4. Status of Sustainability Education in the Nordic Countries

In 2018 the Nordic Council of Ministers initiated a project focused on mapping educational policy concerning sustainability in the Nordic countries (see chapter 2). More specifically, the mandate for that project was to map how the educational policies in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden reflected the demands of UN SDG 4.7 which states:

The results of this project were published in the report Mapping Education for Sustainability in the Nordic Countries (Jónsson et al., 2021). What emerged was a complex picture of educational systems which all focus on various aspects of sustainability but often without explicit mention of the concept itself and, when mentioned, sometimes with a rather superficial understanding of it.

In the report Mapping Education for Sustainability in the Nordic Countries, the authors took the lead from the work of Sterling and others critical of the conventional educational paradigm to suggest framing of SE as involving three orders of change:

The authors of the report then described these three orders of change as characteristic of learning that favoured compliance, criticality and radicality:

Looking into various policy documents, from laws and curricula to various green- and white books on education, it was evident that different countries built on different traditions and that sustainability had been incorporated into educational policy in different ways:

The report also reflected on the wider context for SE noting that public policy, such as appears in the strategy report Good Life in a Sustainable Nordic Region: Nordic Strategy for Sustainable Development 2013–2025 (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2019) was heavily geared towards increased growth, defining educational aims primarily in terms of employability within the business community (see Jónsson et al., p. 67; Nordic Council of Ministers, 2019, p. 45). This does not align well with the understanding of sustainability as presented in the various educational policies of the Nordic countries. Finally, the report also shed light on little, even no apparent, focus on sustainability in teacher education, with many teacher education programs not having any explicit focus on sustainability.

As already mentioned, sustainability is implemented in various ways in education in the Nordic countries. The educational policy in general and curricula are steadily renewed and many tangible projects and practices that strive to implement them are going on in both schools and other contexts. In this chapter and the next we will present a few examples of what takes place in relation to sustainability education in the Nordic region starting from policy and continuing with practice.

From the autumn of 2024, the content for the individual subjects in the primary school must be revised, and sustainability will no doubt be specifically mentioned in large parts of the subject descriptions. At the moment, commissions will be established to draft subject descriptions. This takes place with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Education, schoolteachers, teacher educators, and stakeholder organisations. The task must be finished in 2027.

Since 2020, the concept of sustainability has gained a more prominent place in national education documents in Denmark. The Danish teacher training was thoroughly revised in 2023. Sustainability was specifically mentioned in the purpose of the new teacher training, just as sustainability is embedded in a large part of the subject descriptions. Now, sustainability is both taught in the teacher training courses, and must be lived out in daily campus life by teachers and students.

Since the last mapping report was published in 2021, there have been only a few changes to educational policy in Finland. For example, the same national core curriculum for basic education which was published in 2014 is still in use. The term ‘sustainable development’ appears right at the beginning of the curriculum, emphasising the responsibility of schools to cultivate a sustainable future. The curriculum views humans as integral to nature and dependent on essential ecosystems. It stresses the importance of adopting a sustainable lifestyle, with basic education serving as the foundation for global citizenship and culturally sustainable development. Students are expected to recognize the seriousness of climate change and commit to sustainability. “Participation, involvement, and building a sustainable future” is one of the seven key competencies that students are required to develop, integrating various fields of knowledge and skills to support personal growth, education, work, and future activities. Furthermore, sustainability is a central theme across the other six competencies and is a guiding principle in shaping the organisational culture of schools. Sustainability is also incorporated into most school subjects within the 2014 curriculum, where the word "sustainable" is mentioned nearly 200 times.

The Finnish National Agency for Education and the national Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care (2018) emphasise that all activities in early childhood education and care, as well as pre-primary education, are guided by the need for ecologically, culturally, and economically sustainable living. Ecological sustainability is fostered through practices such as sorting and recycling, mindful use of electricity and water, and monitoring plastic waste. Social sustainability involves fostering positive interactions, recognising children’s strengths and emotions, and ensuring their participation and influence in activities. Economic sustainability is reflected in making wise choices, including acquiring items from charity shops and recycling centres. Cultural sustainability is promoted by valuing traditional play and games, embracing cultural diversity, and respecting different values and perspectives. Additionally, public access rights, a unique aspect of Nordic culture, and appreciating the architecture of buildings, such as observing colours, forms, and symmetrical decorations, are also integral to cultural sustainability.

The Ministry of Education and Culture has launched a broad-based development project on futures work in comprehensive schools. The aim of the futures work is to create a vision for schools that enables meaningful life for young people and supports learning opportunities in a rapidly changing world. The futures work of comprehensive schools is organized around three themes. They are Artificial intelligence and technology, Basic skills and learning, and Ecological and social sustainability. The futures work will be carried out in 2024-2025. It will produce a written vision for the future by the end of 2025. A parliamentary monitoring group has been set up to support the work.

Finnish teacher education is research-based; theory and practice are interwoven throughout the learning process. This approach aims to develop educational experts who are prepared for continuous professional growth throughout their careers. A crucial part of this process includes the independent writing of a master’s thesis and studies in educational research methodology. However, despite the overall high standards of teacher education, sustainability is not always a prominent focus (Cockerell, 2020; Wolff et al., 2017).

Teacher educators at universities have autonomy in deciding how to implement sustainability topics in their programs. A 2012 study conducted by Maria Hofman found that no Finnish teacher education programs at the foundational level offered mandatory sustainability courses. The Teacher Student Union of Finland (SOOL) has advocated for the integration of SD into teacher education, highlighting teachers as role models for sustainable lifestyles. In 2019, SOOL demanded that teacher education institutions include climate change education in their programs, challenging them to incorporate climate change and sustainability topics. The response was promising, with nine participating institutions committing to improve their SE. For instance, the University of Helsinki has implemented a mandatory SE course for all teacher students, and there are also other new possibilities to study sustainability education in other teacher education programs.

In August 2023, two decades after the previous national curriculum had been adopted, a new national curriculum was made public. This called for a new standard on how to think subject matter into teaching on all levels of schooling from grade 1 through grade 10. One of the most significant changes from the previous curriculum is an increased focus on sustainability — in the sciences. Sustainability as a subject matter in the sciences is primarily focused on sustainable management of living resources in the sea and fjords around Greenland, and on land.

To support an idea of sustainability in both education and among the general public, a new section within the government of Greenland has had as its goal to map and develop online material on sustainability (Vores formål | Anguniakkavut). It is, however, unknown if this material has had any impact or influence on sustainability teaching in schools in Greenland.

In Iceland, educational policy has not changed much since the mapping report was published in 2021. The same curricula are still in place, dating back to 2011. In these curricula, sustainability was defined as one of six fundamental pillars of all education, from preschool (2 to 6 years), through elementary school (6 to 16 years) to upper secondary school (16 to 19 years).

Those curricula also defined key competences similar to those that later appeared in the UNESCO document. In the Icelandic curriculum for elementary schools specific competence criteria are defined at the completion of grades 4, 7 and 10.  These key competences are: (1) Expression and communication, (2) Creative and critical thinking, (3) Independence and cooperation, (4) Using media and information, and (5) Responsibility and evaluation of their own education (Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, 2014, pp. 88–90).

The most noticeable development in teacher education is the establishment of an M.Ed.-program in sustainability education at the School of Education, University of Iceland (https://ugla.hi.is/kennsluskra/index.php?tab=skoli&chapter=content&id=53345). The program is led by Prof. Auður Pálsdóttir who has for many years been among the leading scholars in sustainability education in Iceland (Pálsdóttir and Jóhannsdóttir, 2021). This program is still in its early stages and although not many students have completed this program it is a clear channel for developing sustainability as part of teacher education.

Among the most serious shortcomings of Icelandic educational policy for sustainability that the Mapping report from 2021 revealed was lack of implementation following the adoption of the new curricula in 2011. This situation has somewhat improved with the publication of new support material. A new digital handbook on education for sustainability (Menntun til sjálfbærni) is written by Guðrún Schmidt was published by the Directorate of Education in 2023. The handbook is a valuable resource for teachers at all school levels, but especially written with primary and secondary schools in mind. Challenges, definitions and pedagogy of sustainability education are reviewed with a special attention given to empowering and transformative approaches.

Various implementations are presented and ideas for projects with diverse teaching methods are presented. To promote important basic knowledge related to the goals and scope of sustainability education, the second part of the book deals with sustainable development, climate issues, biological diversity and actions that humanity needs to take. The book encourages critical questions, answers and discussions and empowers teachers to further develop sustainability education in the student-centred classroom.

The compulsory school curriculum, Læreplanverket for Kunnskapsløftet (LK20), was renewed and implemented from from August 2020. The Overarching part of the curriculum does emphasises sustainability as one of three interdisciplinary topics: Sustainability, Common health and mastering of life (well-being), and Democracy and citizenship. These three interdisciplinary topics are integrated in the subjects when relevant. Final exams in Norway will, to some extent, assess the students’ knowledge of, understanding of, and level of reflection on sustainability in relevant subjects. An evaluation program, conducted by several Norwegian universities, follows the implementation of the renewed curriculum. Certain reports focus on the interdisciplinary topics.

The compulsory school curriculum was revised in 2022 (Lgr22). Revisions were made regarding sexuality, consent, and relationships, as well as other fundamental values. In the course syllabi content related to SD was revised and the concept ‘promote sustainable development’ was introduced in some of the course syllabi such as civics, crafts, home and consumer studies, geography, and science.

In the curriculum it is stated that “an important role of schools is to provide an overview and context, and it is important to adopt some overarching perspectives in all teaching”. The overarching environmental, historical, international and ethical perspectives which are intended to permeate all teaching remain unaltered. These perspectives, especially the environmental, are important for the school´s work with SD.

In late 2022 and spring 2023, two reports were published related to ESD from the Swedish school inspectorate. These two thematic reviews, Schools work with education for sustainable development  and The school's handling of controversial issues in teaching  highlights areas that are valuable focus on ESD work. The conclusions in these reviews will help education providers, school leaders and teachers to include the ESD perspectives in their ongoing quality work.

In recent years The Swedish National Agency for Education has intensified its support to schools in ESD. Teachers and school leaders can access support material and in service training via their website. There are learning modules available for peer-to-peer learning, web courses, education programmes, webinars, networks, information of conferences and the government initiated quality label: School for sustainable development. Since 2021 The Swedish National Agency has also offered a university course for principals called Leading learning for sustainable development.

The Åland Provincial Act on Childcare and Compulsory Education entered into force in January 2021 and a new curriculum was prepared in parallel with the drafting of the new Act. The new curriculum for comprehensive schools in Åland Islands was enforced in August 2021, followed by the curriculum for early childhood education and care in 2022. The last time the curriculum was revised was in 1995, which meant that there was a great need for updated steering documents. For primary and lower secondary schools, extensive work was carried out both in the development and implementation of the new curriculum, and one of the parts that was largely renewed was the teaching of sustainability.

The new curriculum emphasises the importance of a sustainability perspective in all teaching. Sustainability is inscribed in all subject areas, so that the teaching of the subjects should endeavour to include sustainability as part of the teaching. Sustainability is included in all course syllabi and also in the assessment criteria for most subjects. The general part, which describes the overall mission of primary education, and its core values, also includes a chapter on sustainability, which emphasises that sustainability starts in childcare and should permeate all primary school activities. It is stated that in all their activities, and in cooperation with homes, primary schools should pay attention to the need for a sustainable lifestyle from an ecological, social, and economic perspective. Civic competence, one of the eight key competences, which are emphasised in the curriculum, specifically emphasises sustainability. Civic competence is the ability to participate, influence and contribute to a sustainable future.

The implementation of the new curriculum is ongoing, and no evaluation has yet been carried out to show how teachers' teaching pertaining to sustainability has been affected by the new wording of the curriculum.