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Education for sustainability: Challenges and trends

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Clean Techn Environ Policy (2006) 8: 31–37
DOI 10.1007/s10098-005-0026-3
O R I GI N A L P A P E R
António A. Martins Æ Teresa M. Mata
Carlos A. V. Costa
Education for sustainability: challenges and trends
Received: 15 October 2004 / Accepted: 14 September 2005 / Published online: 12 January 2006
Ó Springer-Verlag 2006
Abstract There has been increasing recognition of the
critical role of education for sustainability (ES). This
article addresses the subject of ES through all the levels
of formal and non-formal education, including basic
education, university, organisations (private and public)
and lifelong learning. The challenges and implications of
effectively incorporating sustainability concepts and
principles through all the levels of the education system
are presented and analysed. Examples and suggestions
are presented and discussed, taking into account the
interactions, needs and objectives of people and society.
Introduction
In the past decades it became clear that moving towards
sustainability requires changes in the way of life of those
living in developed countries. The present consumption
and production patterns of developed countries also
aspired by those in developing countries is generally
recognised as unsustainable.
Since the publication of the Brundtland Report Our
Common Future (WCED 1987), the concept of sustain-
able development came into focus and has increasingly
gained attention at international, national, local, public
and private levels. Since then, several organisations have
been involved in research and development of measures
and strategies to provide long-term ability for nature
and human beings to survive and prosper together, as
well as to guide planning and policy making in the
transition to sustainable development.
A. A. Martins (&) Æ T. M. Mata Æ C. A. V. Costa
Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto,
Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200 465 Porto, Portugal
E-mail: amartins@fe.up.pt
Tel.: +351-91-4784483
Fax: +351-22-5081674
Notions of sustainable development and sustainabil-
ity have been used in the growing literature and policy
debate with different meanings and interpretations
(Pepper 1998; Sathiendrakumar 1996). Although the
conceptual and the operational content of the terms
have been closely contested and redefined all definitions
have to do with a set of core ideas, including: ‘‘living
within the limits’’, ‘‘understanding the interconnections
among environment, economy and society’’ and ‘‘equi-
table distribution of resources and opportunities’’ (Me-
bratu 1998; Mitchell 2000; Ferreira et al. 2003).
Although sustainable development touches all aspects of
human life, in this article the discussion is restricted to
the questions of education for sustainability (ES).
Nowadays it is recognised that ES can help change
the attitudes and behaviour of people as consumers,
producers and citizens to carry out their collective
responsibilities and duties. In 1975, UNESCO first
recognised the importance of environmental education
in the Belgrade Charter. In 1997 the Intergovernmental
Conference on Environmental Education, held in Tbilisi,
defined the following general objectives for environ-
mental education: raise awareness and sensitivity on
environmental problems; gain knowledge and basic
understanding of the environment and associated
problems; change attitudes, values and motivation to
actively participate in environmental protection and
improvement; acquisition and development of skills to
identify and solve environmental problems; participa-
tion of all social groups and business players.
The Rio conference in 1992 adopted sustainability as
the fundamental principle to support the development of
mankind at all levels. Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 (UN-
CED 1992) restated the importance of ES and the need
for considering all social, economic and political aspects
of sustainable development. There was a change in focus
from environmental education to ES. Besides the pro-
tection of the natural environment, ES includes also the
interrelations between the social and economic spheres.
As shown in Fig. 1, the current and most consensual
approach to sustainable development reflects the idea
32
that it can only be achieved through a broad under-
standing of the three dimensions: economic, ecological
and social aspects of society and nature. The key con-
cept of sustainability is the integration of these three
domains, corresponding in Fig. 1 to the shaded region.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Tbilisi
Declaration on Environmental Education (1977) the
Thessaloniki Conference on Environmental Education
(1997) put forward a declaration for adoption by all
governments.1 This declaration states that progress on
ES is still not fully explored and that much work re-
mains to be done. The declaration points out the need
for integrating and coordinating efforts of governments,
NGOs, local communities, financial organisations and
other groups, in a number of key areas, including the
change of behaviour and lifestyle, consumption patterns
and the way that the natural environment is seen and
dealt with. This declaration stresses that to achieve
sustainability one needs to increase people awareness
about aspects like poverty, economic development,
democracy and peace. It calls for a reorientation of the
formal and non-formal education as a whole towards
sustainability. Also, it points out that the current status
of affairs still lags far behind the objectives and goals set
by Chapter 36 of Agenda 21.
Vargas (2000) argues that to achieve sustainable
development the reconciliation of competing cultures
must be obtained. In particular, the midway between
global competition, consumerism and strict environ-
mental protection must be found. Industry and con-
sumers need to use natural resources and products more
efficiently. Cleaner production principles and technolo-
gies need to be adopted by companies. Market pressure,
competition, lack of incentives and recognition from
customers are difficulties companies need to face when
implementing better practices. Other difficulties facing
action towards sustainability are directly related to the
educational system. Most of the time the courses offered
are limited in scope and do not reflect the interrelations
between the various aspects of sustainable development.
The subject of ES requires a strong commitment from
society and between generations beyond any political
and economic time scales (Crofton 2000; Jansen 2003).
In this article the current status of ES is discussed,
with an emphasis on the limitations of existing ap-
proaches. The challenges and implications of effectively
incorporating sustainability concepts and principles in
all levels of formal and non-formal education are pre-
sented and discussed. Although in this article the dis-
cussion and analysis of ES issues are based on the
current situation in developed countries, some conclu-
sions and suggestions can be further extended to devel-
oping countries.
1
Its full text can be seen at the URL: http://www.mio-escde.org/
Thess/declar_en.htm.
Fig. 1 General accepted model for sustainability
Challenges and needs of education for sustainability
One can distinguish four main levels of learning
depending on the age of people involved, objectives and
subjects learned (see Fig. 2). These four levels of learn-
ing can be divided into basic education, university, or-
ganisations (private and public) and lifelong learning.
The basic education level includes the elementary, high
and vocational schools. The university level includes
graduate and postgraduate courses. The organisations
level includes institutions and companies. Lifelong
learning includes self-learning through life experience or
non-formal learning. In the current educational system,
finishing the basic education is mandatory. After fin-
ishing basic education students can go to a university or
enter the employment market.
The basic education and the university levels corre-
spond to formal education, characterised by well-estab-
lished subjects and the purpose of giving the students the
skills and knowledge essential for them to be effective
and productive members of society. The organisations
and lifelong learning levels correspond mainly to non-
formal education in which case the choice of subjects and
schedules depends on the needs and objectives of or-
ganisations and society.
In these four levels, different strategies to ES should
be considered depending on the objectives, restrictions
and characteristics of the learners. In the next sections,
the current situation of ES, the needs and challenges
facing the four levels of the educational system are
identified and discussed in detail.
The basic education level
Elementary, high and vocational schools are of funda-
mental importance as a means of developing behaviour
and comprehensive views of the surrounding environ-
ment. Since it is crucial that the younger generation
becomes more aware of the fundamental facts of sus-
tainability, these subjects need to be integrated into their
mandatory subjects. For example, how to recycle and
separate domestic wastes by type can be learned in light
of the need to reduce the consumption of non-renewable
resources and to reduce the environmental impact gen-
erated by their production.

Fig. 2 Educational system with the different levels of learning
In many cases, the observation and study of the
surrounding environment and other activities, such as
model learning, games and visits, provides an interesting
context for students to develop knowledge, skills, atti-
tudes and values concerning sustainability. These studies
of the surrounding environment may include direct
observation, analysis, research and discussion between
students and teachers, critical thinking, problem solving
and sensitivity development to the different environ-
mental aspects and the relations between environment,
economy and society.
It is quite important that during their basic studies
students should be able to profit from experiencing a
school environment that respects sustainability. It is an
opportunity for training by living.
The complexity should naturally follow the progres-
sion of the students and the specialisation of the sub-
jects, according to the students’ objectives. The basics of
ecology can be introduced in this level of the educational
system, with an emphasis on the interrelations between
the human being and nature, considering the future role
of the students in society. Students should develop a
sense of responsibility towards the environment.
The advantages of developing correct behaviours can
be presented to students, but much more important is to
make them understand the ideas supporting the subjects
they learn. This way they will teach older generations,
namely their parents and families what they have learnt,
and will motivate them to behave similarly. One can say
that ‘‘behaviour breeds behaviour’’. This strategy can be
the most effective way to change the minds of people and
their attitudes towards sustainability.
Special attention should be given to the teachers as
the quality of ES depends on their capacity to balance
the trade-offs between giving the students the theory or
the ability to observe, analyse and make decisions by
themselves concerning the environment. Teachers need
to take into consideration the different and particular
33
influences on developing an understanding of sustain-
able development and implement strategies for inte-
grating this subject into school curricula.
The main interaction at the basic education level is
with society itself and it is felt mainly through the defi-
nition of the relevant subjects taught. In most of the
developed countries the main subjects at the elementary
and high school level are defined directly by the national
and regional departments of education. Therefore,
changes can occur through lobbying, pressure from cit-
izens, NGOs, professional organisations and others.
When finishing the basic education, a significant per-
centage of students enter the employment market.
Therefore, they need to have a good understanding of
the problems related to sustainability, in order to apply
them in their work place and everyday life.
Normally the analysis of subjects related to sustain-
ability is not mandatory or there is a lack of time to
teach these subjects due to the vast range of other
mandatory subjects. Also, specific objectives are not
defined for ES, the teaching materials are often
unavailable and teachers are improperly prepared. Most
of the time there is a tendency to stress only some as-
pects of sustainability instead off all its aspects for a
sound comprehension of the problem. Therefore, intro-
ducing an interdisciplinary approach into teaching and
research became more important to address these
increasingly complex problems.
Teachers need to have training and specific knowl-
edge on the problems and questions of sustainability.
The training of teachers on the questions of sustain-
ability is an essential part of this process and should take
into account their different backgrounds and education.
The subject of ES needs to be an important part of their
formal learning and training process, since they will
introduce it to their students. Besides the training of
teachers it is fundamental to develop teaching materials
and modules, which can improve the situation of dealing
with sustainability in an intercultural context.
Another issue that requires special attention is how to
evaluate the existing or new programs of ES. Evaluation
procedures are needed to assess the progress and effec-
tiveness of the school programs on ES, their results and
benefits, in order to improve them. For example, the
percentage of students enrolled in environmental and
recycling clubs or the number of initiatives for waste
minimisation and cleaner production are measures of
the success of ES. In many situations the evaluation of
ES is difficult because the key questions, objectives and
best strategies to reach the goals are complex and not
properly defined. Also, it involves changes in the
behaviour and habits of people, which are very hard to
measure.
Several activities and associations exist for dealing
with the problems of teaching ES in the basic education
level. An example is the Eco-schools association, which
consists of a group of schools, mostly elementary
schools from European countries, engaged in teaching
environmental and related problems. The teaching
34
materials, tools and learning activities for teachers and
students have been developed and made available for
free (http://www.eco-schools.org).
Meetings and competitions between schools are or-
ganised mostly at the national level to promote the ex-
change of experiences and ideas between professors and
students within the fields of ES. Other schools are
encouraged to adapt these teaching materials or even to
develop new activities according to their social and
economic context. Since cultural diversity makes it dif-
ficult for the teachers to approach sustainability con-
cepts, the various cultural perspectives and aspects
should be considered in the elaboration of teaching
materials (Ferreira et al. 2003).
The university level
Universities play a central role in the development of
knowledge, including a large number of graduate and
postgraduate courses, such as engineering, sciences,
architecture, law, management and economics. Due to
this large range of disciplines and backgrounds, different
approaches need to be considered to include the main
aspects of sustainability in the university curricula in a
coherent way. A multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary
approach is also needed because sustainability encom-
passes several technical and scientific areas (Crofton
2000; Vargas 2000; Painter 2003).
Most of the people at university receive little educa-
tion about sustainability and environmental issues un-
less they were specifically involved in the subject or
personally interested. For example, few academic pro-
grams explain how cleaner production concepts can be
integrated into engineering practices, services, market-
ing, management and design. Concepts like pollution
prevention, waste minimisation and cleaner production
have not been a required component of the academic
curricula in engineering courses and others (Boyle 1999).
Also, there is a need for including the subject of sus-
tainability in the legal, social and economic sciences.
Normally in these sciences the radical changes that
sustainable development implies are not discussed, such
as the consumer’s habits and behaviours and the way
society measures social and economic development.
Most of the graduate and postgraduate courses in-
clude many mandatory subjects and little time is avail-
able to consider new subjects to be taught like
sustainability. However, there is always the possibility to
embed them directly into the curricula (Filho 1997;
Crofton 2000; Van Berkel 2000; Springett and Kearins
2001). For example, in process design the selection
among different options should take into account their
environmental impact evaluation, the use of cleaner
technologies, and whenever possible social and eco-
nomic aspects. Also, in the design of a new product,
besides profit maximisation, all life cycle stages and the
environmental impacts generated must be analysed and
accounted for (Gutierrez-Martin and Huttenhaim 2003).
Since sustainability places great emphasis on a mul-
tidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach, one can
envisage graduate courses in which students receive ba-
sic training in a range of disciplines regardless of the
specific content of their course. The ability to work with
people from different backgrounds must be developed. It
may involve the interaction between different academic
departments in colleges and universities, and the col-
laboration with outside partners, like other universities,
companies and industry (Crofton 2000; Jansen 2003).
This will ensure that future generations are open-minded
specialists who are able to interact with their counter-
parts in other disciplines. Practical training through re-
search is also an essential element when learning the
various aspects of sustainability.
New forms of training, which move beyond the tra-
ditional disciplinary boundaries, are needed, aimed at
providing world-class targeted interdisciplinary teaching
at university level. A practical example is the Erasmus
University Ph.D. Program (Baas et al. 2000) that allows
people from different backgrounds to attend it regard-
less of whether they have a background in industry or
academia. The main themes of the Ph.D. program deal
with cleaner production and sustainability, but students
can choose research subjects in areas of their personal or
of their organisation’s special interest. In this program
most of the classes are taught using an e-learning plat-
form. This process allows students to be engaged in the
course just by connecting to the internet at home or at
the workplace. Also, the use of the internet and the
information and communication technologies facilitates
the interactions between people of different back-
grounds, allowing for a broader range of subjects to be
discussed.
Other examples of the new information and com-
munication technologies application at the graduate le-
vel are the projects of the University of Surrey (Perdan
et al. 2000) and of the Politecnico de Milano University
(Vezzoli 2003). The first project consists in the devel-
opment of learning resources based on new information
and communication technologies, with particular
emphasis on the use of the internet. Available resources
consist of a number of multidisciplinary case studies and
supporting materials and are aimed at students in engi-
neering courses. The second project is the result of a
collaborative project between some Italian higher edu-
cation institutions and a governmental department, di-
rected to students of design courses. It is a collection of
tools and multimedia presentations, which introduce the
students to the questions of sustainable production and
consumption from a designer’s point of view.
The organisational level
When aiming at a dynamic knowledge-based society, the
view according to which education ends when employ-
ment begins is not appropriate and productive any more.
Knowledge, technology and legislation change so fast

that the process of learning is essential to workers and
organisations to be effective and competitive. One can
say that during our lifetime we need to return to
‘‘school’’ many times. Sustainability is a multidisciplin-
ary and interdisciplinary field that requires a dynamic
and continuous training to follow the latest develop-
ments.
The process of education and learning in organisa-
tions imply changes in their culture and the way they do
business. Normally it occurs in response to pressures of
society or changes in the perception and comprehension
of environmental problems. The relationship between
companies and society is presented in Fig. 3.
Figure 3 shows that both sides, organisations and
society, interact with each other in different ways.
Companies and other organisations are more concerned
with complying with environmental legislation rather
than anticipating it by incorporating cleaner production
and sustainability principles into their operation and
practices. They usually try to improve their environ-
mental behaviour in response to pressures from society.
On the other hand, society influences companies and
organisations through laws, regulations, judicial pres-
sure, consumer pressure and competition, forcing them
to change the way they do business, their corporate
culture and values. Also, society judges company activ-
ities relating to environmental management, marketing
and publication of environmental reports.
To change their behaviour and culture towards sus-
tainability, organisations will need properly trained
professionals. Sustainability, as a new and dynamic field,
represents a golden opportunity to attract a larger
number of young and skilled people to pursue a career in
this field (Hale 1995). However, the admission of novice
people by companies is normally a very slow process.
Another possibility for the organisations, which is
usually much faster and more effective, involves the di-
rect training of their collaborators. Usually the topics of
internal training strongly depend on the objectives,
ambitions, time availability and needs of both the col-
laborators and their organisation. Most of the time these
subjects are much specialised. During this training it is
important to include subjects related to environmental
protection and sustainability. This way, collaborators
acquire competences in this area and will be more aware
Fig. 3 Interrelations between companies or organisations and
society
35
of their company environmental performance and how
they can act to improve it. For example, if an organi-
sation intends to implement an environmental manage-
ment system according to the ISO14001 international
standard, internal training for the collaborators and
other members of the organisation as well as training for
the representatives of other companies in the supply
chain are required for a successful implementation.
For the professional and vocational training of
technicians employed by organisations or for experts
who are about to enter the workforce, the ENVIRO-
CARE tool can be used (Coakley 2003). This is a mul-
timedia educational CD-ROM developed as a result of
the European Commission’s Leonardo Project. The
main objective is to allow workers to gain some back-
ground in subjects related to the environment, like
cleaner production and environmental management.
The CD-ROM is available in various languages and is
free of charge. It includes several case studies based on
real situations, which can be analysed and discussed by
students with the assistance of an instructor previously
prepared. Study materials for students and for instruc-
tors are both available on the CD-ROM.
Sustainability offers great opportunities for organi-
sations to realise incremental and substantial innova-
tions. At the same time it leaves many organisations
vulnerable to the risk of not recognising their potential
early enough and eventually they lose competitiveness.
The absence of a strong culture in companies and or-
ganisations in fields such as environmental protection
and sustainability may be a crucial factor along with
unfavourable framework conditions for innovation.
This could result from the fact that most of the people in
business and industry have never learnt about sustain-
ability (Boyle 1999).
In today’s world, the intensifying competition and the
environmental regulations, which become more and
more stringent, require a proactive approach. Possible
measures include collaborators training, cooperation
with other companies and organisations mainly in the
transfer of technology and training of workers. If there is
a commitment to change the way organisations operate
the results can be more effective. In their quest to be
competitive, companies need to innovate and to develop
new products and processes (Beard and Hartman 1997).
Sustainability should be seen as the core value of the
company corporate culture and understood as a long-
term commitment between their stakeholders, share-
holders, suppliers, customers and society in general.
The questions discussed above are valid either to the
private and the public sector organisations. However, as
the question of sustainable development places itself at
the central stage in the economic, social and political
spheres, governmental institutions have a vital role to
play. Besides changing the way they operate, they have
an important contribution to the implementation and
promotion of sustainable development policies. These
goals can be fulfilled in different ways: through mar-
keting and awareness campaigns, vocational training,
36
among others. Normally they have to follow a strategy
planned by the central government and with different
objectives depending on the level of action: local, re-
gional, national or international.
An example is the European Union (EU) that set
sustainable development as a fundamental goal. Each
country has to promote sustainable development at the
national level, taking into account international treaties
such as the Kyoto protocol and at the regional level, for
example through the increase in production and use of
renewable energy and the protection of the environment.
The level of lifelong learning
Lifelong learning is a means through which people get to
know about their world and is guided by their needs or
interests. It is related to the acquisition of knowledge
outside formal education. People have more control
over what and how they learn, and can choose to learn
in an appropriate and supportive environment (Diduck
1999). This learning process is often undervalued,
overlooked and poorly understood, because it takes
place outside the classroom and many times there is no
expert teacher involved in the process and the knowledge
gained is hard to measure.
As the world moves from an industrial society to an
information society, learning during our whole life, as
children, adolescents, young adults and older adults is
becoming fundamental. People are spending more and
more time learning, not just in classrooms or during
work, but also at home, after work and on weekends.
Surfing the internet, participating in discussion groups,
watching nature, documentaries on television, listening
to the radio, visiting museums or reading newspapers,
magazines and books, are experiences encompassing
what is known as lifelong learning. This is an efficient
and effective way of learning, since it is self-directed,
voluntary and guided by a person’s needs and interests.
Lifelong learning is essential for sustainable devel-
opment since it makes possible to encourage people to
engage them in these subjects from children to adult age.
Simple principles and concepts of sustainability can be
introduced, as for example, by hands-on science exper-
iments and demonstrations or simply by participating in
public debates. Anecdotal evidence shows that the like-
lihood of learning more easily depends largely on the
ability of school teachers, parents and the media to
communicate the pleasure of ‘‘finding things out’’—as it
has been put by Nobel laureate Richard Feynman.
The mass media may have a large positive impact on
ES. The question is how to present the necessary infor-
mation to people. When properly done, some docu-
mentaries, talk shows or commercials on television can
mobilise people to better understand environmental
problems and how we can solve them, e.g., describing
how to separate domestic solid waste for recycling
(Clover 1996). For example, the Inter-Nordic Internet
course for regional and local officials and practitioners
takes advantage of the new information society and the
internet (Strandberg and Brandt 2001). The course is
aimed at people with different backgrounds, including
teachers, students, journalists and managers. The main
topics of this course include discussions about the
principles and concepts of sustainability and how they
relate to society, the economy, technology and the
environment.
Conclusions
In this article the current status of ES is addressed and
discussed through all the levels of formal and non-for-
mal education, including basic education, university,
organisations and lifelong learning. Formal education
systems are very slow to change and their reorientation
may take a long time to give results. Non-formal edu-
cation is capable of delivering new information, ap-
proaches and methods for teaching and learning more
easily in a shorter period. However, both formal and
non-formal education are essential for securing a sus-
tainable future.
Although an integrated educational system would be
the optimal approach to ES, until present no public or
private educational system can claim to possess that
characteristic. The lack of integration between the var-
ious levels of the educational system and the non-exis-
tence of a coherent and adequate approach to ES are
some of the main problems identified. Also, a reorien-
tation of the education system is needed. One needs to
encourage the implementation of new courses and/or
subjects in this area both in academic curricula and
professional training.
Teachers have to be trained and must acquire specific
knowledge on the problems and questions of sustain-
ability. Besides the training of teachers it is fundamental
to develop teaching materials and modules, which will
improve the situation of dealing with sustainability in an
intercultural context. Also, introducing a multidisci-
plinary and interdisciplinary approach into teaching and
research is becoming more and more important in order
to be able to address the increasingly complex problems
and also because sustainability encompasses several
technical and scientific areas.
In the future, environmental literacy will be a basic
skill in a sustainable society, independent of the back-
ground, level of education or professional activity of its
members. Sustainability must be at the core of the aca-
demic curricula and will require a lifelong and world-
wide commitment at all social and economic levels.
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