The 21st century's growing societal and environmental challenges are ubiquitous. The combination of knowledge, values, mindsets, and abilities needed to address these challenges requires educating society about the simultaneous pursuit of economic, environmental, and social goals as advocated by the United Nations' (UN) Sustainable Development…

This conceptual paper explores the characteristics of education for sustainable development (ESD) within urban secondary schools. Despite the discourse about the importance of sustainability, there has been a lack of research on this topic. The authors employed theory synthesis, which resulted in a concept for Education for Sustainable Development…

Recent research has become increasingly interested in the concepts of education for sustainable development (ESD) and transformative learning (TL). However, even as ESD can be described as holistic and transformational education with the purpose to transform our society, only few studies have examined potential bridges between these two concepts.…

Purpose: This study aims to investigate how transformative learning has been conceptualised and operationalised in education for sustainable development (ESD) and sustainability learning and to collect evidence on how to support transformative learning in formal and non-formal environments. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a…

Sustainable development and transformational change have become more critical than ever in the era of climate change. The aim of this literature review was to increase knowledge on education and learning activities (ELAs), along with the learning outcomes they address, in the context of higher education for sustainable development (SD) with…

Adhering to the basic principles of transformative learning in education for sustainable development, socioemotional competencies are fundamental for the promotion of sustainability; however, they are difficult to nurture. There is initial evidence that mindfulness practice may promote the enhancement of such competencies, but a comprehensive…

The SDGs mark the clearest global acceptance yet that the previous approach to development was unsustainable. In VET, UNESCO has responded by developing a clear account of how a transformed VET must be part of a transformative approach to development. It argues that credible, comprehensive skills systems can be built that can support individuals,…

Interest in community environmental education (EE) and community education for sustainable development (ESD) is increasing, as evidenced by the increase in studies examining community EE/ESD approaches and NAAEE's current development of the Community EE Guidelines for Excellence. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to: (1) provide a review of…

This publication is part of our five-strand research project "Flexible Pedagogies: preparing for the future". It identifies six "new pedagogical ideas" offering new pathways for learning. These include: (1) actively involving students in learning development and processes of "co-creation" thereby challenging existing…