Environmental Education Research

Home
Australia
Melbourne, VIC
Environmental Education Research

Environmental Education Research is an international refereed journal which publishes research on environmental and sustainability education.

More at www.tandfonline.com/EER and for details on contacting authors for eprints
Follow on socials Environmental Education Research is an international refereed journal which publishes papers and reports on all aspects of environmental education. The purpose of the journal is to help advance understanding of environmental and sustainability education through a focus on papers reportin

g research and development activities. The journal also carries more diverse papers including, for example, conference reviews, retrospective analyses of activities in a particular field, critical commentaries on policy issues and comparative aspects of an environmental education issue. The criteria for acceptance of papers are that they are analytical and critical; that the ideas being discussed are transferable to other educational systems and cultures; and that they are accessible to an international audience. Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/EER

28/09/2025

Student perspectives on quality education at their school: toward a valid and reliable questionnaire to monitor quality education for sustainability teaching (QUEST-Q) | Open Access
Wanda Sass, Jelle Boeve-de Pauw, Daniel Olsson, Linde van der Werf & Niklas Gericke
Pages: 1-28 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2553178

Abstract
Considering the problematic human-nature relationship caused complex sustainability problems, quality education should prepare students for facing the challenges ahead. Therefore, educational practitioners, policy makers, and researchers need monitoring tools. We posit that a comprehensive approach to teaching for sustainability adds quality to education for sustainability. The current study builds on earlier theoretical work on quality education for sustainability teaching (QUEST), aiming to (1) initiate development of a monitoring instrument from the perspective of those education aims to empower, i.e. the students, and (2) further theory development. The QUEST-framework was developed into a set of five scales, tapping into students’ perspective on teaching and learning content (or what, i.e. relevant holistic knowledge and sustainability competencies), educational approach (or how, i.e. a pluralistic and action-oriented teaching approach), partners and locations (where and with whom). Together, the five scales provide a questionnaire instrument to monitor QUEST (QUEST-Q). Think aloud protocols and interviews with students and teachers support the scales’ cognitive and content validity. Reliability and construct validity were confirmed. Results are discussed in light of advancing theory and providing avenues for future research. We offer practitioners, policy makers, and researchers the QUEST-Q to monitor students’ experiences of quality education for a sustainable future.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2025.2553178

27/09/2025

Climate change visual representations in science lesson plans: selection rationales and psychological distance
M. Gail Jones, Rebecca V. Ward, Kathleen Bordewieck, Tanzimul Ferdous, Madeline Stallard, Sarah Carrier, Meghan Manfra, Stephanie Fiocca, Elizabeth A. Shaver, Amber Meeks & Julianna Nieuwsma
Pages: 1-16 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2553173

Abstract
This study examined the visual representations and selection rationales used by science teachers to teach about climate change. Twenty-five high school science teachers provided climate change lesson plans and completed a survey about their selection process for visual representations and their climate change instruction. Visual representations (n = 555) were coded for characteristics such as geographical and temporal psychological distance, and included 188 photos, 135 graphs, 97 graphics, 77 diagrams, 51 maps, five cartoons, and two tables. Results showed that teachers prioritized visual representations that showed climate change occurring over time and the seriousness of impact. However, teachers often did not prioritize knowing the source of the visual representations utilized and the dates associated with these visual representations in selecting visual representations. Findings of this study indicate that educators need access to validated and current climate change visual representations, as well as professional development in visual literacy.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504622.2025.2553173

Photo by Luis Lara on Unsplash

26/09/2025

Exploring climate scenario plausibility judgments and systems thinking competencies among non-STEM undergraduates
Gizem Ozyazici, Melike Hanedar, Gaye Defne Ceyhan & John W. Tillotson
Pages: 1-22 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2553174

Abstract
Higher education has an important role in raising scientifically literate citizens, and systems thinking lies in its ability to provide a holistic approach to understanding and solving complex problems. This study examines undergraduate non-STEM students’ systems thinking competencies using a climate change problem scenario tool and explores how different components of systems thinking contribute to students’ understanding and plausibility judgments of climate change. We collected data using two instruments: the Plausibility Perception Measure (PPM) scale and a structured systems thinking tool. This study employed a qualitative design to explore open-ended responses and rubric-based scores aligned with the Dimensions of Systems Thinking Framework. To support the qualitative findings, descriptive statistics from the updated PPM scale were also examined. 100 students participated in this study. Results indicate that various systems thinking components (e.g. problem identifications) contribute to different factors in students’ plausibility judgments about climate change (e.g. observed and projected impacts and risks). This study shows a need for targeted instructional interventions to improve students’ complex thinking skills, particularly aligning with defined goals. The current study provides insights that explore the potential of combining systems thinking with plausibility as a catalyst for conceptual change in the context of climate change education.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504622.2025.2553174

Photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash

25/09/2025

Digitally-enabled experiential learning: marine pollution through the lenses of augmented reality
Barbara Buljat Raymond, Agnès Festré & Lise Arena
Pages: 1-19 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2544799

Abstract
The Earth’s oceans are pivotal to sustaining life, affecting humanity, wildlife, and the overall well-being of our planet. Recognizing the urgency, it becomes paramount to champion the protection of marine life and ecosystems. This paper tackles this imperative, delving into the pivotal role of innovative digital technologies, particularly immersive media, in fostering experiential marine environmental education and ocean literacy. Addressing a pervasive challenge in environmental sustainability education—bridging the gap with distant issues—this article shares crucial insights from a comprehensive four-year research project. Focused on the role of augmented reality (AR), this work contributes to the ongoing academic discourse by revealing the project’s key findings. It emphasizes the impact and implementation of green AR interventions, while also highlighting their limitations. Additionally, we discuss policy implications and explore the potential opportunities and challenges associated with integrating immersive interactive learning into marine education.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504622.2025.2544799

Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash

24/09/2025

Unequal opportunities for citizenship in vocational and academic sustainability education? – A critical study of teaching approaches in Swedish upper secondary subject ‘Science Studies’ | Open Access
Sara Brommesson & Iann Lundegård
Pages: 1-23 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2551808

Abstract
This paper critically examines the sustainability education offered within the compulsory Science Studies subject in Swedish upper secondary schools, comparing citizenship and sustainable action addressed in vocational education and training (VET) and higher education preparatory (HEP) programmes. Framed by the concepts of citizenship-as-achievement, citizenship-as-practice, and action competence, the study explores the interplay between qualification, socialisation, and subjectification in teaching. Using a questionnaire and quantitative analysis, the study examines the knowledge, values and skills taught in sustainability education, as well as the teaching offered in citizenship and action skills. The study reveals both common patterns and important differences. HEP teaching promotes analytical thinking and reflective engagement, aligning with subjectification-oriented teaching. VET teaching focuses on behaviour modification and context-specific knowledge, reflecting a socialisation-oriented teaching. The findings reveal that, despite shared content, teaching may shape differences in students’ citizenship engagement, raising concerns about equity, democracy, and the educational purpose of sustainability education.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2025.2551808

Photo by Paris Bilal on Unsplash

23/09/2025

Integrating sustainability in economics education: understanding moments of transformative learning in secondary schools in Belgium
Lise Janssens, Tom Kuppens, Pernilla Andersson & Katrien Struyven
Pages: 1-23 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2551267

Abstract
Despite the rising popularity of integrating sustainability and ethics in economics education, the neoclassical view remains dominant in economic curricula and little structural change in economics education is visible in practice. In an effort to address this deficit, transformative learning is encouraged to integrate sustainability and pluralistic perspectives into economics education. However, there is a lack of cases and best practices in which transformative learning is successfully implemented in formal economics education. Therefore, the aim of the study is to operationalize parts of the transformative learning process in the field of economics education, what we choose to label in this paper as transformative moments. A quasi-experimental design was adopted in this study. New teaching materials involving sustainability related topics and more pluralist economic perspectives were developed by the researchers with the aim of creating opportunities for transformative learning. A mixed method approach was used to (1) investigate how students experienced the newly developed educational materials, (2) investigate whether students changed their perspectives, and (3) illustrate what specific transformative moments look like. The results operationalize what transformative moments can look like in economics classes and reveal how parts of the transformative learning process are reflected by students. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to illustrate parts of the transformative learning process, more specific transformative moments, for sustainable development in economics education.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504622.2025.2551267

Photo by Talha Ramzan on Unsplash

22/09/2025

Preservice teachers’ experiences about a capacity-building activity to foster sustainability competencies through participatory action learning: a systems thinking in practice approach | Open Access
Anette Hay & Zama Simamane
Pages: 1-18 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2543508

Abstract
The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development (SD) identifies capacity building as a key mechanism for achieving development goals. This article focuses on SD goal (SDG) 17: (Partnerships for the goals) and explores how systems thinking in practice (STiP) can enhance the implementation capacity of the SDGs through participatory action learning. A compulsory module for third-year teacher education students at a South African university served as a case study to implement a practical activity aimed at raising awareness of education for sustainable development (ESD). Higher education institutions play a critical role in embedding SDGs within their curricula. One effective approach is through the development of competencies that support sustainability. ESD offers pedagogical strategies that are instrumental in designing capacity-building activities that promote sustainable practices. The findings of this study support the view that ESD – particularly when informed by a model for ESD and theory of learning – provides a robust theoretical framework for understanding the complexity of environmental injustices and the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Moreover, competence in STiP, but also the ability to apply this thinking in a dynamic and practical manner is paramount to achieve the implementation capacity of SDGs.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2025.2543508

Photo by Luke Jones on Unsplash

21/09/2025

Thesis summary - Education for a liveable future: a study of three EE programmes that seek to bring about change | Open Access
Sophie Perry
1969-70 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2517789

Education is positioned as an important lever in addressing the interlinking crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and social injustice. Yet, scholarly debate remains important in order to critically consider whether education in general, and prevailing approaches to formal schooling in particular, are forces for transformative change towards a liveable future, or normalise learners according to hegemonic and unsustainable habits...this PhD thesis explores how education programmes with counterhegemonic aims translate from educators’ plans into practice and learners’ experiences. In doing so, the work describes how education can ultimately contribute to both the disruption and the maintenance of the status quo. A multiple case study approach was used to explore three educational programmes spanning formal and non-formal contexts [in England]...
Analysis took place recursively and adopted the lens of feminist poststructuralism, which pays particular attention to the power wielded by socio-cultural discourses acting upon and enacted by individuals. Through this lens, it is possible to recognise that within each of the case studies explored, learners and educators both challenge and reproduce dominant discourses that contribute (directly or indirectly) to unsustainability. That is to say, while seeking to realise transformation, the actors within each programme also contributed to the maintenance of the hegemonic status quo. The study offers novel insights into the intricacies and nuances that exist within EE programmes that seek to realise change. The thesis develops a conceptualisation of how such programmes, while marred with contradictions and complexities, can nevertheless contribute to transformative change through what is termed ‘good enough EE’.

https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/studentTheses/education-for-a-liveable-future-a-study-of-three-environmental-ed

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2025.2517789

Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash

20/09/2025

Landscape pedagogy for environmental and outdoor educators | Open Access
Thomas Beery
Pages: 1958-1968 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2505188

Abstract
A critical challenge for environmental and outdoor educators today is engaging students with increasingly limited experiences with nonhuman nature – leading to a diminished understanding of and connection to the natural world. In the face of escalating global issues, we must find new ways to frame and organize environmental and outdoor education that are constructive and adaptive. The metaphor of fabric highlights the deep interconnectedness between human and nonhuman nature, while the landscape of Laponia serves as a living example of this interwoven relationship. We ultimately need approaches that are both relational – fostering human connections and a sense of belonging within the natural world – and responsive – acknowledging the responsibilities that arise from this belonging. This perspective article introduces the concept of landscape and the practice of landscape pedagogy as a meaningful framework to support this relational and responsive approach and to guide us toward more sustainable futures.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2025.2504532

Photo by Taneli Kantanen for Unsplash

19/09/2025

Indigenous wisdom for regeneration: reducing the knowledge gap | Open Access
Sandra Wooltorton
Pages: 1939-1957 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2527895

Abstract
The author of this paper uses Indigenous-informed literature and explores the use of a Multispecies Collaboratory to hear place-based voices and practice ways of knowing often denied value by the mainstream. In the Indigenous nation of Australia, the author sets out to learn ways to practice environmental education that build upon aeons of experience at caring for and responding to Country. The starting point is a 2024 paper with three claims, which are: a culture of epistemic violence and denial support the mainstream paradigm which silences Indigenous voices; an Indigenous-informed way of being with living-places can inform the core of environmental education; and an Indigenous-informed Multispecies Collaboratory can enhance the sense of multispecies engagement that underpins environmental education. Using mostly Indigenous-informed references, the author addresses the perennial question of how to reduce the gap between mainstream knowledge and that which is Indigenous-informed. To heal the distance between these ways of knowing – and have real impact on society – requires the Indigenous values and practices of care, respect and humility, recognition of the vitality of places and praxes of refusal of colonialism. This strengthens the framework for regenerative socio-ecological practice.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2025.2527895

Photo by Christian Bass on Unsplash

18/09/2025

Outdoor environmental education: turning back to the environment at a time of climate and nature emergency | Open Access
Greg Mannion, Claire Ramjan, Stacey McNicol, Matthew Sowerby & Paul Lambert
Pages: 1916-1938 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2538030

Abstract
Outdoor experiences form a core part of environmental and sustainability education programming but the extent of provision and support is under-researched. This research links a reconsideration of outdoor environmental education (OEE) with survey data from school and early years staff about provision and professional learning in Scotland, UK. Analysis of the survey provides an in-depth view of outdoor duration, focus and locations of excursions, residential and non-residential trips into school grounds, local areas in 2006, 2014, and 2022. Whilst the duration of school provision has seen a reduction, in early years, provision had increased. Importantly, we show associations between increased provision and higher levels of professional learning and confidence. In the light these findings, we consider the need for a renewal of OEE more widely. We offer a theoretical consideration of the ontological bases needed to support a more relevant and place-responsive outdoor environmental educational at a time of climate and nature emergency.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2025.2538030

Photo by 愚木混株 Yumu on Unsplash

17/09/2025

Bringing nature back to cities and children back to… nature? How environmental education in a renovated reshapes children’s representations
Marisa Bonnot, Sabine Caillaud, Valérie Haas & Marjolaine Doumergue
1896-1915 | DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2489110

Abstract
While sustainable urban planning seeks to bring nature back to cities by developing urban parks, environmental education programmes (EEP) use these parks to bring children back to nature. This research investigated 7-year-old children’s representations of a renovated urban park in Lyon (France). It focused on children’s social representations of the park: (1) by observing the children’s negotiated experiences with nature during an EEP, and (2) by analysing their drawings of the park before and after the programme and comparing these with drawings made by children who were not part of the programme. The results show that the park was mainly represented by the children as a playground, and not as a place of nature. However, the EEP challenged this representation: the experiences with nature offered by the programme interacted with the physical characteristics of the park, which was represented as a green urban space to enjoy with others.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504622.2025.2489110

Photo by By Romainbehar - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103745956

Address

Melbourne, VIC

Website

http://www.tandfonline.com/EER

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Environmental Education Research posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Environmental Education Research:

Shortcuts

Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company in Melbourne?