This volume focuses on the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), education, to look at sustainability from various angles with the purpose of challenging preconceptions about what sustainable education might entail and how it should be conducted. To this end, the book assembles scholars from various research fields and disciplines, who are willing to be at the cutting edge regarding sustainability and education on all levels with students in the ages of 6-15. Through this approach, the text points towards a “wild pedagogy” in line with post-sustainable thinking. This involves agency and the role of nature itself as a co-educator, and promotes cultural changes, and explorative processes of finding “the wild” – the unknown, and complexity in nature – and thus of challenging the human need for control. This approach is also, in line with the 2030 Agenda, an attempt to move from advocating predetermined behavioural change to embracing a pluralistic perspective on sustainability, based on holistic views on education. Such views include curiosity, wonderment, compassion and agency as guiding lights. The book is structured into three sections, based on three interrelated strands. These strands are, in various ways, dependent on one another and further engaged with bringing education theory and practice together. These strands are 1) Belonging and sensing, 2) Critical thinking, social justice and action competence, and 3) Creating hope in a vanishing world. These strands aim to increase our access to and understanding of the ways in which sustainability can be integrated into education and why. The purpose of the text is to encourage educators of all kinds and levels, as well as scholars in different fields, to explore new perspectives on education for sustainable development. The book examines probes in diverse academic fields and focuses on how to combine different approaches and content, and therefore everyone interested in interdisciplinary and cross-curricular teaching and learning should find this work enlightening.

This book critically considers what various Asian philosophies can contribute to a more substantive discourse on sustainability education and educational philosophy. The contributors examine how ‘east’ and ‘west’ interact in educational philosophy and practice in Asian contexts. As a collection, they provide a broad view of Asian sustainability thinking that is not dominated by Confucianism, Buddhism, Islam, and post-colonialism, but rather which regards these themes—and other frameworks for sustainable education—as dynamic aspects of Asian contexts, both historically and today. As such, the book invites readers to consider the challenges and opportunities for theorising of sustainability in the philosophy of education, while also critically engaging with the way in which ‘Asia’ and ‘east’ are typically understood. Of interest to those researchers in Asian conceptions of sustainability, this book highlights a series of potential insights in relation to the often-foregrounded perspectives of Global North and western-based frameworks. The chapters were originally published in Educational Philosophy and Theory.

By engaging with education, contemporary art and global sustainability goals, this book connects the artistic way of communication with ecological obligations and social issues and promotes a sense of active citizenship. International, empirical and curricular research presents a case for strong learning communities that take a clear political stand in favour of socially engaged art pedagogies. The main aim of is to show how shared spaces for exchange in the fields of art education and continuous professional development can reflect, inspire and integrate sustainability principles that are becoming crucial in today’s world. The authors propose the idea that coordinated action can lead to a more sustainable future by promoting a sense of community, lifelong learning and confidence in the possibility of changing current conditions. Its three parts combine expertise in visual arts education, education for sustainable development, contemporary art practice and sustainability activism. While Part I focuses on literature in the field and the interrelation of different disciplines, Part II provides concrete examples of professional learning communities and pedagogies that can be used to enrich the field of art education. Finally, Part III presents brief case studies illustrating international projects by contemporary artists, curators, environmentalists and others, providing educators with several inspirational models of concrete and creative action.

This book examines how educators internationally can better understand the role of education as a public good designed to nurture peace, tolerance, sustainable livelihoods and human fulfilment. Bringing together empirical and theoretical perspectives, this insightful text develops new understandings of education for sustainable development and global citizenship (ESD/GC) and illustrates how these might impact on educational research, policy and practice. The text recognizes the ESD/GC as pivotal to the universal ambitions of UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals, and focuses on the role of teachers and teacher educators in delivering the appropriate educational response to promote equity and sustainability. Chapters explore factors including curriculum design, values and assessment in teacher education, and consider how each and every learner can be guaranteed an understanding of their role in promoting a just and sustainable global society. This book will be of great interest to academics, researchers, school leaders, practitioners, policy makers and students in the fields of education, teacher education and sustainability.

This volume highlights key moments and movements in this "competence turn" in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and explores the different ways in which competences have been conceptualized and implemented. By marshaling a dialogue between chapters and sections, the book provides a coherent whole that will become a key source on ESD competences. The contributors develop a conceptual map against which to chart existing (and future) ESD competence frameworks, offer new critical case studies that explore the implementation of educator competences in ESD at different structural levels in different European contexts, explore the link between pedagogy and educator competence through hitherto unpublished case studies based on current practices across Europe, and consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ESD and educator competence. The book comprises 23 chapters divided into four sections, with an introduction and concluding chapter. Section One introduces concepts and models related to ESD competences, while the following two sections focus on implementation and pedagogy. In light of the foregoing material, the shorter Section Four is both reflective and forward looking. The primary audience for this book will be academics and students working in the fields of Education, Sustainability Science and related disciplines.

This volume focuses on the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), education, to look at sustainability from various angles with the purpose of challenging preconceptions about what sustainable education might entail and how it should be conducted. To this end, the book assembles scholars from various research fields and disciplines, who are willing to be at the cutting edge regarding sustainability and education on all levels with students in the ages of 6-15. Through this approach, the text points towards a “wild pedagogy” in line with post-sustainable thinking. This involves agency and the role of nature itself as a co-educator, and promotes cultural changes, and explorative processes of finding “the wild” – the unknown, and complexity in nature – and thus of challenging the human need for control. This approach is also, in line with the 2030 Agenda, an attempt to move from advocating predetermined behavioural change to embracing a pluralistic perspective on sustainability, based on holistic views on education. Such views include curiosity, wonderment, compassion and agency as guiding lights. The book is structured into three sections, based on three interrelated strands. These strands are, in various ways, dependent on one another and further engaged with bringing education theory and practice together. These strands are 1) Belonging and sensing, 2) Critical thinking, social justice and action competence, and 3) Creating hope in a vanishing world. These strands aim to increase our access to and understanding of the ways in which sustainability can be integrated into education and why. The purpose of the text is to encourage educators of all kinds and levels, as well as scholars in different fields, to explore new perspectives on education for sustainable development. The book examines probes in diverse academic fields and focuses on how to combine different approaches and content, and therefore everyone interested in interdisciplinary and cross-curricular teaching and learning should find this work enlightening.

This book explores the ethical dimensions surrounding the development of education for sustainable development within schools, and examines these issues through the lens of ethical literacy. The book argues that teaching children to engage with nature is crucial if they are to develop a true understanding of sustainability and climate issues, and claims that sustainability education is much more successful when pupils are treated as moral agents rather than being passive subjects of testing and assessment. The collection brings together a range of fresh and creative perspectives on how issues around ethical literacies can be elaborated and expanded with regard to democratic sustainability education. The use of children ́s books in teaching about sustainability is carefully explored, as are the ethical and aesthetic dimensions of environmental education. Including an afterword by Arjen Wals, Professor of Transformative Learning for Socio-Ecological Sustainability, the book will be of great interest to students and researchers in the field of sustainability education.

We live in turbulent times, our world is changing at accelerating speed. Information is everywhere, but wisdom appears in short supply when trying to address key inter-related challenges of our time such as; runaway climate change, the loss of biodiversity, the depletion of natural resources, the on-going homogenization of culture, and rising inequity. Living in such times has implications for education and learning. This book explores the possibilities of designing and facilitating learning-based change and transitions towards sustainability. In 31 chapters contributors from across the world discuss (re)emerging forms of learning that not only assist in breaking down unsustainable routines, forms of governance, production and consumption, but also can help create ones that are more sustainable. The book has been divided into three parts: re-orienting science and society, re-connecting people and planet and re-imagining education and learning. This is essential reading for educators, educational designers, change agents, researchers, students, policymakers and entrepreneurs alike, who are concerned about the well-being of the planet and convinced of our ability to do better. The content and related issues can be discussed on the blog by editor Arjen Wals: Transformative learning. 'We are living in times of incertitude, complexity, and contestation, but also of connectivity, responsibility, and new opportunities. This book analyses the consequences of these times for learning in formal, non-formal, and informal education. It explores the possibilities offered by the concept of sustainability as a central category of a holistic paradigm which harmonizes human beings with Earth. To change people and to change the world are interdependent processes - this book contributes to both.' Moacir Gadotti, Director of Paulo Freire Institute, São Paulo, Brazil 'I hope you share my excitement about the innovations for sustainability that this book catalogues and analyses. While the ecological news is grim, the human news is not. Even in a time of accelerating change, people are showing their enormous capacities to learn, adapt, restore and protect.' From the Foreword by Juliet Schor, author of ‘True Wealth: how and why millions of Americans are creating a time-rich, ecologically-light, small-scale high-satisfaction economy’ 'This book implies a ‘culture of critical commitment’ in educational thinking and practice - engaged enough to make a real difference to social-ecological resilience and sustainability but reflexively critical enough to learn constantly from experience and to keep options open in working for a sustainability transformation.' From the Afterword by Stephen Sterling, Professor of Sustainability Education, Centre for Sustainable Futures, Plymouth University, United Kingdom

This volume contains a unique compilation of research and reflections representing multiple vantage points stemming from different parts of the world that can help science educators and teacher educators in finding ways to meaningfully and purposefully embed sustainability into teaching and learning. It is a rich resource for exploring and contextualizing sustainability-oriented science education. At this time we find ourselves in a situation in which the earth’s ecological system is under significant strain as a result of human activity. In the developed world people are asking “How can we maintain our current standard of living?” while those in the developing world are asking “How can we increase the quality of our lives?” all while trying to do what is necessary to mitigate the environmental problems. This volume responds to these questions with a focus on educating for sustainability, including historical and philosophical analyses, and pedagogical and practical applications in the context of science teacher preparation. Included are many examples of ways to educate science teachers for sustainability from authors across the globe. This text argues that issues of sustainability are increasingly important to our natural world, built world, national and international economics and of course the political world. The ideas presented in the book provide examples for original, effective and necessary changes for envisioning educating science teachers for sustainability that will inform policy makers.