Values Orientation Change – an Important Prerequisite for the Development of a Sustainable Economy

Issues of unsustainability or sustainability arise also in the context of the functioning of an economy that should responsibly meet human needs, taking into account human resources, nature and the environment. The current economy needs to be transformed into a sustainable one, and it is pointed out that one of the important prerequisites for this is a change in value orientation. Especially of those actors who are involved in the economy. The change in value orientation concerns, in particular, fundamental values, values that are key to sustainable development, such as nature, the environment, but also the human being who is part of them. In justifying the need to change the value orientation of these actors, we rely on thinkers who reject reductionist-economist approaches in economics and explicate the values that must underpin a sustainable economy. The development of such an economy requires economic actors to be guided not only by economic values, but also by humane and environmental values, and to accept values compatible with a sustainable way of life, which are alternative values to those that underpin contemporary postmodern society. Confirmation of the fact that some economic actors are already orienting themselves towards new values that also support a sustainable economy are some of the new trends in economic thinking, alternative sustainable economic concepts and models. They confirm the start of an environmentally and socially useful transformation process of the economy into a sustainable one.