IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i7p2838-d340724.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Education for Sustainable Development in Germany: Not Just Desired but Also Effective for Transformative Action

Author

Listed:
  • Julius Grund

    (Institut Futur, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany)

  • Antje Brock

    (Institut Futur, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

Despite its role as a key factor for transformation, there is still a lack of large-scale studies on the effects of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The aim of this study is to predict sustainable behavior based on reported implementation of ESD as well as psychological (e.g., attitudes, emotions) and socio-demographic variables. Descriptive statistics and a multiple regression model were used to analyze data from 2564 young people from different formal educational fields and 525 teachers from Germany. Both learners and educators desire a distinctly higher amount of ESD within formal educational settings compared to the status quo. The multiple regression model explains 26% of variance in sustainable behavior. By far the strongest predictors are, firstly, connectedness with nature, followed by emotions regarding sustainability and ESD implementation on the content level (making connections between past, present and future, the local and the global, and ecology, economy and the social). One implication of the research findings is an “update” for ESD: Emphasizing the emotional dimension of education and relating the didactics of “controversial issues” to ESD.

Suggested Citation

  • Julius Grund & Antje Brock, 2020. "Education for Sustainable Development in Germany: Not Just Desired but Also Effective for Transformative Action," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2838-:d:340724
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2838/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2838/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Büchs, Milena & Schnepf, Sylke V., 2013. "Who emits most? Associations between socio-economic factors and UK households' home energy, transport, indirect and total CO2 emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 114-123.
    2. Julius Grund & Antje Brock, 2019. "Why We Should Empty Pandora’s Box to Create a Sustainable Future: Hope, Sustainability and Its Implications for Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, February.
    3. Ala-Mantila, Sanna & Heinonen, Jukka & Junnila, Seppo, 2014. "Relationship between urbanization, direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and expenditures: A multivariate analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 129-139.
    4. Jelle Boeve-de Pauw & Niklas Gericke & Daniel Olsson & Teresa Berglund, 2015. "The Effectiveness of Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-25, November.
    5. Pforr Klaus & Dannwolf Tanja, 2017. "What do we Lose with Online-Only Surveys? Estimating the Bias in Selected Political Variables Due to Online Mode Restriction," Statistics, Politics and Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 105-120, October.
    6. Niels Winkler & Martin Kroh & Martin Spieß, 2006. "Entwicklung einer deutschen Kurzskala zur zweidimensionalen Messung von sozialer Erwünschtheit," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 579, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Alex Michalos & P. Kahlke & Karen Rempel & Anu Lounatvuori & Anne MacDiarmid & Heather Creech & Carolee Buckler, 2015. "Progress in Measuring Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours Concerning Sustainable Development Among Tenth Grade Students in Manitoba," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(2), pages 303-336, September.
    8. Eleni Sinakou & Vincent Donche & Jelle Boeve-de Pauw & Peter Van Petegem, 2019. "Designing Powerful Learning Environments in Education for Sustainable Development: A Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-23, October.
    9. Alex Michalos & Heather Creech & Christina McDonald & P. Kahlke, 2011. "Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours. Concerning Education for Sustainable Development: Two Exploratory Studies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 100(3), pages 391-413, February.
    10. Miloš Kankaraš & Javier Suarez-Alvarez, 2019. "Assessment framework of the OECD Study on Social and Emotional Skills," OECD Education Working Papers 207, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mirjam Braßler & Sandra Sprenger, 2021. "Fostering Sustainability Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviours through a Tutor-Supported Interdisciplinary Course in Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Luís Carlos Matos & Ana Eulálio & Tiago Antunes & José Miguel Loureiro & Alexandre Ferreira & Adélio Mendes, 2020. "Project and Implementation of an Educational Large-Scale Water Distillation Unit with a Closed-Circuit Condenser," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-12, April.
    3. Michael Eichinger & Myriam Bechtoldt & Inga Thao My Bui & Julius Grund & Jan Keller & Ashley G. Lau & Shuyan Liu & Michael Neuber & Felix Peter & Carina Pohle & Gerhard Reese & Fabian Schäfer & Stepha, 2022. "Evaluating the Public Climate School—A School-Based Programme to Promote Climate Awareness and Action in Students: Protocol of a Cluster-Controlled Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-14, June.
    4. Novoradovskaya, Elizaveta & Mullan, Barbara & Hasking, Penelope, 2023. "Acceptability of a behaviour change intervention aimed at increasing the use of a reusable hot drink cup," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Violeta Orlovic Lovren & Milica Marusic Jablanovic, 2023. "Bridging the Gap: The Affective Dimension of Learning Outcomes in Environmental Primary and Secondary Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-12, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chaofan Chen & Qi An & Lijuan Zheng & Chenghua Guan, 2022. "Sustainability Literacy: Assessment of Knowingness, Attitude and Behavior Regarding Sustainable Development among Students in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Mirjam Braßler & Sandra Sprenger, 2021. "Fostering Sustainability Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviours through a Tutor-Supported Interdisciplinary Course in Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Julius Grund & Antje Brock, 2019. "Why We Should Empty Pandora’s Box to Create a Sustainable Future: Hope, Sustainability and Its Implications for Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Pottier, Antonin, 2022. "Expenditure elasticity and income elasticity of GHG emissions: A survey of literature on household carbon footprint," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    5. Lévay, Petra Zsuzsa & Vanhille, Josefine & Goedemé, Tim & Verbist, Gerlinde, 2021. "The association between the carbon footprint and the socio-economic characteristics of Belgian households," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    6. Pottier, Antonin & Combet, Emmanuel & Cayla, Jean-Michel & de Lauretis, Simona & Nadaud, Franck, 2021. "Who emits CO2 ? Landscape of ecological inequalities in France from a critical perspective," FEEM Working Papers 311053, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    7. Alba Manresa & Jasmina Berbegal-Mirabent & Úrsula Faura-Martínez & Juan-Vicente Llinares-Ciscar, 2021. "What Do Freshmen Know about Sustainability? Analysing the Skill Gap among University Business Administration Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    8. Javier Cifuentes-Faura & Ursula Faura-Martínez & Matilde Lafuente-Lechuga, 2020. "Assessment of Sustainable Development in Secondary School Economics Students According to Gender," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-16, July.
    9. Saelim, Supawan, 2019. "Carbon tax incidence on household consumption: Heterogeneity across socio-economic factors in Thailand," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 159-174.
    10. Ryu Koide & Michael Lettenmeier & Satoshi Kojima & Viivi Toivio & Aryanie Amellina & Lewis Akenji, 2019. "Carbon Footprints and Consumer Lifestyles: An Analysis of Lifestyle Factors and Gap Analysis by Consumer Segment in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-25, October.
    11. Tilov, Ivan & Farsi, Mehdi & Volland, Benjamin, 2019. "Interactions in Swiss households’ energy demand: A holistic approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 136-149.
    12. Verma, Pramit & Kumari, Tanu & Raghubanshi, Akhilesh Singh, 2021. "Energy emissions, consumption and impact of urban households: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    13. Atif Saleem & Philip Saagyum Dare, 2023. "Unmasking the Action-Oriented ESD Approach to Acting Environmentally Friendly," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-22, January.
    14. Marta Romero Ariza & Jelle Boeve-de Pauw & Daniel Olsson & Peter Van Petegem & Gema Parra & Niklas Gericke, 2021. "Promoting Environmental Citizenship in Education: The Potential of the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire to Measure Impact of Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-20, October.
    15. Zhang, Yimeng & Wang, Feng & Zhang, Bing, 2023. "The impacts of household structure transitions on household carbon emissions in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    16. Teodoro Rafael Wendlandt Amézaga & José Luis Camarena & Roberto Celaya Figueroa & Karla Alejandra Garduño Realivazquez, 2022. "Measuring sustainable development knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors: evidence from university students in Mexico," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 765-788, January.
    17. Age Poom & Rein Ahas, 2016. "How Does the Environmental Load of Household Consumption Depend on Residential Location?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-18, August.
    18. Berthe, Alexandre & Elie, Luc, 2015. "Mechanisms explaining the impact of economic inequality on environmental deterioration," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 191-200.
    19. Michael Eichinger & Myriam Bechtoldt & Inga Thao My Bui & Julius Grund & Jan Keller & Ashley G. Lau & Shuyan Liu & Michael Neuber & Felix Peter & Carina Pohle & Gerhard Reese & Fabian Schäfer & Stepha, 2022. "Evaluating the Public Climate School—A School-Based Programme to Promote Climate Awareness and Action in Students: Protocol of a Cluster-Controlled Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-14, June.
    20. Blankenberg, Ann-Kathrin & Alhusen, Harm, 2019. "On the determinants of pro-environmental behavior: A literature review and guide for the empirical economist," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 350, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics, revised 2019.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2838-:d:340724. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.