Sustainability Education in Nordic Countries

• Main Authors: Lysgaard, Jonas Andreasen, Bengtsson, Stefan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education, Oxford University Press 2022
• Subjects: Sustainability Education; nordic countries; Faroe Islands; Greenland; Norway; Iceland
• Online Access: https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/sustainability-education-in-nordic-countries(e85242cb-5b2a-40a8-8c0f-f85c1a11315b).html

Sustainability education in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland, as well as the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland ) covers a wide spectrum, as the region both share similarities in the different national and regional approaches to education, curriculum and pedagogy, but continues to be informed by different cultural reference points regarding how and why sustainability should be part of formal, non-formal and in-formal educational approaches and activities (Jónsson et al., 2020; Lysgaard & Jørgensen, 2020). Sustainability education in the Nordic countries registers within the full range of educational practices: formal, non-formal and in-formal. From early childhood to all branches of lower, secondary, vocational and higher education, as well as life long learning activities, it is possible to find emphasis that links to sustainability agendas and their role in education Sustainability education in the Nordic countries is marked by both strong traditions such as the action competence and pluralist approaches, but also the current rapid development of the field. Interest in policy, practice and research strengthened across the Nordic countries as sustainability is stressed as a crucial factor on all levels of education. This has led to a revitalization of the more classic approaches, but also inspiring development in e.g. Norway, Iceland and Finland as the need for more knowledge and applicable approaches leads to educational, didactic and pedagogical experimentation and development of new standards in sustainability education (Jónsson et al., 2020). The traditional link between issues inherited from environmental education and Bildung infused critical approaches to democracy and participation continues to be a guiding characteristic among the established and emerging approaches to sustainability education in the Nordic countries.