Sustainability Education: Building a Brighter Future Together

Sustainability isn’t just a trendy word; it’s a challenge that touches every part of our lives.

Image, waking up in the morning, taking your daily shower, but instead of using your conventional chemical infused soap, you decide to use an eco-friendly. On your way to work instead of drinking your coffee from a disposable cup, you could brew yourself a coffee at home and drink it from a reusable cup. And naturally, instead of driving with your car to work, you decide to choose the bus. This list could go on and on with different examples from your everyday life.

But one thing, that will not change is, that those sustainable options tend to cause higher effort, additional considerations and are probably more expensive. Do you wonder why people tend to have this impression and then choose not to change their behavior, even if they know the other option would be more sustainable? There are several reasons, like comfort, predictability, lack of awareness or prioritizing immediate benefits. And there is one additional factor that plays a significant role: Education.

• Starting to educate sustainability early on, helps building a society that’s informed, conscious, responsible and understands the bigger picture, thus acts more proactively.

• The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) aims to provide quality education for all and promote lifelong learning. By integrating sustainability into our teaching, we help achieve this goal.

Why start early?

Kids are naturally curious and teaching them about sustainability, helps children to understand how everything is connected. They can build a holistic understanding that they carry into adulthood, making more well-informed decisions triggering positive feedback loops, which are increasing the demand in sustainability.

But how do we set this now into practice?

Teachers play a crucial role in fostering sustainability education. Instead of teaching sustainability as a separate subject, they should integrate it across the curriculum

✓ Math lessons can include carbon footprint calculations

✓ and history lessons can examine the relationship between societies and their environments.

This cross-disciplinary approach reinforces the interconnectedness of sustainability and makes it practical by linking sustainability to real-life contexts. By aligning with initiatives like Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), schools can give students practical experiences and show that sustainability is a complex challenge with solutions that benefit many areas. If we have a look into it, we see that multi solving finds solutions that tackle multiple challenges at once. For instance,

✓ teaching kids to save water, helps manage water resources and reduces energy use

✓ adding gardens at school to promote sustainable farming, is simultaneously adding knowledge in biology, increasing children’s physical activity and their community engagement.

Let me highlight, how Switzerland adopted back in June 2023 the ESD. To promote the initiative and to offer support in implementation to the compulsory school curricula, the éducation21 foundation was founded. The offered services include support to schools, teachers and educational stakeholders offering practical advice, expertise, networking opportunities, evaluation of learning materials, educational activities by extracurricular actors, and financial support for school projects.

Is this already the solution?

The approach of multi-solving can only work, if the system is willing to adapt. The system theory emphasizes that the elements of a system are interconnected and subsequently determining their behavior. This especially concerns schools and teachers , who are in a close interaction with our children. Their willingness to transform and accept that sustainable living is beneficial, is the way to tackle our sustainability issues.

Therefore, we must encourage each other and raise attention, as at this point exactly, the deepest and most effective level of leverage points, the change in the paradigm becomes effective. If we teach our children from an early age that human and nature are inseparable, they begin to see sustainability challenges holistically. A child growing up in an educational system that embraces systems thinking and understands sustainability as core principles, will naturally make better decisions.

Is this relevant for the business world?

Yes, in fact very much. Adapting the education in sustainability has a major significance for businesses as this changes the framework within a business operates. Increasing transparency and knowledge about sustainability changes the system, so that businesses should prepare for a shift in consumer behavior. Not adapting can lead to market share loss. But not only the long-term profitability is at risk. A generation being educated in system thinking and sustainability is more likely to look out for employers that are aligning to their values in the corporate culture. In summary, businesses must acknowledge sustainability as an integral part of their future strategy.

Let’s take the chance to shift the gears

By embracing a systemic approach, and focusing on multi solving, educators and policymakers can create a generation that understands the complexities of sustainability and is ready to address them collaboratively. Investing in a sustainable future includes starting to understand education in sustainability as an investment in the future. It equips children with the knowledge, values, and skills to make choices that will shape a more sustainable world. Education is one of the most powerful tools we have, to live sustainably, meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

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Author: Student of MBA Sustainability Management Class 2 (2024-2026)