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UNESCO recognises that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a key instrument in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and that the ESD approach can empower learners to take informed decisions and responsible actions towards a sustainable future. To that end, UNESCO has outlined key competencies and preferred pedagogical approaches that can be used to embed ESD in a curriculum (UNESCO, 2017, p. 10, 55). 

UNESCO (2017) – supporting the design of for ESD education

In order to embed ESD, UNESCO suggests using learning objectives (or outcomes) in the context of relevant SDGs to assist development of the eight key competencies for sustainability within the curriculum. Three pedagogical approaches have been recommended to facilitate the achievement of the key competencies. These are learner-centred, action-oriented, and transformative. These approaches, or principles, are used to guide the design of the learning processes within ESD, and specific teaching and learning methods in line with these principles are needed to facilitate the learning process. Some key teaching and learning methods identified include, collaborative real-world projects, vision building exercises, analysis of complex systems, and critical and reflective thinking. UNESCO has also outlined the need to establish partnerships at local, national, and international level while enacting ESD. These partnerships should reflect a range of societal actors and encompass diverse disciplines, encouraging creativity and innovation.

Trinity ESD Curriculum Design Framework

Trinity has adopted the UNESCO vision for ESD as its foundation for curriculum (re)design and incorporated this into the ESD Curriculum Design Framework as illustrated in Figure 1.   

ESD Curriculum Design Framework                              Figure 1: Trinity’s ESD Curriculum Design Framework

Within this Framework we use ESD themes as opposed to SDGs, to align with the SDG wedding cake representation, acknowledging that society and economies are dependent upon a functioning biosphere, thus encouraging a move away from a sectoral approach to achieving the SDGs. The SDGs wedding cake, proposed by Rockström and Sukhdev (2016), consists of three layers: the Biosphere, Society, and the Economy constructed from 16 of the SDGs with the 17th SDG: Partnerships, crosscutting each layer. In addition, rather than key competencies, we refer to ESD competencies in order to distinguish them from other competency frameworks that may be in use.

Finally, we refer to Teaching, Learning and Assessments Strategies in order to expand upon the methods suggested by UNESCO that ensure the Pedagogical Approaches are enacted, and to assist in the process of constructive alignment. These TLA strategies also include suggested methods for creating partnerships that support the learners in understanding and enacting local, national, and global partnerships as outlined in the targets for SDG 17.

For more information on the elements of the framework see the following webpages:

Using the Framework

This Framework adopts a constructive alignment approach to curriculum (re)design. The three key components of constructive alignment are: (1) intended learning outcomes are appropriate and clearly defined, (2) teaching and learning strategies support the required learning, and (3) the assessment tasks are aligned with the outcomes (Biggs, 1996, 2003).

The following suggested steps draw on the Framework to support the embedding of ESD into a module or programme. Depending on your needs, you may pick and choose which steps to use, or you may wish to complete them sequentially. In this section, we focus on using an adapted form of the CRAFTS methodology (Higgens & Calvert, 2024).

Alternatively, if you want to get started with 'just one thing’ towards ESD, see our Quick Start Guide.

In this step, analyse your module or programme and identify which SDGs are present, also noting which ESD Themes to which they belong.

First, you should explore the SDGs and how the ESD themes are drawn from the SDG wedding cake representation, by accessing our web page SDGs and the ESD Themes.

The following adapted element of the CRAFTS toolkit will assist you in the process.

  • Map your module structure on a week by week or topic by topic basis and identify where content relating to the ESD themes and SDGs is present.

If there are no SDGs readily evident, consider how the topics within your discipline might intersect, or be expanded to intersect, with one of the goals, and/or themes, as explained towards the end of our web page SDGs and the ESD Themes.

In this step you will examine to what extent the ESD competencies are addressed within your module or programme. You will also identify the level of proficiency in the competency that is expected to be achieved.

First, you should explore the ESD competencies and how they may be addressed within the curriculum by accessing our webpage ESD Competencies.

This next step of the CRAFTs toolkit will assist you in identifying competencies and the levels of proficiency achieved.

  • Building on the map from Step 1, identify where within the learning outcomes the ESD competencies are addressed. See Fishbone from Crafts - ESD Competencies.pptx to use as a template
    • Add the level of proficiency to be achieved.

If there are no ESD competencies readily evident, consider how you might rewrite your learning outcomes to ensure that ESD competencies are specifically addressed. These pages from the CAP website might help you do this: ESD Competencies.

In this step, you will examine your teaching, learning, and assessment strategies to determine if they support the pedagogical approaches required to develop the desired ESD competencies.

First, you should explore the UNESCO recommended pedagogical approaches and the teaching, learning, and assessment strategies that align with these, by accessing our webpages Pedagogical Approaches & Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Strategies for ESD.

 In this section we will build on the adapted CRAFTS model:

If your current TLA strategies do not meet the required pedagogical approaches you can explore the following webpages for suggested strategies on our webpages at Pedagogical Approaches & Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Strategies for ESD.

Once you have selected your TLA strategies, you can then move onto designing the structure of the programme or module and identify specific TLA activities. This structuring and planning of the student learning experience that supports achievement of the learning outcomes is known as learning design.

One structured and well-tested learning design methodology is ABC Learning Design. This is based on the Six Learning Types identified in the work of Diana Laurillard (2002, 2012).

In order to support the learning design process, we have identified the following toolbox that contains specific learning activities designed with the intention of supporting students to develop “essential affective and collaborative skills” and to empower “students to engage with global challenges thoughtfully and resiliently”:

Key Takeaways

Trinity have developed an ESD Curriculum Design Framework that can be used to support the (re)design of modules and programmes to embed ESD. There are 4 tenets to this framework:

• ESD themes which reflect the relevant content relating to achieving sustainability in the interconnection of the Biosphere, Society, and the Economy.

• ESD competencies which are the skills, values, and attitudes that students require to help achieve the SDGs within the ESD themes.

• Pedagogical approaches that support and motivate students to develop the ESD competencies.

• Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Strategies that can be used to achieve the pedagogical approaches required.