Sustainability and Environmental Thought in India: Historical Foundations and Political Implications for Lifelong Learning

Abstract

This paper examines sustainability and environmental thought in India by tracing its historical foundations and analysing its contemporary political and educational implications, with a particular focus on lifelong learning. Shaped by ancient philosophical traditions, colonial experiences, and post-independence environmental movements, Indian environmental thought offers ethical perspectives that remain underrepresented in dominant global sustainability frameworks. Using a qualitative and interpretive methodology, the study combines textual analysis of classical traditions, historical analysis of colonial and postcolonial environmental transformations, and comparative analysis of global sustainability and lifelong learning frameworks. This approach enables an examination of how ethical principles such as interdependence, restraint, non-violence, and social responsibility have shaped Indian conceptions of human–nature relationships and environmental governance. The analysis shows that Indian environmental thought advances a value-based and relational model of sustainability that challenges technocratic and growth-oriented policy approaches. It further argues that lifelong learning, understood as a continuum of formal, non-formal, and informal learning, plays a crucial role in translating historically rooted environmental ethics into contemporary practice. By integrating environmental thought, political responsibility, and lifelong learning, the paper contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship and highlights the global relevance of culturally grounded approaches to addressing current ecological crises.