Designing an online platform for supporting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

– to deliver knowledge, influence attitudes and enable actions for sustainable development in secondary school.

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/fecun.v2i2.140351

Keywords:

Education for sustainable development, Learning design, Digital learning resources, Online learning platform

Abstract

Education for sustainable development (ESD) is recognized as a key foundation on which a sustainable future is built. This entails enabling acquisition of knowledge and skills, influencing values and attitudes, and aiding sustainable actions. In a two-year transnational research and development project, project partners have been engaged in designing and delivering an online learning platform (OLP) for supporting teachers applying ESD, in secondary schools.   
This article discusses the design process and the challenges that arose with transforming identified research and policies to a suitable OLP for teachers to bring into their teaching, across diverse learning settings. Findings from the design process are based on observations from an initial Learning Design (LD) workshop with the involved project partners and a subsequent workshop with students interacting with the platform, together with project partner experiences on the overall design process and with teachers having applied the platform in their teaching. Discoveries from the development project unfolds challenges in designing an OLP for supporting ESD in schools, with a flexibility and sensitivity towards socio-cultural complexities and diverse learning contexts.

References

Barragan-Jason, G., de Mazancourt, C., Parmesan, C., Singer, M. C., & Loreau, M. (2022). Hu-man–nature connectedness as a pathway to sustainability: A global meta-analysis. Conser-vation Letters, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12852

Barragan-Jason, G., Loreau, M., de Mazancourt, C., Singer, M. C., & Parmesan, C. (2023). Psy-chological and physical connections with nature improve both human well-being and na-ture conservation: A systematic review of meta-analyses. Biological Conservation, 277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109842

Brundtland, G. (1987). Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future [United Nations General Assembly document A/42/427.].

Buus, L. (2015). The learning potentials and challenges when integrating Web 2.0 in a prob-lem-based learning approach. Aalborg Universitets Forlag.

Cars, M., & West, E. E. (2015). Education for sustainable society: Attainments and good prac-tices in Sweden during the United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Develop-ment (UNDESD). Environment, Development and Sustainability, 17(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-014-9537-6

Conole, G. (2013). Designing for learning in an open world. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8517-0

Druin, A. (2002). The role of children in the design of new technology. Behaviour & Infor-mation Technology, 21(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/01449290110108659

European Commission. (2022). Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2022 | Shaping Eu-rope’s digital future. https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/digital-economy-and-society-index-desi-2022

Jensen, B. B., & Schnack, K. (1997). The Action Competence Approach in Environmental Edu-cation. Environmental Education Research, 3(2), 163–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350462970030205

Jensen, M. M., & Pilgaard, M. (2022). Designing for blended learning approaches for sustain-able attitudes and actions. Proceedings of the 21st European Conference on E-Learning - ECEL 2022, Vol 21(1). https://papers.academic-conferences.org/index.php/ecel/article/view/784/821

Nygaard, S. E. (2019). Sustainability Psychology: On the Relation Between Environmentally Sustainable Living and Subjective Well-being: PhD Dissertation. Aarhus BSS, Aarhus Uni-versity, Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences.

Ojala, M., & Bengtsson, H. (2019). Young People’s Coping Strategies Concerning Climate Change: Relations to Perceived Communication With Parents and Friends and Proenvi-ronmental Behavior. Environment and Behavior, 51(8), 907–935. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916518763894

Petersen, K. B. (2022). Global Citizenship Education for (Unknown) Futures of Education: Reflections on skills-and competency-based versus virtue-based education. Futures of Ed-ucation, Culture and Nature-Learning to Become, 1, 89–101. https://doi.org/10.7146/fecun.v1i.130238

Rieckmann, M. (2018). Learning to transform the world: Key competencies in education for sustainable development. In Leicht, A., Heiss, J., & Byun, W. J. (Eds). Issues and trends in education for sustainable development (Vol. 5). UNESCO publishing. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000261802

UN. (n.d.). Goal 4. https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4

UNESCO. (2005). UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, 2005-2014: The DESD at a glance. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000141629

UNESCO. (2016). Education for people and planet: Creating sustainable futures for all, (p. 620) [Global education monitoring report]. https://doi.org/10.54676/AXEQ8566

UNESCO. (2017). Education for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning objectives. https://doi.org/10.54675/CGBA9153

UNESCO. (2021). Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education. UNESCO. https://doi.org/10.54675/ASRB4722

Downloads

Published

2024-06-19

How to Cite

Maja Melballe Jensen, Jeanette Baagø, & Pilgaard, M. (2024). Designing an online platform for supporting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): – to deliver knowledge, influence attitudes and enable actions for sustainable development in secondary school. Futures of Education, Culture and Nature - Learning to Become, 2(2), 58–65. https://doi.org/10.7146/fecun.v2i2.140351