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How to Teach for Sustainability

Jan 21, 2025

Sustainable development is key to the continued survival of humans and the planet as we know it. Without sustainability, there will be no future generations to meet nor teach.

Educators all over the world hold the enormous responsibility to educate our future world leaders, business owners and civil society.

If all educators begin to transfer sustainability awareness and teach green skills, we can inspire collective action on a much larger scale, forming tomorrow’s leaders to ensure we can achieve sustainable development


What are Sustainable Teaching Practices?

In today’s world, we are constantly bombarded with huge amounts of information at a pace never seen before. This requires constant development, adaptation, and analysis of the world around us and our place within it.

Sustainable practices enhance the quality of life for all, addressing issues like health, education, and equal opportunity. Pollution and poor water &air quality are all threats to human health.

“Global citizenship is the umbrella term for social, political, environmental, and economic actions of globally minded individuals and communities on a worldwide scale” - United Nations.

This term refers to the idea that individuals are part of multiple, diverse, local and non-local networks rather than single actors affecting isolated societies. Including global citizenship in our classrooms, at all ages, will allow individuals to embrace their social responsibility to act for the benefit of all societies not just their own.

But teaching sustainability needs to go beyond imparting knowledge in a theorical way, sustainable teaching must concentrate on skills and processes, not just knowledge and facts. Sustainable development will not be achieved by rehearsing books or understanding learning outcomes, it will be achieved, when every citizen understands how they can take action within their own lives, communities and workplaces, to promote social and environmental justice.

What is the Role of Educators in Sustainability?

Educators have the power to inspire students to understand the importance of decent work and ethical employment practices. Encouraging critical thinking about global supply chains, child labour, fair trade, and modern slavery helps students become informed and responsible citizens. Empowering young people with green skills will lead to a future workforce that not only understands but actively supports and promotes a green economy.

The Green Economy is defined by the UN as a low carbon, resource-efficient and socially inclusive economy. It’s an economy that provides prosperity for all within the ecological limits of the planet. An economy where the people, the planet and the profit are in balance.

What are Green Skills?

There isn’t one universally agreed-upon definition of Green Skills; instead, various definitions serve different purposes.

According to the United Nations, “Green Skills are the knowledge, abilities, values, and attitudes needed to live in, develop, and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society.” These skills are linked not only to fields like engineering, science, and technical disciplines but also to what we call “skills of the future” — including design thinking, creativity, adaptability, resilience, and even empathy.

Education plays a key role in equipping students with Green Skills, and there is an urgent need to adapt educational practices to include these skills.

A clear example of this urgency was highlighted at the UN Transforming Education Summit, where countries agreed to promote “greening education” to ensure that by 2030, every learner is climate-ready, education systems become more resilient to climate change, and schools are safer and better adapted to climate impacts.

Additionally, a 2024 study conducted by UNESCO found that among over 530 Grade 9 curricula from 85 countries worldwide, 69% contained no references to climate change, while 66% had no references to sustainability.

Green Skills go beyond simply transferring knowledge in environmental and social sciences; they also involve the transfer of values, attitudes, and competencies necessary for promoting a sustainable future for all.

What are the Benefits of Integrating Green Skills into Teaching?

Embedding green skills in education is a strategic approach to preparing both students and educators for a sustainable future while contributing to broader societal and environmental well-being.

With growing emphasis on sustainability in education policies and frameworks worldwide, possessing knowledge in this field ensures that teachers meet curriculum requirements and standards. It also helps schools, colleges and training centres align with national and international educational agendas promoting sustainability literacy.

  • Schools/Universities that adopt green education frameworks can enhance their reputation as forward-thinking and socially responsible institutions.
  • Educators can empower students with future-ready skills for the Green Economy, enhancing their employment opportunities.
  • Green-skills-focused curriculums makes learning more applicable to current global challenges, enhancing its relevance and appeal to students.
  • Educators can align their teaching with government mandates and international efforts to promote a green economies and sustainable practices.
  • By greening teacher training, institutions can achieve all four pillars of the ESD 2030 agenda as outlined by UNESCO:
    • Greening schools
    • Greening curriculum
    • Greening teacher training
    • Greening communities

Sustainability Training Courses for Teachers

The SustainABILITY Educators Academy by Fifty Shades Greener is the first comprehensive global program specifically designed to upskill educators in integrating sustainability and green skills into all levels of education and on the job training, addressing the critical gap in educator’s skills to integrating green skills into curricula at all levels of education, from schools to universities and the workplace.

Key aspects of the Academy include:

  • Action-Based Learning: Educators will engage in practical, action-oriented training that promotes the development of green skills and their integration into curricula across all educational subjects.
  • Empowerment of Educators: Participants will enrich their teaching methods, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills among students, thus shaping environmentally and socially responsible citizens.
  • Alignment with Global Agendas: The program aligns with international sustainability and education policies, helping institutions meet curriculum requirements and standards while advancing national and global educational agendas.

The programme is delivered fully online with a hybrid model of asynchronous and synchronous learning that allows educators to learn at their own pace. Educators will receive access to Fifty Shades Greener LMS system as well as join 3 live online sessions with FSG experts and teachers from all regions of the world.

By empowering educators with the tools and confidence to deliver Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), we can drive meaningful global change in our educational systems. Together, we can align with the UN and UNESCO’s 2030 goals, embedding green skills into every level of education and preparing students to lead in a sustainable future.

Take the first step in transforming education and shaping a better tomorrow. Get in touch and join the SustainABILITY Educators Academy and become part of a global movement for sustainable development.

 


 

 đź’š FSG Team

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