THE JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, 45(4), 217–231, 2014 Copyright C  Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0095-8964 / 1940-1892 online DOI: 10.1080/00958964.2014.941783 THEORETICAL RESESARCH Future Scenarios and Environmental Education Helen Kopnina University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands This article explores a number of questions about visions of the future and their implications for environmental education (EE). If the future were known, what kind of actions would be needed to maintain the positive aspects and reverse the negative ones? How could these actions be translated into the aims of EE? Three future scenarios are discussed: the limits to growth (the great tragedy and demise); sustainable development and ecological modernization (hope and innovation); and the Anthropocene park. These scenarios are linked to corresponding EE/ESD approaches and instrumen- talism in education is argued as a morally justifiable goal. Finally, education for deep ecology is advocated in order to address the ethical implications of the last scenario. Keywords anthropocene, education for sustainable development (ESD), environmental education, future scenarios, sustainable development INTRODUCTION The novel The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (1891–1940), is woven around a visit to Moscow by the Devil, Woland, who introduces himself as a “foreign professor of black magic.” The Devil’s performance exposes the greed and bourgeois behavior of the ordinary Soviet citizens. The Devil’s visit starts at the center of the literary elite’s “Moscow Association of Writers.” The “foreign professor” tries to convince the unbelieving director of the literary association, Mikhail Berlioz, and his companion, militantly atheistic poet Ivan Bezdomny, of the inescapable trap of their destiny and Berlioz’s imminent mortality. Despite Berlioz’s efforts to brush off the prophecy of his death, this “foreign professor” accurately predicts the director’s demise under the tram some minutes later, and challenges Ivan’s conviction that neither devils nor destiny exist (Bulgakov, 1996, pp. 10–12). Ivan, who has followed the entire conversation and witnessed this “tragic accident” is now convinced that his own unenviable destiny, predicted Correspondence should be sent to Helen Kopnina, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies, University of Amsterdam, Plantage Muidergracht 12, Amsterdam 1018TV, The Netherlands. E-mail: alenka1973@yahoo.com