This article seeks to identify the role of science education in promoting an active, scientifically literate, citizenry ready to address sustainable development goals as envisaged by the United Nations (2015). In so doing, a conceptual model is put forward to address citizenry development, extending beyond an informed scientific and technological decision making ability and encompassing constructive activities addressing sustainable development at the local, national and global level. The operationalisation of the model builds on an initial student-relevant, societal issue-related contextualisation involving STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) while focusing on developing science conceptual learning. The model extends to not only considering socio-scientific issues, but seeks to promote trans-contextualisation beyond the school setting, seeking to raise awareness of an active informed citizenry, related to environmental, economic and social sustainability. The components of active informed citizenry are described and a trans-contextual science teaching example based on the model is put forward in this article.

Sustainable societies need a workforce with a very creative and flexible nature to be able cope with rapidly changing situations making creative and reasonable decisions. The only suggested way to obtain this is through education that is oriented to competences. The goal of this research is to determine the influence of a new competence-based science curriculum on gymnasium students' scientific creativity skills and socio-scientific reasoning in the context of studying lactose intolerance. In order to investigate the development of these skills at the gymnasium level, a scientific literacy test is administered to 1116 10 th grade students (16-17 year old) and 802 12 th grade students (17-18 year old), totally 1918 students in. 44 randomly selected schools from different regions of Estonia, both urban and rural, to the scientific literacy test on a new Estonian competence-based curriculum is conducted in the fall of 2011 with the 10 th grade students and the test is repeated with the same students in the spring of 2013 before they graduated 12 th grade. The data are gathered with an 8-item test assessing students' scientific literacy components including scientific creativity and socio-scientific reasoning. The test situation is initiated by a scenario describing an expected visit of a family (mother and triplets) and their food provision problems, which arise because the mother and one of the boys suffered from lactose intolerance. One of the tasks is designed to measure scientific creativity skills and one task to assess socio-scientific reasoning skills. Responses are scored from 0-3 points per task. The results of the study show that the new competence-based science curriculum has not yet affected significantly the students' learning outcomes in enhancing competences associated with scientific creativity and socio-scientific reasoning skills. Studies during gymnasium level have not supported the students' ability to transfer biological and chemical knowledge into everyday situation effectively.

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Today’s society faces new challenges, especially related to sustainability, in which the role of science within society is becoming increasingly important. This study seeks to re-examine the focus of school science/STEM education in light of increasing societal challenges by introducing a trans-contextualisation component within science education so as to go beyond the classroom and seek to impact the societal setting. In so doing, this study, through a constructivism-humanism approach, develops a theoretical 4-phase model by adding a trans-contextualisation learning phase to a literature-supported 3-stage science education teaching model. This enhanced model is put forward to enable science education to play a stronger role in impacting societal development towards building an active informed citizenry, enabling society to reflect on potential ways to meet its needs in moving towards a sustainable future. The study seeks science educator views familiar with the 3-stage teaching approach on the enhanced 4-phase model in terms of its value, feasibility and potential constraints. Such views are shown to be positive and aligned with the generally supportive views of teachers identified in a prior study.

D. (Education), Lic. Phil. (Biology), M. Sc. (Biology), University of Oulu. Eila Jeronen is adjunct professor of environmental education at University of Oulu, adjunct professor of sustainable development education at University of Helsinki, and adjunct professor of biology education at University of Lapland. Her research interests are teacher education and teaching and learning, especially in the area of natural sciences, environmental education, sustainable development education, and health education. She has published in several international journals and guided doctoral students. She has also served as a university lecturer at the Faculty of Education in the University of Oulu, Finland, and worked on international projects in several countries.