• The Journal of Learner-Centered Curriculum and Instruction (JLCCI)
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.7-45
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• 2018

Modern environmental problem that caused by the structure and system of human civil society threaten the ecological sustainability of the entire earth. Therefore it is an ecological crisis as a structural crisis. This ecological crisis is also a social crisis because it makes the survival of society difficult. Our society should aim and pursue an ecologically sustainable society because our response to this structural ecological-social crisis must be social-structured. Efforts to achieve an ecologically sustainable society call for fundamental and far-reaching changes in lifestyle, production and consumption patterns, and changes in the already established power structure that govern society today. It is necessary to pay attention to the new formulation of the constitutional law which is the legal basic order of the national community in the point that this fundamental and broad change must start from establishing the right relationship with nature. In this article, we present the principle of environmental state as a framework of constitutional norms for an ecologically sustainable society. According to M. Kloepfer, who in the late 1980s used the concept of an environmental state in Germany for the first time, the "state of the environment" refers to a "state (institution)" in which the inviolability of the environment is a measure and process goal of the state tasks and decisions. I would like to establish the environmental state as "a state that guarantees a balance between the social demands for nature and the maintenance of the natural living foundations and forms it together. In this context, I intend to establish the components of environmental state principles as follows. First, the ideological foundation of the environmental state is to respect the life community on earth, which consists of human beings and non-human beings, and to intrinsic value of nature, and to harmony with nature. In addition, the key tasks of environmental states are to secure environmental rights, responsibility for the global ecosystem and future generations, and recognition of the interests of animals. As a core social system for realizing this environmental state principle I would like to present (i) the economic order, (ii) the sustainable maintenance and management of the land and natural resources, and (iii) the agricultural and fishery industries and local communities.