Centre for Academic Practice, Trinity Teaching & Learning

Contact Us Centre for Academic Practice
Room 3.06
3-4 Foster Place
Dublin 2
Ireland

View the contact page for more contact and location information

academicpractice@tcd.ie

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been identified as a key instrument to support the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by United Nations member states in 2015. In this section we will briefly outline what is meant by ESD and how it aims to support the achievement of UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. The short video below introduces each of the 17 SDGs.

These goals are further explored in Section 3, SDGs and ESD Themes

UNESCO aims to integrate the SDGs into all levels of education using the ESD framework, or ESD for 2030 (p. 18-20), to build a more just and sustainable world. 

The aim of ESD is to develop individuals’ sustainability competencies, such as the ability to reflect on the sustainability of their own and others’ actions, and to respond to complex global and local challenges in a sustainable manner.

There are many definitions of ESD, but they all refer to the type of education that is required in order to achieve a social, economic and ecological well-being now and into the future (Sterling 2011, p. 8). For example, UNESCO (2023) have defined ESD within higher education to be “the process of creating curricula that enable learners develop the knowledge, skills, values, and agency required to address current global challenges such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, unsustainable use of resources, and inequality”.

UNESCO aims to equip and empower educators with the knowledge, skills, values, and behaviours to integrate sustainability into all levels of education. Educators should develop an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their interconnections, as well as promoting transformative pedagogical approaches.

In November 2022, Trinity Teaching and Learning received HEA SATLE funding to support teaching and learning enhancement and innovation. In line with this funding, Fellows in Education for Sustainable Development were appointed in May 2023.

One outcome of this project was the development of a Trinity undergraduate module, Enacting Sustainable Development, which had its first rollout in Michaelmas Term 2024. The Fellows work on this module has yielded new teaching and learning resources and informed professional development that has shaped a range of ESD initiatives across college.

The European Commission has developed the GreenComp European sustainability competence framework for sustainability competencies. This Framework is specifically designed to support education and training programmes for lifelong learners.

As the Trinity undergraduate module was developed within the scope of the UNESCO sustainability competencies, the resources provided on this website refer to the UNESCO competencies and pedagogical approaches. However, there are commonalities between GreenComp and the UNESCO competencies.

Key Takeaways

• Building on the UN SDGs, both UNESCO and the European Commission have developed frameworks to embed ESD into the curriculum.

• The Trinity ESD Fellows have developed a module for undergraduate students using the UNESCO pedagogical approaches and competencies.

• The European GreenComp framework is an additional reference to be aware of.