The increasing systemic crises of our world confront us with the necessitiy of a profound eco-social transition. At this civilizational turning point, new challenges arise for schools and teachers:
How can education contribute to the transformation towards a sustainable and just world society?
How can young people be motivated and empowered to play a critical and active role in shaping social conditions and sustainable lifestyles?
How can schools become social space of learning a for hands-on sustainability and social justice?
The UNESCO concept of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), with is also to be implemented in Lower Saxony's universities and schools, provides a framework and numerous suggestions for the interdisciplinary implementation of sustainability topics in the classroom and for the systemic transformation of educational institutions.
Many actors inside and outside of schools have already set out with ESD and are contributing courageously and creatively to a new learning culture and to educational change. They are convinced that a different world is possible if a different education creates utopian and emancipatory space for it!
Since 2022, the Leibniz School of Education, in cooperation with the Green Office, has been working to establish education for sustainable development (ESD) as a cross-cutting theme in teacher training at LUH under the motto “Teaching Change.” The aim is to ensure that prospective teachers and special education teachers are sensitized to and professionalized for their important role as agents of change in schools and society.
In the project “Teaching Change 1.0 - ESD in Teacher Training” (running from 11/2022-08/2025, funded by study quality funds from the Climate Pot for Teaching), the integration of ESD into several teaching subjects was tested through teaching support and guest lectures. In addition, new interdisciplinary teaching and learning formats on ESD were piloted, including a lecture series, an international summer school, and seminars in the area of key competencies. Teaching and learning materials developed for ESD in teacher training were made freely available on an online platform. In addition, networking opportunities on ESD were created for teachers and students.
Two follow-up projects are currently underway to deepen, broaden, and consolidate the implementation of ESD:
The Teaching Change 2.0 project project – Systemic anchoring of education for sustainable development (ESD) as a cross-cutting theme in teacher training and as an institutional stance at LUH (running from 09/2025-08/2028, funded by study quality funds from the Climate Pot for Teaching) aims to structurally anchor ESD for all teacher training students. After assessing the level of integration of ESD as a cross-cutting theme in the subjects, subject-specific implementation processes and interdisciplinary approaches will be supported. An interdisciplinary discourse on a common (quality) understanding of ESD is to be initiated – also with a view to good practice experiences from ESD flagship locations – and the interdisciplinary anchoring of ESD is to be promoted in the course of degree program developments. The project supports the efforts of the Leibniz School of Education to develop and establish a holistic concept for professionalization (attitudes and skills) on various cross-cutting topics relevant to society in the context of contemporary and forward-looking teacher training.
The Teaching Change Community – Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Network in Teacher Training Hanover project (running from September 2025 to August 2028, funded as a state initiative by Engagement Global with funds from the BMZ) is being carried out in cooperation with the Lower Saxony Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs. Its aim is to improve exchange and cooperation between the various phases and actors involved in teacher training (studies, preparatory service, and in-service training) in the field of ESD, and in particular to contribute to better integration of science and practice – for coherent, complementary, science-based, and practice-oriented professionalization of ESD as a cross-cutting theme in teacher training. To this end, the project will establish a network in the form of a community of practice that will serve as a joint learning and collaboration platform for all stakeholders in the teacher training landscape in the Hanover region: members of universities and teacher training seminars, school practitioners, education administrators, education policymakers, education networks, learning centers, and civil society. In fall 2026, a state conference on ESD in teacher training will also be held in cooperation with the Lower Saxony Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, bringing together representatives from all locations in Lower Saxony. Go to the Teaching Change Community page.
The coordination office is happy to provide advice and further implementation ideas relating to ESD and the transformation of learning environments.
You can find more detailed information about the services offered in the next section.
Activities and Offers of the Project
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Learning Offers for Students
Docked to didactic seminars of different subjects and in interdisciplinary seminars (key qualifications) students learn the basics of ESD (background, goals, content, didactics) in a theory-practice oriented way and are invited to develop, test and reflect their own teaching concepts and project ideas.
Additionally, students are invited to contribute their ideas and wishes for the further development of teacher training in line with ESD in various participation formats.
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Support Services for Lecturers
Networking opportunities and needs-based thematic and didactic training courses contribute to the qualification of teachers in the field of ESD. Upon request, lecturers in the field of teacher training receive individual support in integrating ESD approaches—through advice, materials, or teaching cooperation/guest lectures. Good approaches to integrating ESD into teacher training will be documented in a guide by 2028.
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Online Platform for Teaching-Learning Concepts and Materials
The teaching-learning concepts and accompanying materials developed by Teaching Change are made available online to other lecturers as Open Educational Resources. All LUH lecturers are invited to share teaching concepts, good practice examples or educational materials that offer general or subject-specific or suggestions for implementing ESD in teaching.
Project Coordination
30167 Hannover
Student Assistant
30167 Hannover
