Current Practices and Future Pathways towards Competencies in Education for Sustainable Development

Abstract

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development reflects the urgency to embed the principles of education for sustainable development (ESD) into all levels of education. ESD, understood as an integral part of quality education and where all educational institutions, from preschool to higher education and in non-formal and informal education, can and should foster the development of sustainability competencies. This Special Issue entitled “Competencies in Education for Sustainable Development II” responds to this urgency and the papers presented deliver recent developments in the field of sustainability and ESD competencies. They focus on various perspectives: systematic literature reviews and conceptual contributions; curriculum developments and pedagogical approaches to explore competencies’ development, such as action research, serious games, augmented reality, multi-course project-based learning and group model building processes; testing and validation of assessment tools and processes for linking sustainability competencies to employability and quality assurance processes. The contributions show how the field of sustainability and ESD competencies has become a major focus in recent years and present emerging research developments. Further research efforts need to be put into operationalizing sustainability competencies and developing tools that help measure and assess students’ and educators’ competencies development.