CONCEPT

Biosphere is a global ecosystem. Mankind (human society) is a subsystem of the global ecosystem and human environment (its nature and man-made parts) is a subsystem of the one too. The relationships between the two subsystems are the most important for the sustainability because these relationships influnce the whole biosphere - and the biosphere creates the conditions for the life — also for the being of the man. There are very important feed-backs.

The problem of rational relationship between man and nature became so crucial that we have to talk on the ideology formation, which presents a man as a part of environment, a biosphere element, the state of which defines man's welfare. Biosphere is not only environment but an integral part of human existence. Moreover, mankind may exist only in a narrow range of biosphere parameters.

Environment education has to be very special in the various parts (in the various cultures), but it should has some universal features as to the aims, content and also to the influence on the people.

As environmental education is a common element to all knowledge, it takes, from the ideological point of view, an universal value and therefore it is necessary to identify some values that all humans should share. It is important to underline this aspect as each educational action in the environmental field must be based on this common thought so to determinate environmentally sound behaviors.

It means that environmental education - it is finding a new ethics, new morality corresponding to the level of civilization of the XXI century and threatening growth of man-caused load on nature which is increasing in several times during the lifetime of one generation. One of the major tasks of green movements - development of principles of a new ethics, which should be based on knowledge, certain minimum of which should become common property.

Based on this principle we may assert that environmental education should be multilevel and continuous. It has to be based on initial knowledge which a man receives at the very early age - in the family and child institutions. Precisely at this level a man has to receive the definite set of knowledge and skills, which will determine the man's behavior and its value scale during his subsequent life. The first educational step demands special programs tailoring (in particular, parents training), which realization inevitably will make them the most important obligation of civilian society and state.

The next stage - secondary school. We suppose that the major role in "ecologization" of education has to play not special "environmental disciplines", though they are also useful. The main load in environmental education will be teaching the main school disciplines (from the native language to mathematics) - teachers of all disciplines have to be involved in environmental education.

The university step of environmental education has its objective to acquire definite professional skills. Natural and engineering departments will have the task to train specialists to contemporary high technologies - technologies of noosphere epoch, who will be ready to carry out studies to design the noospheregenesis strategy and, first of all, to provide co-evolution of "man - biosphere".

Along with special natural-scientific and engineering training it is necessary to train specialists of humanitarian orientation who are capable to solve complicated problems of nature and society interrelations. Among them should be lawyers, economists, teachers-environmentalists and even journalists, who are professionally oriented to these issues.

But to reach this aim with the most possible success may be done by wider involvement of adults, as we must not forget that we all have to have the possibility of comparing ourselves with new values so to modify our mentality and therefore our ways of living. So awareness campaigns, groups, workshops specifically for adults should be organized.

The methods of environmental education cannot be universal. They should be adapted to regional, climatic and all the more national particular features and traditions. Diversity of civilizations is very wide. This is one of the reasons of stability of biological species homo sapiens development, its high degree of adaptability to environment conditions. But mankind - this is a single species and, as such, it interacts as the united whole with the rest of biosphere. Therefore, despite the diversity of niches in environmental education there should be some general environmental principles. These principles will be elaborated under consensus of various cultures. National limitation is very dangerous in this process, it may form poorly interconnected behavior standards and evaluations, which will impede the formation of a general man's strategy in his interaction with biosphere. Discussions at the international level are necessary under the umbrella of the Green Cross International.

World community needs flexible and capable to adaptation working forces ready to tackling complicated problems of development and nature preservation, to the changes in the period of transition to sustainable community. The countries should:

• design curricula for school and university graduates which will help them to receive stable livelihood;
• encourage all society sectors including industry, universities, governments, non-governmental organizations to train specialists in the area of rational environment management;
• provide local communities with trained technical experts from local citizens for tackling problems on nature protection;
• communicate with mass media, theatres, advertising and entertaining industry for more active public involvement into discussions of environmental problems;
• use experience and understanding of the sustainable development problems by native people in educational and staff training system.

Education, including formal education, public awareness and training should be recognized as a process by which human beings and societies can reach their fullest potential. Education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to address environment and development issues. While basic education provides the underpinning for any environmental and development education, the latter needs to be incorporated as an essential part of learning. Both formal and non-formal education are indispensable to changing people's attitudes so that they have the capacity to assess and address their sustainable development concerns. It is also critical for achieving environmental and ethical awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviour consistent with sustainable development and for effective public participation in decision-making. To be effective, environment and development education should deal with the dynamics of both the physical/biological and socio-economic environment and human (which may include spiritual) development, should be integrated in all disciplines, and should employ formal and non-formal methods and effective means of communication.