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The skyrocketing single-plastic demand during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic proved the limitation of top-down environmental policies in accomplishing sustainable consumption and waste management. Nevertheless, 'smart consumers' can make smart choices for sustainable development. However, a review of the South Korean environmental education curriculum reveals that the current structure heavily leans towards the elementary level and does not enlighten the public on 'what' and 'how' to live sustainably. This study uses a quick survey to suggest that the effectiveness of environmental education may be enhanced if: (1) guidance on how to live with the natural environment in harmony for collective cooperation towards resilient and sustainable community building is incorporated with a clear purpose, (2) environment-friendly culture-building activities are enforced to institutionalise a new paradigm of sustainability to replace today's consumerism, and (3) contents are updated regularly to include Earth and environmental science knowledge in the state of art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main outcomes of the Rio + 20 Conference was the agreement to set Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The most common terms in the17 goals are economic growth, resilience and inclusion, all of which are critically examined in this article. This article discusses how these goals are reflected within existing sustainability programs at a vocational college, and at the undergraduate and postgraduate university levels in The Netherlands. Within all three institutions the author has integrated lectures on sustainable development with specific emphasis on the SDGs. The aim was to engage students in critical discussion, allowing reflection on the issues and paradoxes that characterise the larger discourse of sustainability. The case studies illustrate how curriculum aimed at this awareness can be developed stimulating the students’ recognition of critique of economic development, inclusion and resilience. As a result of the courses, the students were able to develop a certain degree of critical, imaginative, and innovative thinking about sustainable development in general and the SDGs in particular. Cradle to cradle and circular economy approaches were named as more promising for current production systems. This article concludes with the recommendation as to how the SDGs can be critically taught. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoliberal ideology has made an impact on environmental education (EE) policies and practices in Brazil. The EE in Family Agriculture Program, of national scope and administered by the Ministry of the Environment, seeks to promote sustainable development in rural areas, specifically through strategies focused on adult education and non-formal education aimed at small producers (family agriculture). This program reveals profound ideological contradictions between the critical and transformative rhetoric of public policy and the actual program structures and practices administered by the state in a dependent economy, which primarily serve to reinforce a capitalist mode of production marked by high environmental impact and deeply stratified class relations. In the neoliberal era, states intending to protect the environment through critical EE strategies suffer serious limitations due to their role as stewards of a globalized economy based on the supply of raw materials, high-impact land-use, and a cheap labor force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) have been among the environmental leaders calling for individuals to become increasingly engaged in political action aimed at addressing environmental and sustainability issues. Few, however, have studied how educational experiences might foster greater environmental political engagement. Fortunately, there is a rich body of research in political science, psychology, and education that provides insights that EE and ESD scholars and educators can build on. Studies in these domains suggest, for example, that political efficacy (the belief that individuals’ actions can influence political processes) and political interest (individuals’ willingness to pay attention to politics) are strong predictors of political participation. Moreover, these studies have shown that educators can strengthen individuals’ political efficacy and interest through activities such as open-ended discussions of political issues, opportunities to identify with politically oriented groups, and involvement in actual and simulated democratic decision-making processes. This conceptual paper: (1) reviews the broad support for preparing individuals for environmental political participation through education, (2) synthesizes research on the factors that influence political participation, (3) provides a theoretical framework for researchers and educators interested in fostering environmental political participation, and (4) offers recommendations for descriptive, measurement, and educational studies that can provide educators with further guidance on how to foster individuals’ environmental political participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article tries to contribute to the critical debate on the ideological and globalising potential of education for sustainable development (ESD), which exists in the research field of environmental education, by highlighting potential contradictions in the argumentation for ESD’s ideological and globalising tendency. Further, the authors of this article argue for an alternative perspective on how education policy on ESD can be seen to contribute to globalisation and homogenisation by merging two conceptualisations of ‘globalisation as connection' and the role of ‘empty signifiers' in political discourse. The ambition with the merger is not to provide a universal explanation of globalisation and ideology, instead, the intention is to outline an alternative theoretical outlook that allows for an empirical study of the processes that can be seen to feed into or interrupt the preservation of hegemony in a global setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present article is to present and illustrate two different ways of analysing the normativity and discursivity of classroom communication during education for sustainable development (ESD). The two types of analysis can provide important knowledge for discussions of ESD in relation to morals and democracy. Both methods are based on pragmatism and the later works of Wittgenstein. The first approach was developed to examine the relationship between cultural and psychological processes in environmental ethical meaning-making. It draws on the endeavours of sociocultural research and cultural psychology to take the individual into account, or in other words, the intra-personal dimension of meaning-making, which is not usually the case in the analysis of ESD. The second method relates to the normativity of ESD. Dewey refers to the apparently implicit socialisation taking place during education as 'collateral learning'. We refer to the content included in subsidiary forms of learning as companion meaning, which either follows on automatically when teaching knowledge content, or becomes collateral learning when one learns scientific meanings. Such meanings can, for example, be concerned with the nature of knowledge and people's relations to nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007, Environmental Education Research dedicated a special issue to childhood and environmental education. This paper makes a case for 'early childhood' to also be in the discussions. Here, I am referring to early childhood as the before-school years, focusing on educational settings such as childcare centres and kindergartens. This sector is one of the research 'holes' that Reid and Scott ask the environmental education community to have the 'courage to discuss'. This paper draws on a survey of Australian and international research journals in environmental education and early childhood education seeking studies at their intersection. Few were found. Some studies explored young children's relationships with nature (education in the environment). A smaller number discussed young children's understandings of environmental topics (education about the environment). Hardly any centred on young children as agents of change (education for the environment). At a time when there is a growing literature showing that early investments in human capital offer substantial returns to individuals and communities and have a far-reaching effect - and when early childhood educators are beginning to engage with sustainability - it is vital that our field responds. This paper calls for urgent action - especially for research - to address the gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can we avoid inheriting serious issues from research related to environmental education when the researcher community is addressing education for sustainable development? This paper identifies and discusses three main issues: if an explicit and coherent concept of environmental education or education for sustainable development is missing; if the field is dominated by researchers with an environmental science background; and if the research is aiming at improving practice through prescriptive, normative recommendations. The elaboration of the issues is taking a point of departure in the World Environmental Education Congress 2007 in Durban with perspectives for future ESD research and traces the historical roots of some of the trends and issues. It is argued that the overall question is related to a basic dichotomy: is the researcher seeing the role as a support to solving environmental problems here and now, or is the researcher seeing long-term empowerment through education as the main idea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The breadth and depth of the environmental crisis and the consequently wide and inclusive interpretations of 'sustainable development' has promoted a disparate range of academic responses encouraging a loose interpretation of environmental education and Education for Sustainable Development. This in turn reduces the capacity for the development of a clearly defined discourse and for a sufficiently robust debate conducive of effective change. This paper attempts to assess the current situation within environmental education in this respect, by means of an analysis of papers presented at the recent World Environmental Education Congress in Durban, South Africa (July 2007). By quantifying the use of specific terms and words used in presentations, the authors reveal evidence to suggest that there is not the degree of self critical analysis and academic rigour that the urgency of the environmental crisis might reasonably demand. On this basis a recommendation is made which should lead to greater precision in the identification of relevant themes and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests a particular question that higher education researchers might ask: 'Do educational programs use teaching methods that are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable?' It further proposes that program evaluation research (PER) can be used to answer the question. Consideration is given to: a) program evaluation research processes and indicators, and their modifications for evaluating the sustainability of teaching methods; and b) institutional sustainability evaluation research tools and their modifications for the evaluation of teaching. North American university and college program evaluation websites and sustainability evaluation tools used to assess universities in North America are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article illustrates the importance of nature experience for environmental knowledge, values and action. Recent empirical German research on the importance of nature experience will be analysed with regard to research foci, innovative research contributions and selected research results. Research deficits and challenges will be identified. Recommendations for improving nature experience research will be given. The paper argues that nature experience is one central foundation for the development of knowledge and values in relation to the environment. Nature experience has frequently been shown to influence environmental action in everyday situations with low task complexity. The full challenge for education for sustainable development is posed, however, by situations of high factual and ethical complexity. In this regard, nature experience is also essential because of its role in fostering assessment and judgement competences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore a series of issues and tensions raised by the papers in this Special Issue of Environmental Education Research . The papers focus on developments in environmental education and ESD research in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In order to provide an alternative framework for contextualising and understanding the trends and challenges illustrated in the collection, we begin with an examination of Germany’s green political movement, both at the level of national politics but also in relation to broader cultural shifts that have taken place in recent years. We then invite further debate on environmental education and ESD by focusing on three nodes within the discourse on these complex, dynamic and linked fields of theory and practice. First, we explore the themes of compatibility and compliance regarding environmental education and the ‘global’ as two of the key ingredients to ESD. Second, we consider the growing dominance of competency-based approaches to ESD, primarily in terms of educational standards projects, but also in relation to images of the human therein. Third, we look into understandings of agency in relation to innovation and change, including the role of NGOs in research and policy-making, and the sources and drivers of possible frames for future research agendas. The article ends by inviting wider discussion and critique of the achievements, tensions and challenges for research and development in environmental education and ESD, both in the three countries, and further afield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution analyses the development of educational efforts to engage with ideas about the position of humans within the environment. It seeks answers to the question: in which ways and intensity can educational work in schools match different stages of general societal discussions on environmental problems? It is often said that school and school teaching suffer from a general ‘cultural lag’—that is, that they lag behind current social problems. It is argued in this article that there is a remarkable parallelism between public discussion of environmental issues and their consideration in school teaching. This analysis goes back to the roots of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Contrary to some current positions, it is argued here that ESD not only has roots in nature protection education and environmental education, but also that it goes beyond those roots. The article starts with a short overview on environmental education policy in Germany that complements the accounts of programmes and research projects found in the contributions of de Haan, Seybold & Riess and Scheunpflug & Asbrand in this volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines the state of the art in German research on environmental education and education for sustainable development (ESD). Empirical German research on the importance of environmental education and ESD for schools is analysed in relation to three research fields. First, survey research describes the practice of environmental education and ESD, for example in the ways instruction is organised by teachers and pupils. Second, research on innovation analyses strategies for implementing environmental education and ESD in the school system, while third, research on teaching and learning examines the effects of teaching and learning processes. In describing the state of the art, longitudinal research providing evidence on the development from environmental education to ESD is examined, as are teachers’ understandings of the new concept. The results of innovation and teaching-learning research allow us to identify research gaps and challenges, and to make recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines the leading concepts which are being discussed in the current debate on education for sustainable development (ESD) in Austria, detailing their historic development and characteristic features, as well as the empirical experience gained in school development to date. These concepts are environmental education, development education/global learning and peace education. With the emergence of ESD and, notably, the launch of the United Nations Decade for ESD, these hitherto separate currents should start to converge. We will be seeing common endeavours to define ESD more concretely as a regulatory idea and to learn from one another and, in joint settings, to support cooperation, launch joint projects and also to enhance individual profiles. These endeavours should be promoted under an Austrian strategy for ESD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines a critical position in relation to education for sustainable development referring to a socio-ecological approach to environmental education. This approach was developed in a cooperative research process with pre-academic secondary schools over several years in Switzerland. For 13 years our research group has been the one in Switzerland to systematically research curriculum and professional development in environmental education in secondary schools. The group was established at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) supported by funding from the Swiss National Foundation for Scientific Research, and from 1998 proceeded with research projects at the Institute for Teacher Education (upper secondary level) at the University of Zurich. Case studies were carried out to explore the potentials and constraints which teachers and students meet when working with environmental issues. Two case studies from different research phases are shown which illustrate how both teachers and learners are challenged to cope with increasingly unstructured and unknown situations, pluralistic and controversial perspectives, and with the critical role of science in society. Outcomes are discussed in the light of the social process of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the relationship between development education/global education and education for sustainability. A short introduction describes the current use of the term ‘global education’ and the different groups working and competing within this area in the development field. In the first part, the history of the concept of ‘global education’ is outlined. The authors describe the conceptual shifts from Third World pedagogy to development education to global education. In the second part, the current conceptual debate within the global-education discourse itself is described. The relationship between the concepts of global education and education for sustainability is reflected on in the third part. Finally, the current challenges for the implementation in practice, for the conceptual debate, and for the research agenda in the field of global education are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to describe the German BLK ‘21’ Programme (State—Federal States Commission for Educational Planning and Research Promotion [BLK]) which supported the introduction of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into schools from 1999 to 2004. Its political basis, conceptualisation, implementation and results are described. Furthermore, the article gives an overview of the growing international significance of ESD and its perspectives in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses how far (and by what practical means) the growing global trend for universities to commit to sustainable development has spread across German academia. Following this introduction, part 2 will outline the political framework of the sustainability discourse in German higher education. Part 3 will emphasise the integration of sustainability principles into universities’ operational practices and institutional missions through teaching and research. Part 4 discusses Eco-Audits for universities as a promising step towards sustainability. That the commitment to becoming a sustainable institution is not without its challenges is described in the final section, part 5, by a case study of the University of Lüneburg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the implications for sustainability policy of environmental uncertainty and indeterminacy, and relates the associated problems with a conventional understanding of sustainable development to Hayek's critique of collective planning. It suggests that the appropriate recourse is not, however, a Hayekian endorsement of the free market, but an extension of his key idea of spontaneous order to characterise the learning society. The argument is illustrated by a practical application: the analysis of natural capital explored in this Special Issue is shown to be directly relevant to the improvement of the UK's headline sustainability indicators package. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pervasiveness of metaphor in environmental discourse suggests important questions about the role of metaphor in environmental learning. A conception of environmental thinking and action is proposed, which identifies five analytically distinct ‘moments’ of ‘environmental sensemaking’: conceptualising, knowing about, knowing how to respond, responding and acting. The (much-criticised) ‘information deficit’ model of environmental learning requires that the second moment—knowing about the environment—is the only locus of environmental learning. On the information deficit model the only role of metaphor is didactic. On the proposed conception, all five moments of environmental sense-making may be independent moments of environmental learning. Metaphor can have a rhetorical role (encouraging responsiveness) and, more importantly, conceptual metaphors can frame our understanding of the environment. The development of new metaphors plays a key role in environmental learning. The ‘natural capital’ and ‘real options’ metaphors are considered as ‘case studies’ of conceptual (or first-moment) learning. It is argued that while they may be important innovations in environmental sense-making, our general discussion of the role of metaphor in environmental learning suggests that we need to look beyond economic metaphors to improve our understanding of the environment-human relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]