Outcomes and Goals of Sustainability Education

     The goal of sustainability is simple: to prepare students to be effective, caring citizens in a diverse, democratic, and ecologically health society. With its focus on developing a positive future, sustainability promotes students' sense of connection, purpose, and social consciousness while developing values-based decision-making and problem-solving skills. Sustainability education raises the bar on inquiry and requires that learners think critically, make connections, and grapple with compelling questions.

     In brief, sustainability education fosters the following:

• an integrated scientific, social, and ecological literacy
• critical thinking, decision-making, collaborative problem-solving, and interpersonal communication
• appropriate applications of technology that help solve, not create, problems
• equity, justice, inclusivity, and respect for all people
• a pedagogy that fosters community, vision, and compassion

     What sustainability education really offers, then, is the power to infuse a fundamental sense of purpose, meaning, and relevance across academic disciplines. And, while the term "sustainability" may be new to educators, the pedagogy integrates the best practices of more familiar approaches, including thematic instruction, project- and inquiry-based learning, academic service learning, multicultural education, and authentic assessment.

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