By Shen Xiaomeng, UNU Vice-Rector in Europe and Director of the UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).
To listen to the sea is to listen to the will of the Valar, the powers that shape the world. However, many have lost the ability to understand the messages conveyed this way: “Many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen.”
Tolkien’s mythology of Middle-earth offers a powerful metaphor for our fractured relationship with nature. The Earth speaks to us through floods, droughts, wildfires, heatwaves, and hurricanes. Yet we have lost the ability, or perhaps the willingness, to understand what these warnings mean.
Formal education provides a strong foundation for understanding the world we inhabit. Environmental stewardship requires knowledge of ecological systems, climate science, economics, and governance. Schools and universities create structured pathways for developing this literacy. Without such foundations, public discourse risks being shaped by misinformation rather than evidence. Formal education trains students to analyse data, weigh trade-offs, and evaluate competing claims with scientific methodologies. It can prepare future leaders in government, business, and civil society to make informed decisions.
Yet formal education alone is not enough. The world does not stand still, and neither do the challenges we face. Scientific insight into climate systems, biodiversity, and risks continues to advance. What was considered sufficient knowledge twenty years ago no longer meets today’s realities. As climate impacts intensify, technologies evolve, and social expectations shift, stewardship requires constant adaptation and update. Without ongoing learning, responses quickly become outdated while risks accelerate. Educational systems often evolve more slowly than the environmental degradation unfolding around us. Moreover, scientific knowledge by itself cannot transform mindsets. Meeting today’s crises requires a shift in values—a reorientation of how we see ourselves in relation to the natural world.
This is where lifelong learning becomes essential. Lifelong learning complements formal education by remaining open, adaptive, and accessible. It is not confined to institutions or credentials. It invites continuous growth and reflection throughout one’s life and across professional and personal contexts. It also creates space for other knowledge systems, including Indigenous knowledge, to inform and enrich our understanding.
Moreover, continuous learning fosters humility and openness to diverse perspectives. Such openness strengthens adaptive governance and deepens resilience. Systemic change unfolds over decades, not through a single policy or generation. Lifelong learning sustains momentum, enabling societies to refine strategies, correct mistakes, and build long-term resilience.
A compelling example of this dynamic is the practice of cultural burning by Aboriginal communities in Australia. For tens of thousands of years, Aboriginal peoples have applied controlled, low-intensity burns to manage landscapes, reduce fuel loads, promote biodiversity, and prevent catastrophic wildfires. These practices are grounded in detailed, place-based knowledge of seasons, vegetation, and animal behaviour.
Following the devastating 2019-2020 “Black Summer” bushfires, Indigenous fire management gained renewed recognition within national strategies. Organizations such as the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance support Indigenous ranger programs that apply traditional burning techniques in northern Australia, reducing late-season high-intensity fires and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Research published by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and leading scientific journals demonstrates how combining Indigenous knowledge with contemporary monitoring tools enhances ecological health and reduces wildfire risk.
This example illustrates how lifelong learning can operate in two directions: normative institutions learning from Indigenous knowledge systems, and Indigenous communities‘ wisdom reinforced by scientific evidence. Stewardship deepens when knowledge flows both ways.
The First Peoples Principles of Learning remind us that learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors. Learning is relational, continuous, and rooted in place. It is not merely the accumulation of information but the living practice of responsibility. In a time of accelerating environmental change, formal education provides essential tools, but lifelong learning opens space for different ways of knowing and learning. It encourages us to see nature not simply as an object of study, but as teacher, a practice of many Indigenous peoples. To listen again to rivers, forests, winds, and tides is to rediscover our place within the web of life. Lifelong learning is not only about keeping knowledge up to date; it is about transforming how we understand our role on Earth. And that transformation is the foundation of true environmental stewardship.