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Office, E.E. Sustainability Education. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60144 (accessed on 25 September 2026).
Office EE. Sustainability Education. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60144. Accessed September 25, 2026.
Office, Encyclopedia Editorial. "Sustainability Education" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60144 (accessed September 25, 2026).
Office, E.E. (2026, September 18). Sustainability Education. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60144
Office, Encyclopedia Editorial. "Sustainability Education." Encyclopedia. Web. 18 September, 2026.
Sustainability Education
Edit

Sustainability education is a structured educational approach that equips learners with the knowledge, values, competencies, and agency needed to address environmental, social, and economic challenges in integrated ways [1][2][3][4][5]. It goes beyond teaching sustainability topics as isolated content by fostering systems thinking, critical reflection, futures thinking, and action competence for real-world problem solving [1][2]. Sustainability education is characterized by interdisciplinary learning, participatory pedagogy, context-based inquiry, and attention to justice, equity, and long-term responsibility across local and global scales [2][3][4][5]. In policy and research contexts, the term denotes intentional educational processes aligned with sustainable development goals and societal transformation, rather than general environmental awareness activities without explicit competency and action-oriented outcomes.

sustainability education education for sustainable development systems thinking sustainability competencies transformative learning

References

  1. UNESCO. Education for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning Objectives; UNESCO: Paris, 2017. Source: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000247444.
  2. Arnim Wiek; Lauren Withycombe; Charles L. Redman; Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development. Sustain. Sci. 2011, 6, 203-218. [CrossRef]
  3. Marco Rieckmann; Future-oriented higher education: Which key competencies should be fostered through university teaching and learning?. Futures 2012, 44, 127-135. [CrossRef]
  4. Rodrigo Lozano; Michelle Y. Merrill; Kaisu Sammalisto; Kim Ceulemans; Francisco J. Lozano; Connecting Competences and Pedagogical Approaches for Sustainable Development in Higher Education: A Literature Review and Framework Proposal. Sustainability 2017, 9, 1889. [CrossRef]
  5. Tilbury, D. Education for Sustainable Development: An Expert Review of Processes and Learning; UNESCO: Paris, 2011. Source: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000191442.
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Subjects: Education & Educational Research
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Update Date: 18 Sep 2026
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