This special issue of the journal Environmental Education Research addresses a topical area of importance - human behaviour towards the environment. The book explores the economic metaphor of 'natural capital' in this context arguing that the currently dominant model of sustainable development, underpinned by a particular understanding of this metaphor, is impeding progress towards genuine sustainability, and secondly that it will continue to do so until the metaphor can be reworked in both thought and practice. This book explores an alternative economic model of natural capital value, based on recent 'real options' thinking which reworks the natural capital idea and provides a framework for articulating two major and closely-related shifts of emphasis.

"Learning, Natural Capital and Sustainable Development "explores the economic metaphor of 'natural capital' in the context of human behaviour towards the environment. It argues that the dominant model of sustainable development, underpinned by a particular understanding of this metaphor, is impeding progress towards genuine sustainability. To move forward it is vital that 'natural capital' is recognised as a metaphor and, crucially, that metaphor is recognised as an essentially open-ended learning tool.
This book breaks new ground as it explores and develops just that. It presents an alternative economic model of natural capital value, based on recent "real options" thinking. This model articulates two decisive shifts in emphasis.
A revision of how we see the relation of learning processes to a sustainable future.
A recasting of our frameworks for sustainability planning and collective action to ensure that our continuing