Balancing the tensions and meeting the conceptual challenges of education for sustainable development and climate change

Abstract

This paper addresses one of the key challenges for work on education, sustainable development and climate change: the overall conceptualisation of central ideas such as Environmental Education (EE), Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Climate Change Education (CCE). What do these concepts mean in diverse contexts and amongst diverse actors? The paper draws on evidence from Denmark, Singapore, Canada and the UK to highlight both the similarities and differences found within national discussions around these essentially contested concepts and their relationships to policy and practice. It further argues that such debates about how EE, ESD and CCE are conceptualised remain highly relevant, not just to academic work itself, but also to wider international discussions regarding both the current and potential relationships between conceptual understanding, policy and practice.

Recent Trends in National Policy on Education for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Education

“…Blum et al (2013) address the issue of the conceptualization of ESD and CCE in national policies stressing that they are influenced by international as well as unique socio-political and cultural contexts which makes them more or less floating concepts rather than consistent and fixed concepts. Feinstein et al (2013) focus in their contribution on the value of national state analyses when trying to capture the governance of ESD.…”

Sustainability in Science Education? How the Next Generation Science Standards Approach Sustainability, and Why It Matters

“…This does not mean that sustainability is always situated within the science curriculum. For example, Blum, Nazir, Breiting, Goh, and Pedretti () describe how sustainability‐related topics are taught both in and out of science classrooms in Denmark and Singapore. Yet when sustainability is taught in the context of science, researchers and educators around the world report political and conceptual challenges.…”

Climate change education and research: possibilities and potentials versus problems and perils?

“…Berger, Gerum, and Moon 2015;UNFCCC 2018;UNESCO 2019;Benavot et al 2019). Compounding this, the focus of most educators' professional accreditation, development, evaluation, and research and development over recent decades has remained on other matters, the legacy and promulgation of which, it has been widely argued, continues to contribute to the deepening climate crisis, as do the funding and policy priorities of many education ministries, providers, practitioners, and research associations (Fortner 2001;Kagawa and Selby 2010;Hamilton 2011;Blum et al 2013;Branch 2018;Busch, Henderson, and Stevenson 2019;cf. OECD 2019).…”