How Can Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Be Effectively Implemented in Teaching and Learning? An Analysis of Educational Science Recommendations of Methods and Procedures to Promote ESD Goals

Abstract

Education for sustainable development (ESD) has been a task assigned to schools and universities since the mid-1990s. This global movement spawned ESD research in numerous fields, including, among others, didactics and educational sciences, as well as sustainability sciences. In this article, we analyze the state of research on reliable recommendations of means (more precisely, teaching and learning methods and procedures) to promote the ESD goals. Within the framework of systematic literature analysis, we compared and evaluated 17 scientific publications from the field of ESD. Using qualitative content analysis, we scanned the 17 articles for recommendations of means of ESD and the cited evidence for their effectiveness. The findings show two groups of recommended means, differing particularly in the degree of learner autonomy and the quality of evidence for their effectiveness. We discuss possible tasks that can be derived from these findings for didactic research on ESD, and we make a suggestion for further teaching action.