Purpose: This study aims to demonstrate which course elements were responsible for community building, fostering subjectification and learning for being in an online course on environmental and sustainability education (ESE) during the COVID-19 pandemic and physical distancing. Design/methodology/approach: The study investigates a graduate-level…

As an introductory article of a Special Issue on Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) in the Benelux region, this paper provides an overview of ESE research, policy and practice in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. It discusses the different contributions in this collection with regard to how the central theme of this issue, the…

Regional sustainability networks in the Netherlands are rooted in regional culture and have an emphasis on social learning and effective collaboration between multiple actors. The national 'Duurzaam Door' (Moving Forward Sustainably) Policy Programme regards these networks as generative governance arrangements where new knowledge, actions and…

In this contribution a key policy "tool" used in the Dutch Environmental Education and Learning for Sustainability Policy framework is introduced as a means to develop a sense of place and associated ecological mindfulness. The key elements of this tool, called the vital coalition, are described while an example of its use in practice,…

An analysis of the literature supporting the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and a sample of its key products suggests that it failed to acknowledge or challenge neoliberalism as a hegemonic force blocking transitions towards genuine sustainability. The authors argue that the rationale for the Decade was idealistic and that…

Purpose: This paper aims to introduce and investigate dialogic interaction as a key element of achieving a transition towards sustainability in people, organizations and society as a whole. Furthermore "sustainability competence" as a potential outcome of such interaction is to be introduced, referring to the capacities and qualities…

Should environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) try to change students' behaviours or should it focus on capacity building and critical thinking? The latter is more likely to lead to a citizenry that can examine new challenges and act wisely. New forms of learning are entering the arena of EE and ESD such as…

In this article, the author talks about a student-initiated Initiative for Transformative Sustainability Education (ITSE) at Wageningen University in The Netherlands which has led to the development of an undergraduate minor called Sustainability-in-Action consisting of four interlinked courses. When formally approved, the minor will be offered…

This qualitative study explores the meanings and possible merits of introducing competence profiles for enhancing professional development in the environmental education sector in the Netherlands. It presents the three most important environmental education jobs and their underlying competencies alongside their core professional challenges, as…

In this paper, we address the challenge of translating the concept of resilience into effective educational strategies. Three different cognitive dimensions ("ontological," "epistemological" and "axiological") that underpin assumptions held about the nature of nature, the nature of knowing and the nature of human…

This article lists the key outcomes and recommendations of Phase I of the monitoring and evaluation of the DESD. Phase I focused on a review of the structures, provisions and conditions countries and regions have put in place in order to facilitate the development and implementation of ESD. The author also touches upon the constraints and…

This study contends that environmental education is being significantly altered by globalizing forces, witnessing the effort to convert environmental education into education for sustainable development. This internationally propagated conversion can be challenged from many vantage points. This study identifies anomalies that have arisen as…

This contribution provides an "outside" commentary on several of the articles provided in this special issue on environmental education and education in the context of sustainability in Denmark and Sweden. Although there is no uniform position or shared single outlook expressed in the articles in this special issue, there are some…

In this article, the authors caution against blurring methods, methodologies and ideologies in research. They do this by drawing on two earlier articles in "Environmental Education Research" that focused on this issue as well but from quite different vantage points: Hart's (2000) paper in which he problematizes the generating of generic guidelines…

World wide, policymakers are looking for ways to use education and communication strategies to create a world that is more sustainable than the one currently in prospect. They often find themselves trapped between instrumental (behavior change) and emancipatory (human development) uses of such strategies. This study sheds light on this apparent…