes to the foundations of EE. We highlight some aspects in which the adoption of the complexity theory can benefit, including a reconfiguration of EE's macrotrends, overcoming their mutually exclusive character and becoming complementary, integrating the individual, society, environment and nature in a more symmetrical way. We suggest that this new perspective can bring about new approaches in facing socio-environmental problems, including an emphasis on transdisciplinary pedagogical actions.