Comparative report
Chapter 1. Learning for sustainability
Learning for sustainability can be defined as the holistic and interdisciplinary learning experiences that enable learners to embody sustainability values, vision, and mindset(7). These learning experiences help learners understand and critically analyse complex economic, environmental, and social systems. They encourage learners to live and work sustainably, contribute to the green transition, and actively participate in restoring and maintaining ecosystems. Moreover, they enable learners to take individual and collective action for a sustainable future for all.
This chapter brings together the latest evidence on learning for sustainability. It starts with various aspects of sustainability competences, before moving on to educational opportunities for young people to nurture these competences. In the context of broader European Commission priorities, learning for sustainability is about capacity building in support of the European Green Deal and the commitment to climate neutrality as enshrined in EU law(8).
The 2022 Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development(9) highlighted the specific challenges posed by the complexities of a ‘whole-person approach’(10) and a ‘whole-school approach’(11) and the essential role of monitoring. This chapter builds on a dedicated 2024 study supporting the monitoring framework for learning for sustainability(12). The study provides greater clarity via a conceptual framework and indicators that can be drawn upon to monitor learning for sustainability (see Box 1). The focus here is on school education, with subsequent chapters touching upon learning for sustainability at other levels of education and training.
1.1. Sustainability competences
Figure 1 illustrates the level of foundational knowledge about sustainability(13) among eighth graders (age 13-14), comparing EU countries(14) and socio-economic backgrounds. The indicator is calculated as a subscale of civic knowledge – covering, among other things, various civic principles (such as sustainability) and various civic institutions and systems (such as economic systems and state institutions)(15). In terms of cognitive domains, this foundational sustainability knowledge is about knowing, but also about reasoning and applying(16). Results range from 445.5 in Bulgaria (more than half a standard deviation below the 500-point average of all participating countries(17)) to 551.3 in Denmark (more than half a standard deviation above the average)(18).
Parental educational attainment (one of various proxies for socio-economic background(19)) is positively correlated with the sustainability knowledge score in all EU countries. On average, eighth graders whose parents have a low level of educational attainment score 76.3 points lower (458.5) than those whose parents have a high educational attainment (534.7). This gap is above 100 points in Slovakia (143.5), Poland (125.3), Slovenia (120.1), Lithuania (109.5), and Sweden (108.5).
Figure 1. Foundational knowledge about sustainability varies between EU countries and by socio-economic background
Eighth graders’ migrant background has a more uneven effect across EU countries than parental educational attainment. Students with both parents born abroad have a 38.7-point disadvantage. The disadvantage is negligible in Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Malta, but more pronounced in Slovakia (93.8)(20). Finally, girls score a bit higher than boys on the sustainability knowledge scale in all EU countries, yielding a 20.3-point difference on average and relatively prominent gaps in Bulgaria (36.6), Sweden (33.9), and Lithuania (33.3)(21). By contrast, in the Netherlands, the gender gap is only 8.5 points.
Box 1. Monitoring learning for sustainability
The 2024 study ‘Monitoring Learning for Sustainability: Developing a Cross-EU Approach’ is based on extensive literature reviews and focus grouping. It proposes a conceptual framework for the system-level implementation of learning for sustainability in compulsory education across the EU. The conceptual framework is organised around five key policy areas: (i) policy, coordination, and strategic frameworks; (ii) curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment; (iii) building the capacity of educators; (iv) sustainable learning spaces and places; and (v) community connections and external partnerships(22). The study also maps the available data needed to monitor inputs, processes, outputs, and outcomes for all five key policy areas, with two major sources used throughout this chapter(23).
The study acknowledges a trade-off between the multifaceted complexity of learning for sustainability as a concept and the need to limit the administrative burden that measuring progress places on EU countries. The proposed solution is to keep combining multiple sources but build on existing infrastructures for data collection, adding to and amending existing surveys for their next rounds of data collection. Some aspects of the key policy areas can already be captured, as evident in this chapter, whereas others still require further data development.
GreenComp, the European reference framework for sustainability competences, looks beyond foundational knowledge in its focus on a combination of knowledge, skills, and attitudes(24). It covers four parallel and interconnected categories of sustainability competences: (i) embodying sustainability values; (ii) embracing complexity in sustainability; (iii) envisioning sustainable futures; and (iv) acting for sustainability. Figure 2 provides an overview of sustainability competences following the GreenComp approach and its 12 competences (in pink), supplemented by competences drawn from other frameworks (in pale blue)(25).
Figure 2. An overview of sustainability competences
| Embodying sustainability values | |
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| GreenComp | Other frameworks |
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| Embracing complexity in sustainability | |
| GreenComp | Other frameworks |
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| Envisioning sustainable futures | |
| GreenComp | Other frameworks |
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| Acting for sustainability | |
| GreenComp | Other frameworks |
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A comparison of indicators capturing ‘embodying sustainability values’ and indicators capturing ‘acting for sustainability’ suggests a competence gap. Across the EU, more than two thirds of eighth grade students are concerned about threats to the global environment, such as pollution (82.1%), water shortages (78.0%), or climate change (73.2%)(26). Students also believe strongly in the importance of making changes to one’s personal life to become more environmentally friendly (83.6%)(27).
About 84% of students value sustainability, but not even 30% take action.
Far fewer students report acting for sustainability in their daily life (29.8%), with shares ranging from 20.4% in the Netherlands to 34.3% in Italy(28). The highest shares of students reported reducing the use of electricity and reducing food waste (43.6% and 41.3%, respectively), but only 14.5% of all students had purchased used instead of new clothing often in the previous 12 months(29). Figure 3 illustrates the disconnect between values on the one hand and action on the other in every EU country, indicating that students’ belief in the importance of changing personal lifestyles does not necessarily translate into acting for sustainability(30).
Figure 3. Sustainability values do not go hand in hand with acting for sustainability
Box 2. Assessing sustainability competences: examples from the 2024 Education and Training Monitor’s country reports
The comparative evidence is scarce when it comes to schools’ assessment frameworks targeting sustainability competences(31). In Bulgaria, the official school curriculum includes provision for assessing compulsory subjects that are directly related to learning for sustainability. The expected results and activities are assessed with special emphasis on practical skills. For example, the ‘surrounding world’ subject in first grade requires an oral assessment with focus on practical situations and skills. The assessment of other subjects may include observations, experiments, or research. Subjects like ‘chemistry and protection of the environment’ include skills for sustainability by raising students’ awareness about environmental pollution, and use of natural resources.
In Ireland, most students finish secondary school with a state examination, covering subjects with sustainability components such as science or geography. The exams on individual subjects are often combined with a second assessment, which is usually a project counting for 20% of the final grade. Starting in 2027, the new ‘climate action and sustainable development’ subject will be included in the exam for the leaving certificate. This exam will include two assessment components, including one written examination and one action project. The written part is planned to make up the bigger part of the grade (60%).
In Malta, students finishing secondary education can make use of two different forms of assessment to prove their sustainability competences. Firstly, the ‘secondary school certificate and profile’ enables students to receive a certificate acknowledging several non-formal and informal learning tools covering extracurricular activities. Secondly, students have the option to pursue the secondary education certificate in ‘environmental studies’ and ‘social studies’ at the end of their compulsory education. For the social studies certificate, students need to write two papers. For the environmental studies certificate, two summative assessments are required, usually consisting of two written examination papers. Additionally, students need to deliver one project(32).
Neither a foundational knowledge of sustainability, nor subscribing to sustainability values, are enough for young people to become involved in and contribute to individual and collective action. On the contrary, knowledge and values alone can leave learners overwhelmed by the urgency and magnitude of the challenge, and eco-anxiety and eco-paralysis can set in(33). Education and training alone cannot be held accountable for a disconnect between knowledge and action. Equally, young people may be encouraged to act outside the reality of the school. Yet building sustainability competences may help learners overcome this cognitive dissonance(34). Education and training can play their part in fostering adaptability, creativity, and decisiveness(35).
Main takeaway
Learning for sustainability is about the holistic and interdisciplinary learning experiences that enable students to embody sustainability values, vision, and mindset. Sustainability competences enable learners to understand and critically analyse complex economic, environmental, and social systems, while empowering them to take individual and collective action towards the green transition. Young people subscribe to sustainability values, with 83.6% believing in the importance of making changes to one’s personal life to become more environmentally friendly. A foundational knowledge of sustainability is present too, though ranging widely across EU countries (from the highest level in Denmark to the lowest in Bulgaria). However, the fact that only few young people act for sustainability in daily life (29.8%) may point at a lack of support and encouragement to link knowledge to action.
1.2. Opportunities to learn
Most EU education systems support schools in developing whole-school approaches to sustainability(36). This support takes the form of guidelines, webinars, pedagogical resources, best practices, handbooks, and teacher manuals. Specific aspects of whole-school approaches that are being supported include: (i) embedding sustainability in things like school development plans (18 systems); (ii) the design, monitoring, and evaluation of sustainability strategies (17 systems); and (iii) developing effective school leadership (14 systems)(37). However, as this section will show, curricular coverage is often limited, and teachers may lack the training to nurture a complex set of sustainability competences.
1.2.1. Curricula and pedagogies
All EU education systems include the topic of sustainability in their curricula(38). Sustainability competences are often included in an interdisciplinary way(39), as an explicit cross-curricular theme(40) or through project-based learning(41). Another approach is to include sustainability in science subjects and citizenship education. Sustainability is included in the curricula as a separate, often optional, subject in only 6 EU countries (Cyprus, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden)(42).
However, when looking closer at the actual curricular coverage, the evidence shows that not all sustainability competences are targeted equally across the EU(43). As illustrated by Figure 4, relatively few education systems adopt a cross-curricular approach to competences related to embracing complexity (systems thinking), envisioning futures (futures literacy), and acting for sustainability (individual and collective action, political agency)(44). Among these, futures literacy remains the least covered competence in curricula across the EU(45). This is of concern, as futures literacy not only distinguishes learning for sustainability from related concepts, but also helps learners tackle complacency or eco-anxiety(46).
Furthermore, the reported examples of political agency rarely(47) include examples of learning outcomes that go beyond individual responsibility. Similarly, individual and collective action is geared towards individual action and responsibility, whereas the few references to collective action and responsibility are often limited to action in the school or the local community. This inadequate curricular coverage is confirmed by a comprehensive UNESCO project completed in 2024.
Figure 4. Futures literacy is the least covered competence in curricula across the EU
Across the EU, only 48.0% of schools report that (nearly) all eighth grade students can take part in activities related to sustainability(48). An average of 52.8% of teachers confirm that they have engaged in such activities(49). A common example of sustainability activities concerns students contributing to the sustainability of the school itself (see Box 3). This has the potential to bring together several strengths that distinguish learning for sustainability from other practices. However, for all these activities, the downside is a tendency to focus on low-impact activities rather than complex sustainability challenges(50).
Box 3. Sustainable learning environments
According to the 2024 study supporting the monitoring framework for learning for sustainability, the design and use of learning environments are crucial factors in enhancing sustainability competences. Infrastructure such as sustainable campus management and green spaces can help engage learners, parents, and the local community (for instance, showing how to save energy on buildings, how to reduce emissions, and how to contribute to reducing the environmental footprint).
Students’ contribution to sustainable learning environments can be a powerful example of both the whole-school and whole-person approach, drawing upon knowledge, attitudes, and skills while fostering proactive engagement and participation. Such student contribution can also take the form of shared leadership, which is another strong enabler when it comes to learning for sustainability.
However, school principals tend to report low-impact activities such as differential waste collection (83.9%), with others such as re-allocation of food to those in need (18.8%) or the use of fair-trade products (33.4%) less commonly reported(51). Overall, the tendency to focus on low-impact activities rather than complex sustainability challenges may suffice in primary education but becomes an issue in secondary education.
Across the EU, 20.5% of girls have participated in activities to make the school more environmentally friendly, compared to 16.7% of boys, an average gender gap of 3.8 percentage points (Figure 5)(52). Girls are more likely to contribute to sustainable learning environments than boys in all EU countries with available data, except for the Netherlands. The biggest difference in participation between boys and girls can be seen in Croatia (7.5 percentage points).
Figure 5. Girls are more likely to contribute to sustainable learning environments than boys
A few EU countries report investments in small-scale infrastructure that can be used for learning for sustainability. From primary to upper secondary education, financial support for bicycle facilities is available in 8 EU education systems(53), for recycling infrastructure in 9 systems(54), and for school gardens in 11(55). In some countries, schools have implemented projects on sustainable learning environments, such as ‘climate playgrounds’ in Belgium, where concrete surfaces were transformed into play mounds, or school buildings in France based on a ‘biophilic’ design, consisting mostly of wood and with plant-covered roofs(56). A European Commission study, due in early 2025, is exploring the design and adaptation of school buildings, grounds, and facilities. The study will map trends and review examples of learning spaces that facilitate sustainability learning and teaching.
Transformative pedagogical approaches are necessary for nurturing sustainability competences. Such pedagogies are action-oriented(57), characterised by elements such as self-directed learning, participation and collaboration, problem-orientation, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, and the linking of formal, non-formal, and informal learning(58). Transformative approaches include asking students to explore different cultural perspectives (reported by 73.0% of teachers) or different social and economic perspectives (64.1%)(59). Less prevalent are the more action-oriented examples of working in small groups on different issues (46.5%), role play (20.0%), having students propose issues for subsequent lessons (18.4%), or projects that involve gathering information outside school, such as interviews in the neighbourhood (13.1%)(60).
1.2.2. Building teacher capacity
Given the context of teacher shortages and pressures put on a teaching job(61), learning for sustainability should not add disproportionately to teachers’ already heavy workloads. Building teacher capacity is therefore primarily about providing education and training personnel with the right tools and support to steer the holistic and interdisciplinary learning experiences that define learning for sustainability(62). At the same time, it is an opportunity for teachers to respond to a topic that resonates greatly with many of their students.
The environment and sustainability have become such a ubiquitous topic over the last few years that teachers risk misjudging their preparedness to educate young people about its complexities (Figure 6). In all EU countries with available data apart from the Netherlands, the proportion of teachers feeling prepared to teach about the environment and sustainability is substantially higher than the proportion of teachers who have learned about these topics and skills during initial teacher education or continuing professional development.
86.8% of teachers feel prepared to teach about sustainability but only about half of all teachers have learned how to do this.
Figure 6. Teachers may be underestimating the complexities of learning for sustainability
While school curricula include sustainability competences in all EU countries, only 7 education systems have embedded sustainability competences in the general teacher competence framework(63), while another 4 have developed a specific competence framework for sustainability education(64). Only Austria, the French community of Belgium, and Germany include a wide array of sustainability learning objectives(65) in the initial education of all teachers in primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary education(66).
Box 4. Community connections and external partnerships
Collaborative partnerships between education institutions, the local community, and external organisations can support educators, foster community engagement, encourage non-formal education and lifelong learning, and contribute to resolving local challenges. Local experts may be able to provide specific sustainability-related knowledge that educators lack, or external locations may offer possibilities that the school cannot (such as science museums, national parks, or urban gardening initiatives). Much like sustainable learning environments (Box 3), such collaborations can enable learners to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world situations, boosting learner engagement(67).
Community connections and external partnerships receive the least focus across EU countries as a learning objective for teachers, both in initial teacher education(68) and in continuing professional development(69). Just over half of all EU education systems support sustainability school projects reaching out to NGOs (16 systems), public authorities (12 systems), and the general public (11 systems)(70). Schools engage with all 3 categories of non-school actors in Austria, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, and Spain(71). Such sustainability school projects that include provision for engaging with the public are given both financial and non-financial support in 11 EU education systems(72).
On average, continuing professional development appears to compensate for some of the gaps in initial teacher education, with most systems including learning for sustainability in on-the-job training(73). Here, learning objectives include: (i) understanding sustainability issues, concepts, and values(74); (ii) innovative and engaging pedagogies(75); and (iii) the interdisciplinary approach(76). However, little is known about the monitoring of actual participation rates, about incentives to ensure teachers’ voluntary participation, or the effectiveness of innovative, hands-on, and transformative approaches in teacher training(77).
Virtually all EU education systems support teachers through teaching materials, resources, or guidelines(78) on how to integrate sustainability in teaching(79), and 22 systems also ensure the creation of dedicated networks and communities of practice(80). Reported less frequently are other teacher support measures such as units of expertise (16 systems), sustainability education centres (12 systems), and school coordinators (9 systems). Only 6 EU education systems have special mentoring schemes (Austria, Cyprus, Czechia, Finland, France, and Malta)(81).
In sum, learning for sustainability is often left to individual schools or teachers, limiting its impact on the competences of young people to act for sustainability. Already in 2019, Eurobarometer results suggested that 41% of young people across the EU believed topics like climate change, the environment, and eco-friendly behaviours were not taught sufficiently in school. A new Eurobarometer in 2024 suggests that 28% of young people do not agree that they have learned to take care of the environment during their education and training. And according to the large-scale survey used throughout this chapter, only 42.1% of eighth graders report having learned a lot about how to protect the environment, with figures below 30% in the Netherlands (27.6%), Estonia (29.4%), and France (29.8%)(82).
Main takeaway
Schools can play a role in nurturing acting for sustainability. Most EU education systems have started helping schools develop whole-school approaches to learning for sustainability. However, the curricular coverage across the EU remains limited. For instance, futures literacy, which can help learners turn complacency or eco-anxiety into action and resilience, remains the least covered of all sustainability competences. There also seems to be a tendency to focus on low-impact actions rather than complex sustainability challenges, with school principals mostly reporting activities such as differential waste collection (83.9%). Finally, teachers feel prepared to teach about sustainability despite a lack of pre-service or in-service training, leaving transformative (action-oriented) pedagogies not widely adopted. All in all, only 42.1% of young people report having had a good opportunity to learn about sustainability in school.
Notes
7.This definition stems from the 2024 study supporting the monitoring framework for learning for sustainability. Sustainability means prioritising the needs of all life forms and of the planet by ensuring that human activity does not exceed planetary boundaries. It considers (interconnected) environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Holistic learning is an approach to education that engages all aspects of the learner, including the heart, head, and hands, sometimes referred to as the socio-emotional (heart), cognitive (head), and behavioural (hands) dimensions of learning.
8.The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child underlines that all children should be equipped with the skills necessary to face expected environmental challenges. It also stresses how climate change impacts various child rights enshrined in the UN Convention.
9.See also the 2022 Staff Working Document underpinning the European Commission proposal for the 2022 Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development, as well as the 2023 Council Conclusions on skills and competences for the green transition.
10.At the core of learning for sustainability is the whole-person approach, which goes beyond subject-centred and knowledge-focused teaching and assessment and acknowledges values, attitudes, envisioning, and action for change. This may be at odds with school education approaches that focus on learning facts about the past or present, without future-focused perspectives.
11.Learning for sustainability relies on a whole-school approach, which seeks to make sustainability part of the lived and taught experience in schools. This not only comprises the interdisciplinary aspect, but also sustainable learning environments and external partnerships.
12.The study is titled ‘Monitoring Learning for Sustainability: Developing a Cross-EU Approach’. This chapter is a first attempt to present the latest available data for capturing the key policy areas conceptualised in the study. It is only a first step in a collaborative effort to strengthen the evidence base on sustainability as taught and learnt across EU education systems.
13.Foundational knowledge about sustainability is needed to understand the basic facts and science behind sustainability challenges (for instance, facts about global warming, ocean acidification, sea level rise) in order to achieve critical thinking and navigate disinformation. For more information on foundational knowledge about sustainability, see the 2024 study supporting the monitoring framework for learning for sustainability.
14.In total, 17 EU education systems participated in ICCS 2022: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. Denmark did not meet sample participation requirements, so its results should be interpreted with caution. Germany also participated with two benchmarking regions (North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein). For more information, see the ICCS 2022 International Report and the ICCS 2022 European Report.
15.The indicator captures sustainable development issues (environmental, economic, and social). It is sourced from the 2022 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) as conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Results are highly correlated with the overall ICCS 2022 score for civic knowledge.
16.As examples, and in increasing order of difficulty, items in this domain would be either multiple choice or open questions asking the students to ‘associate reducing waste from plastic packaging with living sustainably’, to ‘identify that sustainable development is relevant to the whole world’, to ‘relate the responsibility for environmental protection to the actions of individual people,’ or to ‘identify likely strategic aims of a programme of ethical consumption’.
17.Scores were set to a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100 among all participating countries. The average for all participating EU countries is 506.7.
18.For an earlier exploration of young people’s environmental sustainability competences using PISA 2018 data, see this 2022 OECD report.
19.Two other proxies for socio-economic background yield similar, if less pronounced, patterns. Firstly, a standard classification of parental occupation is grouped into 4 categories. Contrasting managers, professionals, and technicians on the one hand with plant and machine operators and assemblers plus elementary occupations on the other, a knowledge score gap of 59.6 is found across the EU, topping 80 score points only in Bulgaria (95.5), Romania (86.1), and Slovakia (84.1). Secondly, having over 200 books at home rather than fewer yields an average score point advantage of 49.8. This is not only a smaller effect but also more evenly spread across EU countries. Monitor Toolbox
20.Another proxy for migrant background is whether the language spoken at home corresponds to the test language. The results are somewhat similar, with an average gap of 48.3 points, smaller effects in Cyprus and Malta, and a prominent outlier status for Slovakia (102.7). However, Bulgaria records a substantial gap when using this indicator (74.2) whereas Romania no longer does (18.2 compared to 72.2 when looking at parental country of birth). Monitor Toolbox
22.In addition, there is a horizontal focus, across all five key policy areas, on funding, quality assurance, and stakeholder involvement (the latter including young people themselves).
23.These are the 2024 Eurydice report on learning for sustainability and the results of ICCS 2022. It is also worth recalling that the OECD’s PISA 2018 covered learning for sustainability, as captured in a 2022 OECD-European Commission report. Finally, there are the national implementation reports as part of the UNECE Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development. Four reporting cycles have taken place (2007, 2010, 2015, and 2018), and another national reporting exercise is currently ongoing, using a new implementation framework.
24.According to the 2024 study supporting the monitoring framework for learning for sustainability, the holistic and interdisciplinary learning experiences associated with sustainability education are about a sense of agency, supporting learners as they develop the mindset to address sustainability challenges and ready themselves for active participation in tackling them.
25.See the 2024 study supporting the monitoring framework for learning for sustainability for further details.
27.The least agreement is found in Denmark (66.5%) and the most in Italy (88.5%). Monitor Toolbox The proportion of individuals who consider climate change to be an important issue is generally higher among those with higher levels of educational attainment. In the OECD’s 2022 environmental policies and individual behaviour change (EPIC) survey, 68.4% of respondents with tertiary educational attainment deemed climate change and environmental issues personally important, compared to only 58.3% of respondents without such credentials. See the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2024.
28.Monitor Toolbox PISA 2018 asked students about their acting for sustainability as well, albeit without asking about the frequency with which they took such actions. Across the EU, 37.5% of students reported acting for sustainability, ranging from 32.7% in Germany to 48.8% in Bulgaria. Examples of actions were similar. They included reducing energy usage at home (67.5%), choosing certain products for ethical or environmental reasons even if they are a bit more expensive (43.9%), participating in activities in favour of environmental protection (31.2%), or boycotting products or companies for political, ethical, or environmental reasons (23.4%).
29.An average of 17.7% avoided buying products with plastic packaging, 26.7% limited their use of plastic items, and 28.9% reduced water use. Other examples do not yield very different results. Within the previous 12 months, about a sixth of the students refused to buy goods whose production has negative environmental impacts (17.0%), that were produced by companies using child labour (16.8%) or by companies violating the social rights of their employees (15.7%). Most students purchased or asked their parents to purchase green goods (24.0%) or recyclable goods (20.4%). Only 13.1% of the students informed themselves or asked their parents to get informed about the social responsibility of companies before buying their products. Monitor Toolbox
30.Other sources confirm a disconnect between knowledge and awareness on the one hand and acting for sustainability on the other. The OECD’s Education at a Glance 2024 draws upon the ‘4As framework’ (awareness, acknowledgement, attitude, and action) to assess ‘the cognitive and behavioural dimensions that shape an individual’s interaction with the environment’. Using data from PISA 2018, the report shows how the share of 15-year-olds from advantaged socio-economic backgrounds who are aware of climate change (88.4%) is on average about 20 percentage points higher than the share among those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds (67.9%). Yet taking at least one pro-environmental action is even less prevalent among both groups, as reported by 39.8% of students from advantaged socio-economic backgrounds and 33.5% of students among disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
31.Given the need to capture everything from knowledge to action, an ‘authentic assessment’ may be preferred. This asks students to apply their competences to real-world situations and may include elements of formative and summative assessment. Examples of such authentic assessment can be found in a 2023 input paper of the EEA strategic framework working group on school education (sub-group on learning for sustainability). Moreover, useful platforms, such as the SDG Fitness Test, are readily available for the design and implementation of assessment frameworks.
32.In EU countries where no country-level transformative assessment schemes are available, some individual schools have adopted alternative assessments. In a 2023 report, the EEA strategic framework working group on school education (sub-group on learning for sustainability) provided examples of schools in Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
33.For more information on eco-anxiety and eco-paralysis, see a 2023 input paper from the EEA strategic framework working group on school education (sub-group on learning for sustainability).
34.See the 2022 European Commission (Joint Research Centre) report on GreenComp.
35.Concrete examples of key sustainability competences are plentiful. Looking back at Figure 2, systems thinking and holistic, interdisciplinary perspectives enable learners to engage with the whole of a problem or situation, approaching different elements of a system as interconnected rather than analysing them in isolation. Envisioning sustainable futures helps learners feel that the future is open and that it can be shaped collectively, while accepting uncertainty, ambiguity, and risk. The fourth category labelled acting for sustainability contains competences that encourage learners to take or request action, at individual and collective level, with a sense of agency and persuasion.
36.Exceptions are the German-speaking community of Belgium, Croatia, Greece, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Romania. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
37.See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox Only 11 EU education systems report the coverage of learning for sustainability in school evaluations. Specific criteria related to learning for sustainability are covered by external school evaluations in Austria, the Flemish community of Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, and Spain. They are covered by internal school evaluations in Austria, Cyprus, France, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, and Spain.
38.Already in 2018, about 88% of 15-year-olds across the EU attended schools in which formal curricula guided the teaching of climate change and global warming. In Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain the share was over 95%. See a 2022 OECD-European Commission report.
39.Interdisciplinary learning is a crucial part of learning for sustainability, since sustainability has economic, environmental, and social dimensions. See the 2024 study supporting the monitoring framework for learning for sustainability.
40.Only Denmark, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands do not include sustainability in the curriculum in a transversal way. All other EU education systems offer it as a cross-curricular theme with detailed instructions on its inclusion or, in the cases of Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia, as a general objective in education without such instructions. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
41.This means the inclusion of sustainability-focused cross-curricular modules or themes in national curricula, whereby students can learn about, experiment on and experience sustainability-related issues outside the regular disciplinary approach or subjects. Across the EU, about half of all education systems use project-based learning (Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain). See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
42.These optional separate subjects are only compulsory in Cyprus and Sweden (within a specialisation). See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
43.This is an underestimation of the full coverage of sustainability competences, as it excludes their inclusion in specific school subjects when not accompanied by a cross-curricular approach. However, no EU education system includes all sustainability competences in its curriculum without a cross-curricular approach. Across the EU, nine education systems cover all seven sustainability competences holistically in primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary education: Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, and Sweden. In contrast, some systems do not adopt the cross-curricular approach at all (Denmark, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands). See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
44.A distinction between levels of education should be made, with higher expectations of upper secondary education than of primary education. Political agency and individual and collective action are reported most at lower secondary level. Promoting nature is most common in primary education. Crucially, curricula at upper secondary education level are least likely to cover sustainability competences, even if futures literacy is slightly more common than in primary or lower secondary curricula. See the 2024 Eurydice report.
45.This finding remains the same when also including the non-interdisciplinary approach. Futures literacy is covered in an interdisciplinary way in 11 EU countries during primary and lower secondary education (Austria, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, and Sweden), and in 12 EU countries during upper secondary education (Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, and Portugal). See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
46.Futures literacy, sometimes referred to as future thinking or envisioning, is a crucial aspect of learning for sustainability, one that distinguishes it from related concepts such as education for sustainable development and environmental education. This competence area covers responsibility and action, and the development of the confidence and skills needed to help anticipate, participate in, and create alternatives. It contrasts with ‘doomsday’ future projections, which may disempower learners and result in eco-anxiety and eco-paralysis. It also contrasts with a focus on learning facts about the past or present, without teachers being trained to introduce future-focused perspectives in class.
47.Czechia, Cyprus, and Hungary. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
48.Schools implement different types of activities in which some or most students participate. For example, 46.5% of schools implement activities designed to encourage environmentally friendly behaviours in students, ranging from 5.2% in the Netherlands to 66.4% in Poland. It is even more common for schools to offer activities designed to promote students’ respect for the environment, with 92.3% of schools having undertaken such activities, ranging from 68.5% in Sweden to 98.9% in Lithuania. However, not every student may have the opportunity to participate, as some principals report offering sustainability-related activities only to ‘most’ or ‘some’ of the students. Monitor Toolbox
49.Monitor Toolbox As a concrete example, 57.9% of teachers have carried out activities designed to increase awareness about the environmental impact of excessive consumption of resources, with the figures ranging from 27.6% in the Netherlands to 79.3% in Italy.
50.The tendency to overemphasise low-impact activities is confirmed in a 2024 OECD report on rethinking education in the context of climate change.
53.Cyprus, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania, and Spain. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
54.Cyprus, Czechia, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
55.The Flemish community of Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
56.See a 2023 ad hoc report from the European Commission's network of experts working on the social dimension of education and training (NESET). More examples, including projects in Cyprus, Denmark, and the Netherlands, can be found in a 2023 input paper of the EEA strategic framework working group on school education (sub-group on learning for sustainability).
57.Action competences concern sustainability competences that prepare and engage learners to act for sustainability and take responsibility at individual and collective levels. Action competences require learners to discuss, make value judgements, and critically evaluate future alternatives that can lead to the desired goal of sustainability. They also involve greater emphasis on the hands-on dimension of learning.
58.See the 2024 study supporting the monitoring framework for learning for sustainability.
59.Here, teachers report conducting such activities to a large or a moderate extent in their classrooms. In 2018, PISA data showed that students had learnt how to solve conflicts with other people in their classroom (61.7%), participated in classroom discussions as part of the regular instruction (56.2%), had been invited by their teachers to express their opinion (46.9%), and analysed global issues together with classmates in small groups during class (46.7%). Monitor Toolbox
60.Here, teachers of civic-related subjects report conducting such activities often or very often. Monitor Toolbox
61.See the 2023 Education and Training Monitor’s comparative report and the online teachers’ dashboard.
62.For example, the 2022 Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development calls upon EU countries to support educators in using digital tools and technologies in their practice to enhance teaching and learning for the green transition and sustainable development.
63.Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Spain, and Sweden. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
64.Austria, Cyprus, Czechia, and Germany. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
65.Examples of such learning objectives concern key concepts, the interdependence of natural, socio-economic, and political systems, and individual versus group responsibility. See the 2024 Eurydice report.
66.This information is based on the latest available comparative overview (see the 2024 Eurydice report). More recent and detailed information is available in the 2024 Education and Training Monitor’s country reports.
67.According to a 2023 report from the EEA strategic framework working group on school education (sub-group on learning for sustainability), collaborative partnerships can provide opportunities to link informal, non-formal and formal education, leading to a better understanding of sustainability issues and practices and further strengthening systems thinking. Examples of such collaborations are site visits, practice projects, case studies, and participatory research. When it comes to students’ connection to their local environment and community, a 2024 OECD report shows that place-based education can increase learners’ commitment to sustainable practices. This approach emphasises the interconnection of learning processes and the physical location of students and teachers, while linking to other pedagogies that are associated with sustainability learning (such as outdoor learning and community learning).
68.Only 5 systems include community connections and external partnerships in the regulations and guidelines for initial teacher education: Austria, the French community of Belgium, Germany, Hungary, and Slovenia. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
69.The development of partnerships to connect learners with the natural world, their local community, and the global community is mentioned in the regulations and schemes for continuing professional development in 14 EU education systems: Austria, the Flemish and French Communities of Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, and Spain. In addition, Hungary covers these issues with accredited courses. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
70.See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox In 5 EU education systems, the relevant competences reside with regional, local, or school authorities (Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden).
71.See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
72.Austria, Czechia, Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. Another 3 education systems provide financial support only (the French community of Belgium, Bulgaria, and Italy) and 3 only non-financial support (the Flemish community of Belgium, Cyprus, and Germany). Financial support is often provided indirectly by funding other organisations, especially NGOs, which in turn cooperate with schools to provide sustainability education. Non-financial support usually takes the form of the provision of guidelines. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
73.In addition, specific sustainability-related training for school leaders is included in the regulations and schemes for continuing professional development in Austria, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Ireland, Slovenia, and Sweden. Specific activities on sustainability leadership for teachers and school heads are included in Denmark, Finland, France, and Malta. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
74.Sustainability issues, concepts, and values are covered by regulations and schemes for continuing professional development in all systems apart from the German-speaking community of Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, and Romania. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
75.Innovative and engaging pedagogies are covered by regulations and schemes for continuing professional development in all systems apart from the German-speaking community of Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
76.The interdisciplinary approach is covered by regulations and schemes for continuing professional development in all systems apart from the German-speaking community of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
77.For more information on teacher education, see a 2023 analytical report from the European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE). Moreover, as part of the UNECE Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development, countries developed national implementation reports, with various indicators on initial teacher education and continuing professional development. The latest national implementation reports are from 2018.
78.The 2022 Staff Working Document (underpinning the European Commission proposal for the 2022 Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development) mentions a few obstacles in this context. While knowledge-based material is generally available, more guidance is needed for educators on suitable pedagogies, competences linked to sustainability, multidisciplinary approaches, and outdoor learning. Other obstacles include access restrictions (for example where subscription is necessary), teaching materials often being too broad and general, and the fact that searching for teaching materials, resources, or guidelines can be time-consuming. The 2018 national implementation reports in the context of the UNECE Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development include indicators on the production and accessibility of teaching tools and materials, alongside additional information on quality control mechanisms for such materials.
79.The exceptions are the German-speaking community of Belgium and the Netherlands. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
80.The exceptions are the German-speaking and Flemish communities of Belgium, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Sweden. See the 2024 Eurydice report. Monitor Toolbox
81.As part of the EU’s Erasmus+ Teacher Academies (2022-2025), three projects focus on educators’ abilities to teach sustainability. TAP-TS provides learning and teaching resources on several topics to strengthen the sustainability education competences of teachers in initial training and continuing professional development. CLIMADEMY is a network focusing on how to teach climate change issues, offering (online) courses and resources to teachers. EduSTA emphasises competency-based learning and is specifically aimed at VET teachers.