International Summer School: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) – Insights into whole school development for a transformative learning culture

International summer schools are a great opportunity to combine theoretical knowledge with exciting practical experiences in a transcultural dialog with students and lecturers from universities in different countries.

What is it all about? The growing number of crises around the world undeniably shows us that our unsustainable and unjust socio-economic system needs to change profoundly if we want to preserve our planet's ecosystem and create a livable future for all living beings. Education must empower all learners to navigate a changing world and actively shape the future they want to live in.

This requires a new, transformative learning culture, the further development of educational institutions into real-world laboratories of sustainability and the training of teachers to become agents of change. In this sense, the UNESCO concept of "Education for Sustainable Development" (ESD) provides a framework for making education a driver of change. Germany, like many other UN member states, has committed to embedding ESD in all areas of its education systems. Although much remains to be done, there are promising developments in the state of Lower Saxony, more and more schools embarking on the path of ESD, and so many living examples of transformative education in practice that can inspire future teachers.

This summer school features a practical immersion in Education for Sustainable Development as a holistic approach in and beyond schools. We will explore the ESD landscape around the state capital Hannover: Meeting innovative schools, getting to know different learning spaces and formats, meeting political stakeholders and civil society activists. Thanks to international participation, we will get to know different facets of ESD in socio-economically and culturally diverse contexts through accompanying scientific lectures and workshops. In exchange with fellow students and researchers from different countries, we will critically discuss our school systems and reflect together on the question of what it means to be a teacher in a changing school environment in times of multiple crises - and what this requires of teacher training.