CDE ESD Services
Education for Sustainable Development
Integrating sustainability topics and Education for Sustainable Development into higher education: a global South–North co-production of potential pathways.
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The world is changing rapidly, and societies need new knowledge and solutions to address the emerging challenges. The United Nations 2030 Agenda recognizes the crucial role of education in achieving sustainable development. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) uses various learning methods to raise awareness and empower individuals to take responsibility for shaping the future and making positive contributions to economic, social, environmental, and cultural issues.
Higher education plays a critical role in educating future decision-makers and promoting sustainability. However, despite national and international efforts, the integration of sustainability issues into research and teaching remains limited, particularly in the global South. More action is thus needed to promote sustainability in higher education. Additionally, many lecturers lack the knowledge and skills necessary to integrate sustainability topics into their teaching.
CDE is therefore working to facilitate and promote the transfer of knowledge on sustainability topics from research and implementation projects into education programmes within the University of Bern and other higher education institutions (HEIs) around the world. The initiative is aimed at decision-makers, lecturers, and sustainability officers who want to expand sustainability topics and ESD in their institutions, curricula, and courses in the global South and North.
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Personalized advice to help lecturers and decision-makers integrate sustainability and ESD into teaching and institutional practice; Connecting HEI lecturers and decision-makers to exchange ideas and learn across cultures.
Collaborative courses helping HEI lecturers bring sustainability into their teaching - from core concepts to context-specific content, ESD approaches, and innovative methods.
Platforms and events that connect researchers, educators, and practitioners across CDE's communities of practice - enabling peer learning, co-creation, and exchange of experience across regions and disciplines.
Structured, credit-bearing education at CDE, including the MSc in Sustainability Transformations and Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) offerings - combining academic rigour with transformation-oriented, competence-based learning.
Support for university leadership in analyzing existing content and identifying entry points for sustainability and ESD in curricula.
Open Education Resources — course materials, teaching guides, and learning tools, freely available for reuse. Explore the full collection on the CDE Teaching site.