Authors: Laïsa Pivert, Isabelle Arseneau, Émilie Morin & Anne Fauré

We are living in a time marked by multiple crises : climate, social, economic, and health-related. The scale of these challenges is leading many young people to feel powerless and increasingly pessimistic about the future. As a result, their engagement in both individual and collective action is often limitedⁱ. Yet, the need to act has never been more urgent. In the face of socio-ecological challenges linked to the climate crisis, education can play a decisive role. But for this to happen, schools must help young people feel capable of taking actionⁱⁱ and equip them with the tools they need to address the issues that matter to them. From this perspective, we argue that education, both formal (in the classroom) and nonformal (in the community), should be designed holistically to foster young people’s capacity to act, both individually and collectively. This can be achieved through two main directions: (1) moving beyond the isolated individual toward collective action, and (2) developing the skills needed to act for greater social and environmental justice.

1. Moving beyond “small actions” toward collective change
Today’s crises are not only environmental, health-related, or social, but fundamentally political and collectiveⁱⁱⁱ. In response to these global challenges, schools must move beyond promoting “small green actions” and instead equip young people with the capabilities needed for collective mobilization. However, this responsibility should not fall solely on schools or on younger generations alone. Communities, organizations, and institutions must also stand alongside young people. A strong sense of agency often emerges from this shared, collective engagement, whatever form it may take. This is what our current research on agency and public action seeks to highlightⁱᵛ. We focus on individuals who, confronted with the impacts of climate change and environmental and health issues, particularly around the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, are working to transform public policies they see as harmful to the environment and social justice. These individuals do not act alone. They organize, collaborate, negotiate, and imagine alternatives together in order to influence public and political decisionsᵛ. Through their actions, they help reshape how decisions are made by opening up spaces for dialogue and changeᵛⁱ. Their journeys are
marked by perseverance and creativity. Even in the face of resistance and obstacles, they continue to act, adapt their strategies, and propose new ways forward. They show that solutions do exist, and that meaningful policy change is both possible and achievable, even in complex contextsᵛⁱⁱ.

2. Building the capacity to act through inspiring examples
While collective action is essential, young people must also feel capable of taking part in it. Developing this sense of agency requires both skills and a key ingredient: hope. Researchᵛⁱⁱⁱⁱˣ shows that hope plays a crucial role in civic engagement, as it directly shapes people’s willingness to act on social and environmental issues. However, simply understanding the causes and consequences of climate change is not enough to sustain hope, especially when proposed solutions seem ineffective or out of reach. What truly nurtures hope is the belief that action can lead to real change. When young people see that citizen mobilizations have influenced public decisions or led to policy change, their sense
of efficacy growsˣ. This belief in collective effectiveness becomes a powerful driver of engagement.

From this perspective, an education that fosters hope cannot be limited to raising awareness or providing information. It must also make visible concrete examples of successful collective action and inspiring paths of engagement. Showing young people that others, citizens, organizations, or collectives, have been able to make a difference, helps turn hope into action. It allows them to see themselves as agents of change. This is the aim of our research project Agency and Public Action, which highlights individuals who have taken action on socio-ecological issues to transform public policies. We hope that our findings will contribute to the development of educational tools that strengthen individuals’ sense of agency, including among young people, while also rethinking education as a space for learning to act. Education should not only help students understand the issues; it should also empower them to take action, both individually and collectively, on matters that concern them. This approach aligns with calls for transformative education that prepares today’s and tomorrow’s change makersˣⁱ.

Conclusion
“Hope has no limits”: when learning becomes a driver of both individual and collective transformation. When schools, or any educational setting, give young people the means and legitimacy to engage, collaborate, and imagine alternatives, they become spaces where a viable future can be built. Our research shows that there are individuals who have developed the skills, capacities, and sense of purpose needed to act for a more just world. By drawing inspiration from them, education can become a powerful force for social and ecological transformation. As one of these individuals put it: “Politics is too important to be left in the hands of politicians.” In education, this means recognizing young people as true co-creators of fair and sustainable solutions for the future.

ⁱ Li, C. J., & Monroe, M. C. (2019). Exploring the Essential Psychological Factors in Fostering Hope Concerning Climate Change. Environmental Education Research, 25(6), 936–954.
ⁱⁱ Morin, É. (2021). L’étude du sentiment de pouvoir agir de jeunes du Québec face aux changements climatiques : dimensions et conditions favorables à son développement à l’école secondaire. [Thèse de doctorat inédite]. Université du Québec à Rimouski.
ⁱⁱⁱ Bachand, C.-A. (2025, 26 août). Sortir du petit geste : L’école doit donner aux jeunes les moyens de se mobiliser. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/sortir-du-petit-geste-lecole-doitdonner-aux-jeunes-les-moyens-de-se-mobiliser-255694
ⁱᵛ https://transformative-ocean-climate-action.github.io/publications/2025-WP3Onepager/
ᵛ Petridou, E., & Mintrom, M. (2021). A Research Agenda for the Study of Policy Entrepreneurs. Policy Studies Journal, 49(4), 943967.
ᵛⁱ Arnold, G., Klasic, M., Wu, C., Schomburg, M., & York, A. (2023). Finding, distinguishing, and understanding overlooked policy entrepreneurs. Policy Sciences, 56(4), 657-687.
ᵛⁱⁱ Mintrom, M., & Norman, P. (2009). Policy entrepreneurship and policy change. Policy studies journal, 37(4), 649-667.
ᵛⁱⁱⁱ Baldwin, C., Pickering, G., & Dale, G. (2023). Knowledge and self-efficacy of youth to take action on climate change. Environmental Education Research, 29(11), 1597-1616
ⁱˣ Jones, L., Parsons, K. J., Halstead, F., & Wolstenholme, J. M. (2024). Reimaging activism to save the planet: Using transdisciplinary and participatory methodologies to support collective youth action. Children & Society, 38(3), 823-838.
ˣ Groleau, A., Pouliot, C., & Arseneau, I. (2021). Educating for the Anthropocene. In Knowledge for the Anthropocene (pp. 98-106). Edward Elgar Publishing.
ˣⁱ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2023). Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights, International Understanding, Cooperation, Fundamental Freedoms, Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000386924_fre

« L’espoir n’a pas de limite : outiller les jeunes pour transformer le monde »

Nous vivons une période marquée par des crises multiples : climatiques, sociales, économiques et sanitaires. L’ampleur de ces crises génère chez de nombreux jeunes un sentiment d’impuissance et un certain pessimisme face à l’avenir. Cela a pour effet de limiter leur engagement dans des actions à l’échelle individuelle ou collectiveⁱ. Or, il y a urgence d’agir. Face aux défis socio-écologiques liés à la crise climatique, l’éducation peut jouer un rôle déterminant. Encore faut-il que l’école aide les jeunes à se sentir capables d’agirⁱⁱ et leur donne les outils nécessaires pour faire face aux situations qui les préoccupent. Dans cette perspective, nous proposons que l’éducation en contexte formel
(dans la classe) et non formel (dans la communauté) soit pensée et orientée dans sa globalité pour viser le développement du pouvoir d’agir des personnes apprenantes sur les plans individuel et collectif, et ce, à partir de deux axes : (1) sortir de l’individu isolé, pour viser l’action collective, (2) développer chez les jeunes des compétences permettant de passer à l’action pour plus de justice sociale et environnementale.

1. Sortir du « petit geste » pour viser l’action collective
Les crises actuelles ne sont pas seulement environnementales, sanitaires ou sociales. Elles sont d’abord des phénomènes politiques et collectifsⁱⁱⁱ. Face à ces enjeux globaux, l’école doit outiller les jeunes pour sortir « des petits gestes verts » et leur offrir toutes les capabilités nécessaires à une mobilisation collective. Toutefois, cette responsabilité ne doit pas reposer uniquement sur l’école ni uniquement sur les épaules des plus jeunes générations. Les communautés, les organisations et les institutions qui entourent les jeunes doivent également se mobiliser à leurs côtés. Le sentiment de pouvoir agir de ces derniers naît en grande partie de cet engagement collectif, quelle que soit la forme qu’il prend. C’est ce que met en lumière la recherche que nous menons actuellement sur le pouvoir d’agir et l’action publiqueⁱᵛ. Nous nous intéressons à des acteurs et actrices qui, confrontés aux impacts des changements climatiques et à des enjeux environnementaux et de santé,
notamment autour du fleuve Saint-Laurent au Québec, cherchent à transformer des politiques publiques jugées défavorables à l’environnement et à la justice sociale. Ces personnes ne se contentent pas d’agir seuls, mais s’organisent, coopèrent, négocient, imaginent des alternatives en groupe pour faire évoluer les décisions publiques et politiquesᵛ. Par leur engagement, elles contribuent à transformer les manières de gouverner en ouvrant des espaces de dialogue et de changementᵛⁱ. Leur parcours est marqué par la persévérance, ainsi que la créativité. Face aux résistances et aux obstacles, elles continuent d’agir, d’adapter leurs stratégies et de proposer de nouvelles façons de faire. Elles montrent ainsi que des solutions existent et que des changements de politiques sont possibles et réalisables, même dans des contextes complexesᵛⁱⁱ.

2. Développer les compétences du pouvoir d’agir dans l’apprentissage à travers la mise à disposition d’exemples inspirants
Si l’action collective est essentielle, il importe que les jeunes se sentent capables d’y prendre part. Le développement du pouvoir d’agir repose alors sur des compétences à acquérir, mais aussi sur un élément central : l’espoir. Plusieurs recherchesᵛⁱⁱⁱⁱˣ montrent que l’espoir joue un rôle clé dans l’engagement citoyen, car il influence directement la volonté d’agir face aux enjeux sociaux et environnementaux. Toutefois, connaître les causes des changements climatiques et leurs conséquences ne suffit pas à entretenir cet espoir, surtout lorsque les solutions proposées semblent inefficaces ou hors de portée. Ce qui nourrit véritablement l’espoir, c’est la conviction que l’action peut produire des changements concrets. Lorsque les jeunes perçoivent que des mobilisations citoyennes ont permis d’influencer des décisions publiques ou de faire évoluer des politiques, leur sentiment d’efficacité s’en trouve renforcéˣ. Cette croyance en l’efficacité collective devient alors un puissant moteur d’engagement.

Dans cette perspective, une éducation porteuse d’espoir ne peut se limiter à sensibiliser ou à informer. Elle doit aussi rendre visibles des exemples concrets de mobilisations réussies et de trajectoires d’engagement inspirantes. Montrer aux jeunes que d’autres citoyennes et citoyens, des organisations ou des collectifs ont réussi à faire bouger les choses contribue à transformer l’espoir en action. Voir que le changement est possible permet aux jeunes de se projeter comme acteurs et actrices de transformation. C’est dans cet esprit que s’inscrit notre projet de recherche Pouvoir agir et action publique en mettant en lumière des acteurs et actrices de changement qui, confrontés à des enjeux socio-écologiques, se sont engagés pour faire évoluer des politiques publiques. Nous espérons que les résultats issus de notre recherche pourront permettre de concevoir des outils pédagogiques visant le développement d’un fort sentiment de pouvoir agir des individus, dont des jeunes, et permettra par la même occasion de repenser le rôle de l’éducation comme un espace de formation à l’action. Une éducation qui permette aux élèves non seulement de comprendre les enjeux, mais aussi d’intervenir, individuellement et collectivement, sur ce qui les préoccupe. Cette approche rejoint l’appel à une éducation transformatrice capable de former les acteurs et actrices de changement d’aujourd’hui et de demainˣⁱ.

Conclusion
« L’espoir n’a pas de limites » lorsque l’apprentissage devient un levier de transformation individuel mais aussi collectif. Quand l’école, ou tout dispositif éducatif, donne aux jeunes les moyens et la légitimité de s’engager, de coopérer, d’imaginer des alternatives, elle devient un lieu d’engagement dans la construction d’un avenir viable. Notre recherche montre qu’il y a des acteurs et actrices de changement qui ont su développer ces compétences, ces capacités, ce sens de l’action pour agir pour un monde plus juste. En s’en inspirant, le milieu éducatif peut devenir un moteur de transformation sociale et écologique. Comme disait l’un de ces acteurs : « la politique est trop importante pour la laisser entre les mains des politiciens ». En éducation, cela signifie reconnaître les jeunes comme de véritables co-créateurs de solutions durables et justes pour un avenir viable.

ⁱ Li, C. J., & Monroe, M. C. (2019). Exploring the Essential Psychological Factors in Fostering Hope Concerning Climate Change. Environmental Education Research, 25(6), 936–954.
ⁱⁱ Morin, É. (2021). L’étude du sentiment de pouvoir agir de jeunes du Québec face aux changements climatiques : dimensions et conditions favorables à son développement à l’école secondaire. [Thèse de doctorat inédite]. Université du Québec à Rimouski.
ⁱⁱⁱ Bachand, C.-A. (2025, 26 août). Sortir du petit geste : L’école doit donner aux jeunes les moyens de se mobiliser. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/sortir-du-petit-geste-lecole-doitdonner-aux-jeunes-les-moyens-de-se-mobiliser-255694
ⁱᵛ https://transformative-ocean-climate-action.github.io/publications/2025-WP3Onepager/
ᵛ Petridou, E., & Mintrom, M. (2021). A Research Agenda for the Study of Policy Entrepreneurs. Policy Studies Journal, 49(4), 943967.
ᵛⁱ Arnold, G., Klasic, M., Wu, C., Schomburg, M., & York, A. (2023). Finding, distinguishing, and understanding overlooked policy entrepreneurs. Policy Sciences, 56(4), 657-687.
ᵛⁱⁱ Mintrom, M., & Norman, P. (2009). Policy entrepreneurship and policy change. Policy studies journal, 37(4), 649-667.
ᵛⁱⁱⁱ Jones, L., Parsons, K. J., Halstead, F., & Wolstenholme, J. M. (2024). Reimaging activism to save the planet: Using transdisciplinary and participatory methodologies to support collective youth action. Children & Society, 38(3), 823-838.
ⁱˣ Baldwin, C., Pickering, G., & Dale, G. (2023). Knowledge and self-efficacy of youth to take action on climate change. Environmental Education Research, 29(11), 1597-1616
ˣ Groleau, A., Pouliot, C., & Arseneau, I. (2021). Educating for the Anthropocene. In Knowledge for the Anthropocene (pp. 98-106). Edward Elgar Publishing.
ˣⁱ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2023). Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights, International Understanding, Cooperation, Fundamental Freedoms, Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000386924_fre

Aprender otra lengua, habitar otro mundo

Hay algo profundamente revelador en el momento en que una persona intenta decir el mundo en una lengua que no es la suya. En ese instante, lo que parecía natural se vuelve extraño. Las palabras ya no coinciden exactamente con las cosas. Los matices se desplazan. Las certezas lingüísticas, y a veces también las culturales, empiezan a vacilar.

Aprender una lengua extranjera es, en este sentido, una experiencia singular dentro del campo educativo. No es simplemente adquirir un código. Es entrar en contacto con otra forma de organizar la realidad. Y ese encuentro con la alteridad, tan cotidiano en el aula de lenguas, puede convertirse en una de las experiencias formativas más fecundas para pensar el mundo que habitamos.

En una época marcada por crisis entrelazadas, climática, social, política, cultural, esta experiencia adquiere un significado particular. Porque los desafíos de nuestro tiempo no son únicamente técnicos ni exclusivamente económicos. Son, sobre todo, crisis de relación:

• Relaciones entre sociedades y ecosistemas.
• Relaciones entre economías y territorios.
• Relaciones entre culturas, memorias y futuros posibles.

Responder a estas crisis exige algo más que soluciones tecnológicas. Exige una transformación en la manera en que comprendemos nuestra relación con los otros y con el planeta. Y es precisamente ahí donde el aula de lenguas puede desempeñar un papel inesperadamente profundo.

El aprendizaje lingüístico como experiencia de descentramiento

Cada lengua encierra una forma de mirar el mundo. No se trata únicamente de diferencias gramaticales o fonéticas. En cada lengua se sedimentan historias, sensibilidades, modos de nombrar la experiencia. Cuando una persona aprende a pensar en otra lengua, algo se desplaza en su relación con el mundo. Lo que parecía evidente se vuelve discutible. Conceptos familiares adquieren otros matices. Palabras aparentemente equivalentes revelan universos culturales distintos. Este desplazamiento, a veces sutil, a veces profundamente perturbador, constituye una de las experiencias pedagógicas más valiosas que puede ofrecer la educación: el descentramiento.

Salir momentáneamente de la propia perspectiva.

Descubrir que la propia mirada no agota el sentido del mundo.

En un planeta atravesado por conflictos culturales, tensiones geopolíticas y desigualdades históricas, esta capacidad de descentramiento es más que una competencia intercultural. Es una condición para cualquier forma de pensamiento verdaderamente sostenible. Porque la sostenibilidad no es solo una cuestión de gestión de recursos. Es, ante todo, una cuestión de cómo nos relacionamos con aquello que es diferente de nosotros: otros pueblos, otras formas de vida, otros modos de habitar la Tierra.

Lenguas y conciencia

Si la sostenibilidad implica aprender a pensar el mundo desde la interdependencia, entonces las aulas de lenguas extranjeras constituyen un espacio pedagógico particularmente fértil. En ellas, la diversidad no es un concepto abstracto, es una experiencia vivida. Cada intercambio lingüístico pone en juego interpretaciones distintas del mundo. Cada malentendido cultural abre una pregunta. Cada traducción imperfecta revela que las palabras nunca son neutrales.

Cuando el aprendizaje lingüístico se articula con preguntas significativas — sobre justicia social, memoria histórica, desigualdad o crisis ecológica — la lengua deja de ser un simple instrumento comunicativo. Se convierte en un espacio de pensamiento. En ese espacio, los estudiantes no solo aprenden a expresarse en otra lengua. Aprenden también a habitar la complejidad del mundo contemporáneo.

El umbral donde el aprendizaje se vuelve ético

Existen ciertos momentos pedagógicos que aparecen con frecuencia en el aula de lenguas, aunque rara vez se conceptualizan con precisión. Son momentos discretos. No siempre visibles. Pero profundamente significativos.

Un estudiante que, al leer un texto sobre conflictos ambientales en otro continente, descubre que su idea de desarrollo ya no le resulta tan evidente. Otro que, al discutir un tema de desigualdad global, empieza a cuestionar categorías que antes daba por naturales. Otro que percibe que una palabra aparentemente neutra encierra una jerarquía cultural que nunca había cuestionado.

En esos momentos ocurre algo más que aprendizaje lingüístico. El pensamiento se detiene. Las certezas se aflojan. La mirada se desplaza. Nada de esto ocurre de manera espectacular. Son desplazamientos sutiles. Pero en esos momentos se produce algo decisivo: el aprendiente empieza a reconsiderar su sistema de valores y su relación con el mundo.

A ese momento lo he llamado Umbral de Transformación Axiológica (UTA).

No se trata de un método pedagógico ni de un resultado programable. El UTA es más bien una posibilidad que emerge cuando el aprendizaje lingüístico se convierte en un espacio de reflexión sobre el sentido del mundo. Cuando el lenguaje deja de ser únicamente herramienta y se convierte en lugar de interrogación ética. Atravesar este umbral no produce necesariamente cambios espectaculares. La transformación es más silenciosa. Se manifiesta en una forma distinta de escuchar. En una mayor cautela frente a las certezas rápidas. En la intuición de que nuestras decisiones económicas, políticas, culturales afectan a realidades que no siempre vemos. Esta conciencia relacional es precisamente la que necesitamos para enfrentar los desafíos de nuestro tiempo. Un mundo interdependiente exige sujetos capaces de pensar más allá de su propio horizonte cultural. Y ese aprendizaje, aunque pueda parecer modesto, ocurre con sorprendente frecuencia en las aulas de lenguas.

El aula como espacio de transformación

Las grandes transformaciones educativas suelen imaginarse a escala de políticas globales o reformas institucionales. Sin embargo, la formación de una conciencia ética ocurre muchas veces en espacios más discretos: una conversación en clase, una palabra que obliga a detenerse, un texto que abre una pregunta inesperada. Las aulas de lenguas extranjeras están llenas de estos momentos. En ellas, aprender a decir en otra lengua puede convertirse también en aprender a pensar el mundo desde otra perspectiva. Y en ese gesto, humilde pero profundamente humano, puede abrirse uno de los caminos más prometedores para una educación verdaderamente orientada hacia la sostenibilidad.

Nota sobre la lengua de esta contribución

Este texto se presenta deliberadamente en español. No se trata de oponerse al inglés como lengua de comunicación internacional, sino de evitar que una única matriz lingüística se convierta en el filtro casi exclusivo de la producción y la legitimación del conocimiento. Escribir aquí en español responde a esa convicción: la pluralidad lingüística es también una condición de la pluralidad del pensamiento, y ambas resultan indispensables para imaginar futuros verdaderamente sostenibles.

“Universities have been with us on this Earth for at least one thousand years and will surely be with us in the future; perhaps so long as there is life on this planet that has any well-being. There is now something in not just the name of the institution but in the idea of the university that seems to have durability. But the question imposes itself again: just what is it to be a university? (Barnett, 2011)”.

Ronald Barnett sets out a masterly critique of our ideas of a university. By offering a forensic analysis of their past and present  trajectory he posits that there is a positive and ontological case for the evolution of an Ecological University. As he argues, we need to develop feasible utopias as part of what he describes as social philosophy, with a critical edge ,which seek to develop ideas which address the question of how to create universities which might be the best fit for this world, and not the best in all possible worlds.

These ideas are perpetuated and reinforced in a world of increasing uncertainty and unpredictability. Hence, there are strong arguments as advocated by Facer (2021) that business as usual is an insufficient response to the crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Climate Crisis. In these circumstances Barnett coins, the descriptor –the therapeutic university—a stance based on the idea of helping the world live purposely with uncertainty-which he advocates is based on the reality that the world cannot be controlled and that for any university, control is an anathema to their core values. And its pedagogy becomes less epistemological and more ontological in character. In this orientation its policies and practices play out in its concerns for human flourishing and the connection to the wider dimension of well-being along with concerns about ethical dilemmas.

But most of these orientations have both negative and positive and even pernicious possibilities. Another more acceptable alternative offered by Barnett is the idea of the authentic university – one that is true to itself. But as he argues the pushes and pulls from its environment make this hugely difficult especially those that come from regulation and funding mechanisms. Hence, he questions whether we can realistically speak of a responsible university, because these external pressures make it impossible to speak of the university and authenticity in the same breath. His answer is that these apparent tensions between authenticity and responsibility -between the inner and outer calling of the university can be resolved by a different concept – the Ecological University.

This is a university which seriously focusses on both its interconnectedness with the world and the interconnectedness of the world. Its tangible learning  outcomes being towards developing students as global citizens with a care or concern for the world and their contribution via civic engagement towards the realisation of a more environmentally and socially just sustainable world. This characterisation also encompasses the idea of a networked university– which engages actively both locally and globally to bring about a better world.

“This is a university neither  in-itself (the research university) nor for itself (the entrepreneurial university) but for others. Or we might even say simply, for -the-other, for the ecological university has an abiding sense of alterity, of there being external realms to which it has responsibilities, even while holding fast to its traditional interest in the emancipatory power of understanding for enlightenment”.

References:

Ronald Barnett (2011) The coming of the ecological university, Oxford Review of Education, 37:4, 439-455.

Keri Facer (2021) Beyond business as usual: Higher education in the era of climate change. HEPI Debate Paper 24.

Martin S., Ives C., Carney B. (2023) Universities as Agencies of Human and Social Change:  From Green Academy to Ecological Universities, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Sustainability in Higher Education: An Agenda for Transformational Change.

In 1972, The Limits to Growth warned of the potential collapse of human civilization, and in 1979, No Limits to Learning highlighted the “human gap,” the persistent disparity between our ability to shape reality and our understanding of the consequences of our actions. Today, humanity faces a convergence of crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, social inequalities, polarization, mental health challenges, and spiritual disconnection. The ArtWay method responds to these challenges by offering a transformative educational framework that integrates language learning with music, culture, art, and ethical reflection, fostering emotional intelligence, moral reasoning, creativity, systemic thinking, and a sense of global and planetary responsibility.

ArtWay is an interdisciplinary approach that positions education as a holistic and ethical undertaking. At its core, it recognizes that language and music are structurally and functionally intertwined through rhythm, intonation, melody, and harmonic patterns. By mapping linguistic elements onto musical structures, students experience grammar, phonetics, and vocabulary as multisensory, embodied phenomena. Irregular verbs, syntactic structures, and phonemes acquire rhythm, pulse, and melodic resonance, enhancing memory, intuitive understanding, and creative engagement. Music becomes a conduit for deeper cognitive, emotional, and ethical development. Neuroscientific research confirms that music activates both hemispheres of the brain, harmonizes cognitive processes, strengthens memory, and supports emotional regulation, empathy, and collaborative problem-solving.

The method extends beyond conventional pedagogy by incorporating intercultural immersion. Students engage with musical traditions, literature, and linguistic expressions from diverse cultures—from West African drumming patterns to Eastern tonalities, from Indigenous oral storytelling to European classical harmonics. Through this exploration, learners cultivate empathy, cultural literacy, and ethical awareness, gaining a deeper understanding of the world’s diversity while developing a sense of shared human responsibility. ArtWay transforms language learning into a cultural dialogue in which every lesson becomes a journey through the histories, traditions, values, and ethical frameworks of different peoples, fostering global citizenship and mutual respect.

ArtWay also places strong emphasis on moral and ethical education. Students are encouraged to reflect on universal values, social responsibility, environmental stewardship, and social justice through the combined lens of music and language. By internalizing ethical principles alongside artistic and linguistic skills, learners develop the capacity for critical judgment, compassion, and action-oriented reasoning. Integrating aesthetic experience with cognitive learning nurtures not only intellectual abilities but also emotional resilience, ethical discernment, and spiritual awareness. Music becomes a medium for exploring the moral dimensions of human experience—from cooperation and empathy to responsibility for future generations.

Practical applications of ArtWay demonstrate its transformative potential. Since 2016, more than 1,500 children aged 4 to 15 have learned English through this method at the MusicEnglish Club. Students master the language more quickly and retain knowledge more effectively than in conventional settings, while simultaneously developing creativity, emotional awareness, intercultural competence, and collaborative skills. For example, children practice pronunciation and intonation through jazz improvisation, grammatical structures through choral recitation, and vocabulary through songs drawn from diverse cultural traditions. Each lesson integrates historical, social, and artistic context, turning language learning into a multidimensional exploration of human expression and societal values.

ArtWay aligns closely with the vision of global organizations and research initiatives promoting transformative education. It draws on contemporary findings in neuroeducation, cognitive science, emotional intelligence, sustainability education, and arts-based learning to cultivate students capable of addressing complex global challenges. By embedding systemic thinking, creative problem-solving, and cross-cultural dialogue into language learning, ArtWay equips learners with practical tools for social innovation, conflict resolution, ecological stewardship, and peacebuilding. Its principles resonate with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, UNESCO’s initiatives for intercultural dialogue, and WAAS’s planetary vision for ethical and holistic education.

The method is inherently future-focused and innovative. ArtWay envisions a global network of certified educators, an online platform for worldwide access, methodological publications, and advanced digital resources integrating AI, immersive media, and adaptive learning technologies. These tools enhance personalized learning while preserving the method’s emphasis on creativity, ethics, and cultural depth. ArtWay encourages students to participate in collaborative projects, global musical exchanges, and intercultural workshops, fostering a sense of planetary citizenship and active engagement with pressing societal issues. It promotes the integration of traditional knowledge, Indigenous wisdom, and contemporary arts to create culturally rich, contextually sensitive, and globally relevant learning experiences.

Ultimately, ArtWay bridges the human gap by connecting knowledge with action. It nurtures learners who are linguistically proficient, creatively empowered, emotionally intelligent, ethically grounded, culturally literate, and globally responsible. By fostering deep engagement with music, art, culture, and moral reasoning, ArtWay transforms education into a tool for building sustainable societies, intercultural understanding, and peaceful coexistence. It demonstrates that education can simultaneously cultivate cognitive excellence, emotional depth, ethical integrity, and social impact, preparing learners to navigate and shape the complex, interconnected world of the 21st century.

ArtWay represents a new paradigm of education in which artistic expression, intercultural dialogue, moral reflection, cognitive development, and global responsibility converge. It empowers learners to explore the richness of human cultures, engage creatively and ethically with societal challenges, and contribute actively to planetary stewardship, social justice, and human unity. By integrating music, language, culture, and ethics, ArtWay exemplifies the potential of education as a transformative force for personal growth, collective innovation, and the co-creation of a sustainable and harmonious global future.

Forty-five years after the report No Limits to Learning: Bridging the Human Gap was presented to the Club of Rome in 1979, the debate on educational challenges has returned to centre stage. The new international call No Limits to Hope: Transforming Learning for Better Futures—promoted by the Club of Rome, The Fifth Element, and the WEEC Network—invites us to radically rethink educational paradigms so humanity can address current and future global crises. The “human gap” identified by Aurelio Peccei—i.e., the distance between available knowledge and our ability to translate it into effective practice and policy—remains starkly open. Many educational institutions, anchored to conservative training models, still struggle to incorporate the solutions and skills the scientific community has developed in response to the climate crisis, social inequalities, and technological transformations.

This contribution explores how to bridge this human gap through a theoretical-and-applied approach that integrates sociological, sustainability, and intersectional perspectives. In particular, it analyses the need for systemic change in educational policy and governance, using the European project SUSEDI (SUStainability in EDucational Institutions) as a case study—a concrete example of institutional transformation towards sustainability. The aim is to outline implications and recommendations for future education policies, connecting traditional knowledge and transdisciplinary approaches in the spirit of active, transformative hope for a better future.

Theoretical framework

The proposal is grounded in Education for Sustainability and theories of transformative change. In the spirit of No Limits to Hope, transforming learning for a better future means acting on all aspects of education—paradigms, organisations, methodologies, and programmes—to bridge the gap between our knowledge systems and the mounting challenges facing humanity. In other words, we must move beyond “conservative” education (still predominantly transmissive and disciplinary) towards innovative, systemic education centred on critical thinking, imagination, and collaborative competence—capable of closing the human gap between knowledge and action.

A central element of the framework is an intersectional perspective. Sustainability challenges are intrinsically linked to social justice, gender equity, cultural diversity, and human rights. An intersectional approach recognises that environmental and economic crises affect social groups differently (by gender, ethnicity, class, etc.), and that transformative education must address these intersections to be inclusive and effective. This entails promoting content and practices that integrate climate and social justice, giving voice to perspectives historically marginalised—such as those of Indigenous peoples, local communities, and young activists. It also responds to the need to connect traditional knowledge with transdisciplinary perspectives: much Indigenous and local knowledge offers valuable sustainable solutions, yet often remains at the margins of dominant curricula due to epistemic power imbalances. Overcoming these imbalances requires embracing a plurality of epistemologies—integrating experiential, relational, and community-based learning alongside analytical and formalised learning—so that both scientific and traditional knowledge are valued in educational institutions.

A further theoretical foundation is transformative and systemic learning. Inspired by critical pedagogy and transformative learning theory, Education for a Sustainable Future must go beyond the transmission of knowledge to facilitate shifts in mindsets, values, and behaviours—of individuals and communities alike. In this sense, UNESCO’s Whole Institution Approach (WIA) in Education for Sustainable Development is crucial. A WIA embeds sustainable development across all processes of an educational institution: not only in curricula, but also in management and governance, organisational ethics, active stakeholder engagement (leaders, teachers, students, staff, local community), long-term planning, and continuous monitoring. The school or university becomes a living laboratory of sustainability, aligning daily practices with the principles it teaches (e.g., ecological campus management, participatory decision-making, inclusion and well-being policies). WIA therefore offers a theoretical and operational framework for implementing systemic change across pedagogy, structures, and governance.

Methodology and approach

This contribution adopts an interdisciplinary, qualitative design that combines theoretical analysis with empirical study.

1. Critical literature review on sustainability education, transformative learning, intersectionality in education, and the Whole Institution Approach, in order to summarise the state of the art and identify the gap between research-based knowledge and prevailing educational practices.

2. Exploratory case study of the European SUSEDI project as an exemplary instance of systemic transformation in educational institutions. Project documents, public reports, and preliminary outputs will be examined to understand how WIA, transdisciplinarity, and related principles are operationalised, with what challenges, and with what early results.

3. Transdisciplinary synthesis to derive implications for education policy. Conclusions will blend academic insight with practical experience to offer recommendations relevant to policymakers, educators, and communities.

The SUSEDI analysis follows a sociological-qualitative lens, attending to governance, stakeholder involvement (leadership, teachers, students, external community), organisational change, and effects on educational and decision-making practices. An intersectional lens will ensure attention to equity and inclusion (e.g., whether and how SUSEDI addresses socio-cultural differences across participating schools, and how diverse voices are included in transformation processes).

Case study: the SUSEDI project

The SUSEDI project (Route to Transformation of Educational Institutions through a Whole Institution Approach to Sustainability)—funded by the European Union under Erasmus+ (2022–2026)—involves 13 organisations in 7 countries and aims to support institutions at all levels in adopting WIA. Concretely, SUSEDI sets out transformative steps to integrate sustainability across organisational structures and cultures. The framework spans three interlinked pillars:

• Pedagogical (curricula, teaching methods, student competences);

• Organisational & governance (internal policies, resource management, stakeholder participation);

• Social (institutional climate, community relations, place-based engagement).

A key element is capacity-building for educational and managerial staff. SUSEDI develops open educational resources (OER) and digital assessment tools to enhance the “green” competences of school leaders, teachers, and administrative staff, in line with the European GreenComp framework. These competences—values, knowledge, and abilities for sustainability—are supported by certification pathways aligned with ISO 17024 standards, formally recognising educators and leaders able to drive change. SUSEDI also trains transformation agents: certified experts who can accompany schools through WIA adoption, facilitating participatory processes and offering technical guidance along the “route” to sustainability.

Among SUSEDI’s main products is a methodological guide, the Route Map for Transformation into a Sustainable Institution, which details step-by-step actions across domains (e.g., establishing an institutional sustainability committee, introducing school gardens, or revising curricula for interdisciplinarity). A self-assessment tool enables institutions to measure progress along the WIA pathway. Building on this framework, SUSEDI is introducing a new certification standard (aligned with ISO) to recognise sustainable schools and universities across three progressive levels: Awareness, Taking Action, and Full WIA. This staged recognition encourages continuous commitment, provides visibility for achievements, and creates an international benchmark. Finally, SUSEDI promotes an alliance of educational institutions engaged in sustainable transformation. Through networks and communities of practice, schools share experiences, good practices, and mutual support—amplifying impact beyond any single project.

In sum, SUSEDI is a benchmark case of systemic change in educational governance and practice. It operates at multiple levels—governance (policies and certification), people (training and recognition for staff), curriculum (sustainability-oriented content and methods), and community (external stakeholder engagement and alliances). Expected outcomes—analysed critically in this study—include institutions better equipped to drive ecological and social change, a teaching workforce empowered to innovate sustainably, and participatory governance models that position schools and universities as agents of sustainability within their localities.

Implications for future education policies

The theoretical analysis and case study suggest several strategic directions for policy at institutional and system levels:

• Systemic integration of sustainability: Ministries and local authorities should promote widespread adoption of WIA, shifting from sporadic projects to permanent institutional commitments. National frameworks could require institutional sustainability plans with measurable targets and periodic reporting aligned with the SDGs.

• Targeted professional learning for educators and leaders: Invest in in-service development so staff can acquire requisite competences. Incorporate frameworks such as GreenComp into professional learning policies, with certification pathways (e.g., aligned with ISO 17024) and career incentives for those leading educational innovation.

• Curriculum reform for transdisciplinarity: Review national curricula to enable transdisciplinary approaches and integrate sustainability, global citizenship, and social justice. Encourage active methodologies (real-world project-based learning, fieldwork, co-design with communities) that embody a holistic vision and connect scientific with local/traditional knowledge.

• Inclusion and intersectional justice: Design policies with an explicit focus on equity and on the inclusion of historically marginalised groups. Consult Indigenous communities, ethnic minorities, young people, and other stakeholders in decision-making, and integrate their knowledge and needs into programmes. Ensure school practices are accessible to all students (considering disability, gender, socio-economic status, etc.), so environmental and social aims advance together.

• Networking and cross-sector cooperation: Facilitate networks of sustainable schools and universities for sharing resources and practice (as in the SUSEDI alliance). Establish territorial hubs, online platforms, and regular convenings; promote partnerships with NGOs, responsible businesses, and local authorities so learning reaches beyond the classroom and actively involves society.

Realising these guidelines requires a mindset shift: recognising that investment in sustainable education today prevents far greater social and ecological costs tomorrow. Policy should adopt a long-term horizon, consistent with the intergenerational nature of sustainability and the need to cultivate hope and transformative capacity in younger generations. As the motto No Limits to Hope suggests, nurturing informed hope is itself a political act: it means equipping tomorrow’s citizens not only with knowledge, but with the power to imagine—and help build—better futures.

Concluding remarks

Bridging the gap between what we know and what we do in education is a defining challenge of our time. This contribution shows how an integrated approach—both theoretical and practical—can illuminate pathways for transformation: through innovative frameworks (WIA, intersectionality, transdisciplinarity) that redefine learning and teaching, and through concrete examples such as SUSEDI that translate ideas into institutional change. What emerges is the need for systemic change in governance: not marginal reforms, but a profound redesign of policies, structures, and organisational cultures so that education becomes a driver of sustainability, justice, and resilience.

In the face of overlapping global crises, there are no limits to hope—provided hope is understood not as sterile optimism but as an action-oriented vision. Hope can become a concrete force for collective action, triggering a virtuous circle: the vision of better futures stimulates present-day action, and action in turn reinforces hope by fuelling further commitment. Catalysing this positive cycle is also the work of education. Bold education policy, inspired by the principles discussed here, can help form a new generation of critical, creative, and responsible citizens—capable of learning without limits and transforming society. Ultimately, transforming learning for better futures means transforming ourselves and our institutions: a challenging process, but one rich in possibility and promise for a sustainable and equitable future for all.