Research Project

Invitational seminar ‘Challenges for environmental and sustainability education research in times of climate crisis’

Running from 2021 to 2022.
Funded by UGent.

From the 13th to the 16th of June 2022, the 15th edition of the Invitational Seminar on Environmental Education (ESE) Research was organised in Ghent, Belgium, by the Centre for Sustainable Development in collaboration with partners of the SEDwise network.

Since its first edition in 1993, the seminar series has provided a unique opportunity for researchers from around the planet to discuss critical problems, trends and issues in ESE research. The central theme of this 15th seminar was ‘Challenges for environmental and sustainability education research in times of climate crisis’. This topic was addressed with a focus on the following four sub-themes:

Sustainability issues as controversial educational content
Emotionally challenging and existential issues in teaching and learning practices
The relation between education and the pursuit of societal transformation
Boundaries between ESE research and practice

Before the seminar, all participants wrote an essay on the topic. The collection of essays, together with short overview chapters per subtheme and Juliane Höhle's graphic recordings of the discussions, are compiled in this online book.

On the last day of the seminar, a series of podcasts was recorded. In four episodes – one for each of the sub-themes – participants reflected on the discussions they had with their colleagues.

Furthermore, participants interviewed each other about their expectations about the seminar, their experiences during the days in Ghent, eye-openers, and take home messages. A glimpse of their stories can be seen in these short videos: