(Re)considering Science Education in the Face of Environmental Injustices in Pre- and Post-pandemic Worlds: Insights from a Critical-Decolonial Nature of Science

Environmental education (EE) has a longstanding history both in the global South and North. In the past two decades, however, debates have emerged about its role in what has been called environmental (in)justices, relating to unequal access to the environment by—and the unequal impact of environmental degradation to—marginalized groups across the world. The construct of environmental (in)justices then asks us to approach EE not from ‘future-related’ and/or purely scientific perspectives, but also from the socioeconomic, political and historical perspectives of communities that have been severely impacted by environmental issues for centuries, e.g., women, global South, Black, Indigenous, people of colour and LGBTQIA+ communities. In this chapter, I will explore the specific role(s) that a socio-politically informed science education can play in these debates, grounded on a decolonial approach to nature of science (NOS) also inspired by Critical Pedagogy. I will argue for an approach to NOS that challenges persisting views and practices around environmental issues within science education that are dissociated from socio-political elements, e.g., the role of corporate power and the overexploitation of natural resources within the global South in our (pre- and post-pandemic) worlds of environmental injustices.