Sustainability education: meeting the demands of climate change aspirations Gillian Kidman and Chew-Hung Chang

A content analysis covering the initial 18 years (1992–2009) of academic publishing in IRGEE (Kidman & Papadimitriou, 2012) identified that after 2004, there was a sustained increase in the number of articles related to “sustainability”. Lidstone and Stoltman (2007) wrote about the trend of coupling geographical and environmental education, in line with the observed increase in papers on “sustainability” in IRGEE. Such a perspective was not serendipitous since sustainability has emerged as a key issue in geographical education. Also in 2007, Hartwig Haubrich, Sibylle Reinfried and Yvonne Schleicher proclaimed what has become known as the Lucerne Declaration on Geographical Education for Sustainable Development, which addresses curriculum development, the development of educational material, the importance of new technologies and educational research concerning Education for Sustainable Development in geography education. This declaration was created to support the aims of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2024). The International Geographical Union Commission on Geographical Education considers the document a basis for sound Geographical Education for sustainable development by geographers and governments at all levels and regions of the world.

As part of the United Nations General Assembly’s ongoing efforts to address global challenges and promote sustainable development, we are entering another United Nations decade—the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024–2033). 2022 was designated as the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development, which led to the proclamation that 2024 to 2033 be the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development, recognising the imperative of linking scientific disciplines and knowledge forms to address the wicked problems of our time. In the recent research literature, an emerging research line is being led by Fu and colleagues where sustainability is viewed as a link between human geography and environmental science (Fu, 2020; Fu et al., 2022). However, while enhancing sustainability (and education about it), we must be careful not to overemphasise or oversimplify the links between geography and environmental science or geographical and environmental education. It is well-considered that Geography can facilitate the integration of both natural and human realms, emphasising space, place and regions. Thus, we contest that as a discipline, Geography enables a holistic understanding of our existence and, therefore, is ideal for developing sustainability education. Furthermore, the discourses in geographical education presented in IRGEE provide the schema against which we can consider how sustainability education can be effectively carried out, especially given the increasing concerns about global environmental change.

Sustainability education is crucial in addressing climate change, as highlighted at the recent Conference of the Parties (COP) 28 - the 28th annual United Nations (UN) climate meeting, held in Dubai in December 2023. COP28 saw world leaders making significant commitments, including a new agreement aimed at tripling renewables capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030. Such aspirations are pivotal in mitigating the impacts of climate change and transitioning toward a more sustainable future. We saw UNESCO co-host over 200 events at COP28, highlighting the essential role of education in getting every learner climate-ready. Addressing the impact of climate change and the basic human right of receiving an education promoted concrete actions and solutions. The UAE Ministry of Education and UNESCO established the first historical Greening Education Hub. We now have climate-ready education promoted under four action pillars:

• greening schools,

• greening curriculum,

• greening teacher training and education system’s capacities and

• greening communities.

This “greening” integrates sustainability into formal education and hopefully extends towards informal education by promoting public awareness and community engagement. Sustainability education that empowers informed global citizens is expected as an outcome. The aspirational end goals are critical thinking, innovative problem-solving, and a mindset that prioritises sustainable practices in daily life, business decisions and policymaking. When we read about or see such emphases on sustainability education in electronic media, we get a sense of the significance of achieving the ambitious climate goals set forth by world leaders. Key to building a more resilient and environmentally conscious society is educating present and future generations about the complexities of climate change and sustainable practices.

Meadows (2020) points out that much public debate focuses on climate change and global temperature trends. This leads to a lack of attention on other earth system processes that are also negatively affected by the human population (for example, increased air pollution and macro and microplastic waste). The editors share Meadows (2020) concerns about our global leaders’ lack of vision on the broader manifestations of human impact on the environment. Education for a more sustainable future does not seem to reach all stakeholders. Beyond the formal school curriculum, we do not adequately educate the general public about sustainability. Apart from knowledge and skills, developing attitudinal and dispositional aspects of learning outcomes related to sustainability education is important. Such an education must involve everyone taking individual responsibility and action and adopting a “global understanding” approach for our sustainable future.

While we know sustainability is important to ensure continued and viable development for future generations, the question then is how do we educate people about sustainability across the lifespan and beyond the school curriculum? Sustainability cannot be achieved merely by technological solutions, political regulation, financial instruments or by inclusion as content in a school curriculum. It requires a change in the individual’s mindset, lifestyle and action. Also, we must consider the sustainability education that has existed, albeit in different forms, from the past. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is held by people whose ancestors have managed the environment for thousands of years. They have managed the environment, not harmed it. We have much to learn from TEK, yet we rarely take the time to consider this knowledge alongside mainstream knowledge that is largely derived from discourses in the west. We should consider the implications of sustainability education with a TEK perspective alongside a contemporary perspective, where future perspectives, management practices, and problems arising from human actions are the norm. We may not need to reinvent the wheel but rather tap on the existing knowledges of different groups in developing truly engaging and effective sustainability education curricula.

In developing an effective sustainability education, we must clearly understand why we want to teach sustainability, what aspects of sustainability we want to teach, how we want to teach sustainability, how we assess student learning outcomes and, importantly, how teachers are empowered to enact the curriculum. In linking all the concerns raised above, it is apparent that for the world to manage environmental change issues (at least those covered in COP28), we need to examine all aspects of our curriculum from development to enactment and continually refresh our teaching and learning methods. We must include TEK alongside contemporary knowledge and educate formally and informally for a future mindset promoting individual responsibility and action attitudes.

Regarding sustainability education in this issue (33.1) of IRGEE, the articles address curriculum models, curriculum enactment, intended learning outcomes, teacher agency and in-classroom pedagogy. The studies contribute to the broader discourse on sustainability education by addressing various environmental challenges and pedagogical strategies. A common theme of classroom pedagogy is featured in these articles.

The study "Developing a theoretical framework: School ecosystem-based disaster risk education" by Aldila Rahma, Djati Mardiatno, and Dyah Rahmawati Hizbaron emphasises the necessity for the education sector to devise adaptation and mitigation strategies in response to environmental degradation and global disasters (Rahma et al., 2023). Rahma and colleagues conducted a semi-systematic literature review of 29 international journal articles published over 20 years (2000–2020). They found that while education in climate change adaptation and sustainable development was a primary focus of the discourse, it was not implemented holistically but separately through disaster risk education or environmental education programs. Rahma et al. (2023) develop a theoretical framework of school ecosystem-based disaster risk education to depict the concepts implemented in the school community.

Similarly, the study by Chi Chung Lam and Nga Yee Irene Cheng (Lam & Cheng, 2023) explores how Hong Kong geography teachers responded to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasising teacher agency and adaptability in sustaining student learning during the pandemic. The research underscores the importance of self-initiated steps and proactive measures teachers take to adapt teaching strategies under pandemic constraints, contributing to discussions on sustainability education. This paper discusses the issues of curriculum enactment concerning teacher agency in an increasingly unpredictable future.

Oladapo Adeleke Banwo and Jean-Jacques Dominique Beraud’s study examines Environmental Civic Actions (ECA) in Nigeria, revealing a disconnection between pro-environmental intentions and actual behaviours. The study identifies place attachment and fear of punishment as influencing factors, offering valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders to enhance environmental education and civic actions. This talks about the intended student outcomes beyond the cognitive to see students take action for their environmental behaviour (Banwo & Beraud, 2023).

Sasha Brown, Zerrin Dogança Küçük, Angela Rickard, James Lonergan, Rachel Abernethy, and Lorraine McNerney investigate the role of teacher agency in implementing GIS technology for sustainability education in Irish secondary schools. The study evaluates the integration of Geographic Information Systems, satellite data, and Sustainable Development Goals into classrooms. In a way, it talks about pedagogy and the role of technology in sustainability education (Brown et al., 2023).

Finally, Marine Simon and Alexandra Budke’s intervention study assesses and enhances the comparison competency of French and German secondary students, emphasising the importance of explicit instructions on the comparison method to improve scientific literacy, particularly in geography classes (Simon & Budke, 2023).

In this issue of IRGEE, we see the context of sustainability education considered in terms of a theoretical framework that, following a review of the literature, positions sustainability as thematically presented rather than holistically presented. We observe that the curriculum enactment of sustainability involves proactive teachers and learners who have agency, leading to an understanding of social responsibility and action. In sustainability education, we have teacher agency manifesting in the choice of teaching methods, selection of resources, and adaptation of the curriculum and pedagogies to the specific context of the classroom and the students. From the selection of papers, we learn that in sustainability education, effective pedagogy involves experiential learning, discussions, case studies, and real-world applications to engage students in understanding and addressing sustainability issues. The interconnections between curriculum frameworks, curriculum enactment, intended learning outcomes, teacher agency, and in-classroom pedagogy are crucial for successfully implementing sustainability education. Teachers’ autonomy and pedagogical decisions play a pivotal role in translating the intended goals of sustainability education into meaningful learning experiences for learners. While the discussions are not focused specifically on climate change, and in this regard, not directly related to our observations about the aspirations as raised in COP28, the context of how sustainability education can be carried out, both for formal school curricula and for general public education has been used to argue for a more systematic approach as proposed by the editors. While there may be other ways of describing how sustainability education may be carried out, the message of this editorial is that we cannot deviate from addressing the central issues of curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and teacher quality. We look forward to further contributions that will continue this discussion. We hope that these discourses will allow us to prepare our students and people from all walks of life to take sustainable action for climate change and other earth system processes negatively impacted by the human population. IRGEE encourages researchers to align research to the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024–2033), thus taking the opportunity to explore how humanity can use “the critical role that the sciences play in the pursuit of sustainable development in its three dimensions [economic, social, environmental] as one of the key means of implementation as well as in responding to the complex challenges of our time to ensure a safe and prosperous future for all” (United Nations General Assembly, 2023, 2–3).

Gillian Kidman, [email protected] Chang

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).