Teacher education for the green transition and sustainable development

The move to a greener future requires that we all learn to live and work in more sustainable ways. Teacher professional learning has been identified as one of the most significant catalysts for bringing innovation and sustainability into our education systems, and thus equipping learners to contribute to this transition.

Importantly, in June 2022 the European Union (EU) has adopted a Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development. This Recommendation formally calls for learning for sustainability (LfS) to become a key priority area in education policies and programmes, and for support to be given to educators through training and professional development in this area. Learning for sustainability is concerned with building the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to engage with the major issues threatening both people and planet.

This analytical report reviews documented research and good practices in relation to effective teacher education for sustainability, with the purpose of informing policy decision-making and frameworks in this area. Its findings and recommendations have been drawn from an extensive literature review, and are supported by a Key Informant Group that has helped to identify blind spots and check the validity of the research and experiences presented.

This report is accompanied by a case studies document.

Authors

Ingrid Mulà; Daniella Tilbury

Cite as

European Commission: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE), Mulà, I. and Tilbury, T., Teacher education for the green transition and sustainable development – Analytical report, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/144189