Integrating National Education Policy 2020 and Citizen Science: Empowering Young Environmental Stewards for Pro-environmental behavior

Introduction

With a mere 2% of Earth’s total landmass, India has 8% of world’s biodiversity and sensitive ecosystems like Himalayas, Coral reefs, Sundarbans mangroves, Thar Desert, Western Ghats (1). Environment education is a process of creation of environment literacy and development of respect towards nature so that informed and responsible decisions are made (2). The pillars of environmental education are sustainable development, emphasis on real world problem, practical activities, interdisciplinary approach. Practical implication can be created by properly understanding environmental education and its role in shaping attitudes for environmental protection especially by young environmental stewards. ‘Think globally, Act locally’- the slogan related to environmental education has been famous since three decades. With only five years left to completion of target achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, there must be new ways to commensurate actions for solving global problems. It is high times to translate knowledge into practice. Now-a- days students are merely information careers and its high time to turn them into something more so that they act too.

The National Education Policy 2020 is a paradigm shift in Indian education system as it focuses on many aspects that can provide fertile ground for practical approach towards environmental education. It talks about fostering unique capabilities in each student by encouraging logical decision making, creativity, critical thinking, ethics, human and constitutional values like spirit of service, scientific temper, respect for others and empathy. The NEP 2020 focuses on the fact that during these times of Triple Planetary Crisis its very important for children not only to learn but most importantly how to learn. Ancient Indian education system also focused on eternal development and knowledge acquisition not only for school or job but for complete realization and liberation of self (NEP 2020).

Citizen science engages public in scientific research often in collaboration with professional scientists by collecting, analyzing data, reporting finding to contribute to scientific research and policy making (3,4). The student-scientist partnership in a citizen science project is unique as it offers a platform for scientist to work with students, teachers and other community members (5) and students also get real time exposure of the prevailing environmental conditions of their area. In United States there has been a shift in approach to promote interest and understanding of science, there teachers are engaging students in hands-on activities giving them a real-world science away from memorization of facts and rote learning system (6). India could also follow the same model of using citizen science as a tool for real environmental education to youth which also aligns with NEP 20202 principles.

While there are studies on both the concept NEP 2020 and citizen science but there is a significant gap in research that analyze the combined potential to cultivate environmental stewardship in Indian context. So, the authors are interested in knowing how can citizen science be incorporated into the curriculum of Indian schools involving NEP 2020 framework? And what are the key pedagogical benefits to students and overall environmental benefits?

Merging NEP 2020 and citizen science for environmental education

Piaget posits that in traditional method of learning it is not realistic to expect mutual communication between teacher and student. He further argues that what the teacher is saying may not be same as what is heard and perceived by students (6). According to Piaget there are four principles of active learning:

  1. Students learn best when they interact with concrete materials and are active.
  2. Learning should be individualized and student-centric.
  3. There must co-operative work and social interaction in the classroom.
  4. Students must construct their knowledge to make it meaningful.

Thus, it can be concluded that learning is constructive knowledge and is effective with concrete materials and hands-on activities.  The above all four principles aligns with tenets of NEP 2020 like- experiential learning; recognizing, identifying and fostering unique capability of each student; ethics; life skills- communication, teamwork, cooperation, and resilience. There is a paradigm educational shift in NEP 2020 in its recommendation such as emphasis on critical thinking development, moving away from rote learning system.

While NEP 2020 has great visions for integrating environmental education but there are some weaknesses causing inconsistent and ineffective implementation in a diverse country like India. Following are some challenges and shortcomings:

  1. Lack of dedicated subject for environmental education- The infusion approach leads to environmental topics being treated as secondary topic in other subjects.
  2. Teacher training- Complex environmental subjects like climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss and sustainable development has been put into lessons. It is difficult for teachers with lack of robust and standardized training to teach students these subjects effectively. This can again lead to rote learning approach where students are only passive information carrier rather than fostering critical thinking and problem-solving attitude development.
  3. Centralized and local issues- The terms like climate change and biodiversity loss are too generic. Environmental issues are highly context specific for example a student residing at desert area of Rajasthan, India must be facing water scarcity and a student living in New Delhi India must be familiar with pollution. A one size fits all curriculum fails to address immediate and local environmental problems that students are familiar with hence making lesson feel irrelevant for them.
  4. Theoretical knowledge over Experiential learning- While NEP 2020 advocates experiential learning through activities, the practical implementation is challenging due to lack of infrastructure, funding, collaborations between scientific community and schools and clear roadmap for fieldwork and community engagement. This often leads to a gap between knowing facts about current environmental issues and feeling empowered to take action.

Citizen Science as a solution for above limitations

Several studies have reported benefits of citizen science in formal and informal educational settings. A study involving Australian undergraduate science students in a citizen science project related to phenology increased their environmental knowledge. The inquiry-based learning increased retention capacity of students by evoking deep thinking in them (7). If a child has to recognize that putting hands in hot water can cause him burn, he needs to try it himself. This can best demonstrate him burn, hotness and what is dangerous. This is called learning from experience. The concept of citizen science gives students and scientists an opportunity to collaborate and learn from experience. The thinking capability is developed when people encounter difficulties in life. This learning by doing is important aspect of Dewey’s educational theory (8). Moreover, students can have real time experience, hands-on learning, knowledge about local environmental condition and issues related with them. For Indian schools involving students in citizen science projects is again a big task. But involvement of multiple stakeholders like school, scientists, policymakers and local government can help in smooth running of any project for multiple benefits to science, society and environment.

 

References:

1) Thukral, S., Thambi, R., Bhati, R., Gupta, A., & Durve, N. C. (2025). A Review-Biodiversity Conservation Efforts in India and Connection to Climate Change. Ecology, Environment & Conservation (0971765X)31.

2) Vladova, I. (2023). Towards a more sustainable future: The importance of environmental education in developing attitudes towards environmental protection. In SHS web of conferences (Vol. 176, p. 01009). EDP Sciences.

3) https://www.oecd.org/en/blogs/2025/04/what-is-citizen-science-and-why-should-policymakers-care.html

4) https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/citizen-science-article/

5) Krasny, M. E., & Bonney, R. (2005). Environmental education through citizen science and participatory action research. Environmental education and advocacy: Changing perspectives of ecology and education, 292-319.

6) Pardjono, P. (2016). Active learning: The Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, and constructivist theory perspectives. Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Negeri Malang9(3), 105376.

7) Mitchell, N., Triska, M., Liberatore, A., Ashcroft, L., Weatherill, R., & Longnecker, N. (2017). Benefits and challenges of incorporating citizen science into university education. PLoS One, 12(11), e0186285.

8) Li, Y. (2023). Judging John Dewey’s Views on Education Especially on Hands-on Learning, Student-Centred Learning Approach, and Learning by Doing. Curriculum and Teaching Methodology, 6(22), 58-62.

 

Pope Francis’ Hope as Praxis of Education: foregrounds hope not as an abstraction, but as an active education practice that decolonizes

I am honored to join the No Limits to Hope Forum and contribute to this urgent global conversation about the future of education. Drawing inspiration from Pope Francis’s vision, I believe that transforming education must begin with a radical commitment to hope—not as naive optimism, but as an active, decolonial force for healing, justice, and ecological stewardship. Educational systems should be rebuilt as communities of care, dialogue, and encounter, where the dignity and voices of historically marginalized peoples are centered and every learner is empowered to be an agent of change. Let us reject models rooted in exclusion, alienation, and “ideological colonization,” and instead cultivate educational environments where cultural diversity, local wisdom, and intergenerational solidarity are valued as essential resources for human and planetary flourishing. Hope, in this context, is not only possible—it is a shared responsibility and the foundation of a new compact for the common good.

Context and Rationale

Today’s world is marked by “epochal change”—environmental collapse, mass displacement, economic injustice, and persistent colonial legacies that drive exclusion and despair. Pope Francis recognizes that education has often played a complicit role in these realities, yet he sees a radical potential for schools, families, communities, and institutions to become sites of integral human development, solidarity, and renewal (Klein, 2023).

The educational “compact” has broken down: responsibility for forming persons has been ceded to market-driven, technocratic models, perpetuating colonial logics and alienation (Klein, 2023). This is apparent in persistent inequality, ecological devastation, and forced migration—failures of both colonial and neo-colonial educational paradigms (Francis, 2018; Pope Francis, 2022).

The Decolonial Character of Francis’s Vision

Francis’s educational proposal is decolonial in both critique and construction. In Pope Francis’s critique of domination, he identifies the root of educational crisis in coloniality and systems that prioritize economic outputs, marginalize indigenous and local knowledges, and disrupt holistic human flourishing (Klein, 2023). Pope Francis argues that integral human development education must nurture the full person—“head, heart, and hands”—not just as workers, but as agents of community and ecological harmony (Pope Francis, 2020; Klein, 2023).

On the pedagogical and epistemological aspect, Pope Francis has called on an Epistemic plurality that prioritizes dialogue as “an intrinsic requirement”—inviting mutual enrichment between cultures, identities, and knowledge systems (Pope Francis, 2018). This pedagogical and epistemological new paradigm should centralize the option for the marginalized: The most fragile and marginalized, especially in postcolonial contexts, must become central actors in shaping education (Klein, 2023).

Core Principles and Pedagogical Commitments

  1. Interconnectedness and Care for the Common Home

Education should foster ecological consciousness and a spirituality of global solidarity—healing the rift between humanity and creation, individuals and society (Francis, 2018; Francis, 2015).

  1. Dialogue, Encounter, and Relationality

Francis defines education as an “enterprise that demands cooperation”—a synthesis of reason, empathy, and action—through genuine dialogue, encounter, and inclusion (Pope Francis, 2020; Klein, 2022).

  1. Centering the Human Person in Community

Formative processes must cultivate agency, discernment, and responsibility—especially for the poor, refugees, and historically excluded. This approach overcomes colonial patterns of exclusion and builds up person-in-community (Pope Francis, 2018; Pope Francis, 2020).

  1. Education as an Act of Hope

Francis stresses education as a generator of hope: schools become places where despair and fatalism are broken by acts of solidarity, creativity, and mutual care (Klein, 2022; Pope Francis, 2020). Hope here is not rhetoric, but praxis—fueling cycles of renewal for individuals and their communities.

Implementation: Praxis and Institutional Reform

Pope Francis’s call for a Global Compact is a planetary covenant uniting all partners—schools, families, religious, civic, and governmental bodies—to “mend the fabric of human relationships” and reshape education based on global fraternity (Pope Francis, 2020).

Decolonizing Content, Methods, and Spaces: Curricula must include marginalized histories, indigenous epistemologies, ecological awareness, and dialogue-based pedagogies—eschewing both relativism and neocolonial imposition (Klein, 2022; Pope Francis, 2018).

Schools must be inclusive communities—replacing exclusion and meritocracy with mutual care and civic participation (Pope Francis, 2020).

Teachers, families, and institutions are called to be “artisans of hope”—practicing ethical responsibility and humility before otherness (Klein, 2022).

Contextual Hope: Educational Renewal for Colonized Areas

Francis’s vision resists the determinism of colonial legacy, market logics, and technocratic despair. Instead, it locates hope in: (1)The redemptive capacity of dialogue—where truth and beauty are found in every culture and encounter (Pope Francis, 2018; Klein, 2022). (2) A spirituality of care, healing relationships with self, others, the Earth, and the Divine (Pope Francis, 2020). (3) The creative agency and resilience of learners and communities—able to resist, reimagine, and rebuild systems for justice and authentic human flourishing (Klein, 2022).

Conclusion

This new educational dynamic invites the world—especially those in formerly or currently colonized areas—to leave behind models of fragmentation and domination. It calls for a revolution of hope, rooted in the agency of the marginalized, and realized through acts of care, dialogue, and a passionate commitment to building a truly human, connected, and sustainable common home.

 

References

Francis, P. (2015). Laudato Si. Paulines.

Francis, P. (2018). Pope Francis’ Apostolic Constitution “Veritatis gaudium” on ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/01/29/180129c.html

Klein, L. F. (2023, March 9). How Pope Francis Sees Education. LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA. https://www.laciviltacattolica.com/how-pope-francis-sees-education/

Pope Francis. (2022). Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to Participants at the Seminar “Education: The Global Compact,” organized by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences | Uniservitate. https://repository.uniservitate.org/resources-repository/address-of-his-holiness-pope-francis-to-participants-at-the-seminar-education-the-global-compact-organized-by-the-pontifical-academy-of-social-sciences/

Chanter la Terre, rêver le Monde

« Partout celles et ceux qui s’assemblent pour vivre la Terre et la rêver sont en train d’en réveiller les esprits. »
B. Glowzcewski

Je suis enseignante, retraitée. J’ai travaillé toute ma carrière, en Élémentaire et en Maternelle, avec comme Projet de classe, la Philosophie des 4 éléments de G. Bachelard. J’ai entendu « le cri » de notre Terre, en 1972, à l’âge de 15 ans, en écoutant le rapport du Club de Rome. C’est avec la force de notre expérience professionnelle, enseignés et enseignant, que je reprends le flambeau : « Maintenant nous serons le vivant qui tisse et qui bruisse. »
A. Damasio

Quel « Être-au-Monde » pour devenir des « êtres-monde » ?

Et nous nous devons d’espérer sans aucune limite ! Si nous voulons laisser à nos enfants une Terre « Où atterrir ? ». Bien sûr, la tâche est immense. Mais nous savons que notre « À-Venir » commence sur les bancs de l’École. Main dans la main avec les familles.

« Vivre la Terre »

Je laisse « une apprentie » dérouler le Fil Rouge de son métier d’élève. Prenons donc le chemin de l’école. Nous voilà dans la cour, mes élèves et moi, au « Premier matin du Monde ». Un cerisier vient de nous offrir son feu d’artifice, bouquets de lumière blanche étincelante.
« À l’ombre des fleurs de cerisier il n’est plus d’étrangers. »
Issa

Écoutons, aussi, la voix de Michel Serres : « La musique n’est pas un art, elle est le moment où toutes les muses vous parlent. » Une enfant de 3 ans n’est pas restée étrangère à la voix des Muses, elle l’a entendue, s’est ouverte à son Souffle, pour en faire jaillir sa propre musique. Magie de l’instant, comme nouveau feu d’artifice, d’une toute jeune « vivante » qui m’a adressé sa voix : « C’est le Printemps qui pousse ! ». J’ai dit voix, j’aurais pu dire Joie, au sens de Spinoza. Parce que je l’ai vue briller dans les yeux de cette enfant. Entendre la lumière du Cerisier et la réfléchir, par et dans son chant.

Au milieu de mes élèves, j’ai appris que les chants du Monde, des très grands comme des tout-jeunes poètes, peuvent définir la Résonance, cet Être-au-Monde philosophique d’H. Rosa, comme se laisser toucher et toucher le monde en retour.
« Celui qui entend la voix d’un chef-d’œuvre entend la voix de celui qui a inspiré l’artiste. » — (référence perdue)

La pulsion de Vie du Printemps, telle une Muse, inspire un enfant ou un artiste, Botticelli ou Vivaldi, et la voix du Printemps se fait entendre, en traversant l’enfant qui en joue la musique, en la recomposant, et l’interprète par et dans son nouveau chant. Duo qui crée, par-là, un nouveau matin du Monde, à danser ensemble. Le vent se lève.
« Toute chose n’est que la limite de la flamme à laquelle elle doit son existence. »
Rodin

Cœur à cœur, avec un Cerisier, « Co-Naître », comme « Créer des liens », comme le « Petit-Prince » et sa Rose.
« Un ton seul n’est qu’une couleur, deux tons c’est un accord, c’est la vie. »
H. Matisse

Des liens qui nous font tenir les uns aux autres. Terrestres, Humains et non-Humains.
« Lorsque l’enfant était enfant, il ne savait pas qu’il était enfant, tout pour lui avait une âme et toutes les âmes étaient une. »
Les Ailes du désir — Wim Wenders et Peter Handke

« Vivre la Terre et la Rêver »

« Autrefois, au temps où le ciel était proche de la terre, les femmes dogons décrochaient les étoiles et les donnaient aux enfants. Quand ceux-ci étaient las de jouer, les mères leur reprenaient les astres et les replaçaient dans la voûte céleste. »
M. Griaule, Jeux dogons

Les étoiles, décrochées par Bachelard, s’appelaient la Méditerranée, un ballet de raies avec « Non credea mirarti » de La Somnambula de Bellini, chanté par M. Callas, « Poissons » d’Éluard, « La Vague » de Matisse, un album, Le chant des baleines.

« Tout enfant qui joue se comporte en poète en tant qu’il se crée un monde à lui. »
Sigmund Freud

Voici le monde créé par les enfants, leur Terre-Mère, où ils sont revenus. Souvenirs tout près, il est vrai. Et pouvoir y revenir, comme continuer de retisser le lien, pour marcher vers leur « à-venir ».

L’Espace-Temps du Jeu, comme emprunter le chemin du « Rêve éveillé » de G. Bachelard :
« Le rêveur lucide réalise une synthèse de la réflexion et de l’imagination. Alors la rêverie n’est pas un abandon, la rêverie est active, la rêverie prépare des forces et des pensées. »
Gaston Bachelard

C’est le BLEU où c’est loin.
La mer, c’est grand comme ça !
L’eau fait du doux, les bébés sont endormis, ils font des rêves…

Les enfants nagent tranquilles dans le silence. Les vagues nagent, les bébés flottent et les bonhommes tournent tout autour de la Planète.

J’ai rêvé de la Planète Bleue. J’ai rêvé des baleines, elles chantaient.

Il nage avec la vague. Il s’appelle le nageur. C’est toi qui as dit l’histoire du cordon.
« … et comme aux temps anciens, tu pourrais dormir dans la mer… »
P. Éluard

Chanter le Monde

« Lorsque la terre respire cela s’appelle le vent L’eau qui devient un homme cela s’appelle le sang »
Tchouang-Tseu

Faisons le pari que le Chant, ici celui de la Mer, après en avoir réveillé les esprits, leur permette de revenir pour habiter, ensemble, et nous guider vers « Un Nôtre Monde ».
« Épaule contre nageoire », dans « L’Eaucéan » dirait F. Sarano.

« Le monde est parcouru de lignes de chant. Il appartient à chacun de les parcourir et de les reparcourir sans cesse, en chantant, parce que sous ses pas, quelque chose s’éveillera. Mais si le chant s’arrête, le monde s’arrêtera aussi. »
Mythe aborigène

La educación ambiental como pilar del desarrollo sostenible en la Universidad de La Habana

La unión al foro es de gran importancia para Universidad de La Habana en materia de educación ambiental para el desarrollo sostenible constituye una tarea esencial en la universidad cubana actual, dado el acelerado proceso de deterioro que sufre el medio ambiente, el cual pone en riesgo la existencia de la vida, en particular, de la especie humana.

Esta situación exige a todos los hombres de ciencia, en particular a los educadores, a partir del encargo social, de contribuir, desde nuestra posición, a la tarea encaminada de proteger el medio ambiente y con ello garantizar niveles superiores de calidad de vida, fundamentalmente en las escuelas y sus respectivas comunidades.

La Red de Medio Ambiente tiene una interacción en cada facultad de la Universidad de La Habana, donde reúne a profesores y estudiantes de
manera curricular y extracurricular, la labor extensionista, el trabajo académico/investigación, administrativo/institucional, los servicios científico técnicos que respondan a la educación ambiental hacia un desarrollo sostenible. Para llevar con éxito las actividades correspondientes, la constitución heterogénea posibilita el diagnóstico ambiental y de las necesidades para el desempeño de los profesionales en formación y en ejercicio, como punto de partida.

Four Years of Regenerative Learning: Reflections from the Regenerative Leadership Journey

After four years of facilitating the Regenerative Leadership Journey and witnessing over 1,000 alumni from 64 nations engage with regenerative transformation, we offer these reflections on what we have learned about supporting cultural change through transformative learning.

Bridging the Knowledge-Action Gap
Traditional adult education often remains trapped in intellectual frameworks that fail to generate behavioral and systemic change. Through the Journey, we learned that transformative learning requires engaging multiple ways of knowing simultaneously: rational, intuitive, somatic, and relational. The seasonal framework we developed mirrors natural cycles, beginning each cohort in Winter by exploring the “Story of Separation” that underlies our broken relationship between humans and nature, feminine and masculine, mind and body, inner and outer. This approach addresses Anthropocene challenges by helping participants recognize and interrupt internalized extractive patterns before attempting regenerative solutions. We discovered that without this foundational work of examining colonial, capitalist, and anthropocentric conditioning, systemic change efforts often remain superficial.

Community as Transformative Container
Perhaps our most significant learning relates to the power of community-centered learning. The “Soil Agreement” process, where each cohort co-creates their relational principles, demonstrates how participatory approaches can transform educational dynamics. Rather than imposing predetermined structures, we learned to trust emergent collective wisdom.
Our monthly Live Integration Sessions evolved from traditional facilitation toward collective sense-making. Participants also bring real-world challenges into shared exploration, with “Wisdom Seat Sessions” allowing peer-to-peer support to replace expert-led instruction. This shift revealed how community intelligence often exceeds individual expertise in navigating complex systemic challenges. Home Circles of 5-7 participants provide ongoing intimate practice spaces, while community-led sessions in the program’s final months enable travelers to step into leadership roles. These design elements cultivate both personal transformation and collective capacity for systemic change.

Indigenous Wisdom and Decolonial Practice
Integrating Indigenous knowledge required moving beyond appropriation toward right relationship. We learned to engage Indigenous wisdom through reciprocity and respect, inviting guest speakers like Lyla June Johnston and Dra. Rocío Rosales Meza to share their perspectives directly rather than translating their knowledge through Western frameworks.
The decolonial dimension proved essential for addressing Anthropocene challenges. Participants explore how internalized colonial patterns show up in business models, leadership practices, and daily behaviors. This uncomfortable but necessary work creates foundation for genuinely regenerative alternatives rather than green-washed versions of extractive systems.
Cultural adaptations in Spanish and Japanese emerged organically from alumni, demonstrating how regenerative approaches can spread while honoring local contexts.

Innovative Educational Practices
Several specific innovations emerged from our four-year experience:

Cyclical Learning Design: Structuring education around natural rhythms rather than academic calendars creates deeper integration. Participants consistently report how seasonal metaphors help them navigate personal and professional transitions.
Embodied Integration: Moving beyond cognitive learning to include physical practices, emotional processing, and spiritual dimensions. Live sessions always include movement and grounding, recognizing that transformation happens through the whole person.
Living Library: Creating open-source resource collections that evolve with community contributions rather than static curricula. This approach honors that knowledge is relational and contextual rather than fixed.

Systemic Impact and Ripple Effects
The thriving alumni community demonstrates how transformative learning extends far beyond formal program boundaries. Over 30 self-organized groups now operate globally, from Singapore to Switzerland. Alumni gatherings across Denmark, France, Portugal, and Germany show how community bonds sustain ongoing transformation.
The Community of Care and Practice, facilitated entirely by alumni, exemplifies how learning communities can become self-sustaining ecosystems. Annual gatherings like the one in Selgars Mill (UK), where up to 40 participants collectively co-created the entire program on-site, prove communities possess innate wisdom for self-direction when given supportive containers.
Alumni are embedding regenerative principles into educational institutions, organizations, and communities worldwide. Dedicated sub-communities focus on regenerative education, with academics forming alliances to share best practices around transforming educational
systems.

Business Model as Educational Tool
Our regenerative business model became integral to the learning experience. The “Robin Hood Principle” enables corporate sponsorships to fund Global South scholarships, creating South-North partnerships based on reciprocity. Ten percent of revenue flows to regenerative projects prioritizing land restoration and Indigenous voices. This approach teaches participants that regenerative transformation requires aligning values with economic structures rather than treating social responsibility as separate from core business functions.

Implications for Educational Policy
Four years of experience suggests several policy implications:

Recognition of Multiple Intelligences: Educational frameworks must expand beyond cognitive assessment to honor emotional, somatic, and relational capacities essential for navigating complexity.
Community-Centered Design: Policies should support peer-to-peer learning models and community-led initiatives rather than exclusively expert-driven instruction.
Cultural Humility Requirements: Programs addressing global challenges must incorporate decolonial practices and Indigenous wisdom through authentic relationship rather than superficial inclusion.
Cyclical Rhythms: Educational calendars and assessment cycles could align more closely with natural rhythms rather than purely industrial timelines.
Systemic Thinking Integration: Curricula must address root causes of current crises rather than focusing solely on technical solutions disconnected from underlying worldview shifts.

Ongoing Challenges and Learning Measuring transformation remains complex when change happens through consciousness shifts rather than quantifiable outputs. We continue learning how to balance global accessibility with cultural specificity and individual growth with collective capacity. The predominantly online format enables global reach while limiting embodied connection. We are exploring hybrid approaches that honor both accessibility and in-person community building.

Supporting Educators
For educators seeking to drive systemic change, our experience suggests several key principles: trust community wisdom over individual expertise, address worldview and emotional dimensions alongside intellectual content, create containers for uncomfortable exploration of current system roots, and align educational practices with the values being taught.
The Journey demonstrates that adult learning can serve as laboratories for practicing the regenerative future we seek to create. When educational design embodies the principles it teaches, participants develop both intellectual understanding and embodied capacity for leading transformation in their communities. Our experience confirms that transformative learning requires transformative educational approaches. As we face unprecedented global challenges, education must evolve beyond information transfer toward cultivating the relational, emotional, and systemic capacities needed for creating life-affirming alternatives to current degenerative patterns.

Values-based Transformative Learning International Environment Forum

The broken relationship between humans and nature, despite a half-century of scientific research and valid efforts, is leading to existential crises. Most solutions, like the Sustainable Development Goals, largely address the material side of human development. Yet scientific knowledge has proven insufficient to motivate the fundamental transformation in society called for by the Club of Rome and Earth4All.
Powerful interests continue to block the necessary changes in the economic system and institutions of governance towards a just and sustainable world society in all its diversity.

Humanity has a potential far beyond our material existence, often called moral, ethical or spiritual, and featured in all faith traditions and Indigenous worldviews. Beyond the science, transformative learning needs to focus on cultivating the higher human values of cooperation, solidarity, moderation, humility, self-sacrifice and service, and empowering their expression across the wonderful diversity of the human family, to motivate the necessary transformation in our families, communities, institutions and global society. Donella Meadows herself laid out the importance of new paradigms and values as leverage points for systems transformation.

The central purpose of the International Environment Forum (IEF) since its founding nearly 30 years ago has been to provide its membership, partners and the wider public with a deeper understanding of the science behind climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and all the other challenges to the Earth System and human wellbeing, as well as a systemic perspective on their underlying causes in our economic system, social organisation, institutions and governance. Systemic change must start with a new paradigm of a higher human purpose founded in justice and equity, enabling all to refine their character and to contribute to advancing civilisation.

The IEF, as a Bahá’í-inspired professional organisation, has developed and partnered in educational approaches and learning materials that combine the scientific realities of the challenges facing the Earth System and its dominant human species in the Anthropocene, with the ethics and values required to accept the unity of the human family and the necessary solidarity in justice and equity, and thus to motivate transformation in individual behaviour, community cooperation and collective action. Its website (https://iefworld.org/learning) makes available a wide variety of materials for transformative learning for sustainability and environmental responsibility. It also draws on the wider experience of the Bahá’í community with spiritual transformation, community discourse and social action that has already demonstrated its effectiveness in a multitude of cultural contexts around the world. The innovations explored combine science and values to
heal our relationship with nature, to draw on interfaith approaches across all spiritual traditions and Indigenous worldviews, and to generate educational materials that can be incorporated in any educational system or used directly by individuals and communities.

The distinctive contribution of the IEF is its combination of science and values as complementary and mutually-reinforcing components of education (4). The IEF has prepared and shared educational materials in many forms, from simple materials on environmental management for rural village use, and on-line courses, to case studies of effective social action. Inspired by the learning paradigm inherent in the Bahá’í Faith, and by its openness to other faith traditions and to indigenous worldviews and spiritualities, it aims both to inform on the realities we are facing, and to motivate change in behaviour, as essential contributors to more hopeful approaches to the future. Its website is its primary resource where these materials are freely available. Its interfaith course on climate change has been used widely (17).

IEF collaborated in an EU-funded programme to develop values-based indicators of education for sustainable development (5,6,7,8,9,10,11), contributing to the International Partners Network founded by one of its members (https://www.inn.no/english/ccl/teaching-materials-and-resources/index.html), as well as the Transforming Education for Sustainable Futures project (https://tesf.network/resources-library/).

Its approach is also founded in complex systems science, inspired by the efforts of the Club of Rome since 1972, and many other civil society and academic efforts to lay out the directions toward a better future. The many transformations of the Anthropocene are considered as a whole in their environmental, social and economic dimensions, challenging many of the assumptions about human nature and purpose that underlie the present system.

Our approaches to learning go beyond the present materialistic Interpretation of human purpose and social organisation to enable diverse explorations of learning in communities rooted in their local realities and diversity, while recognising global responsibility for the common good of all. That includes our essential dependence on nature and the Earth system in general, and the need to replace the exploitation of natural resources by responsible stewardship. The Sustainable Development Goals are a useful framework for integrated learning, and the IEF has created teaching materials making them relevant to communities, organisations and individuals (12,13,14).

Our materials designed for rural village use and for small island developing states feature indigenous wisdom and traditional knowledge alongside environmental science to reinforce holistic views of humans within nature and to encourage the maintenance or restoration of local traditional resource management practices (1,2,3).

As the dynamics of change accelerate, and the signs of disintegration in existing institutions become more evident, it is necessary to educate for resilience and solidarity so as to find ways through the transition in the years immediately ahead. This requires responses at multiple levels, from local communities and national governments to the global level, where the vacuum in effective governance and implementation of agreements is most obvious (15). We are pushing for management of the Earth System to become the fourth pillar of the United Nations (16).

Future learning must adapt to these rapid changes with flexibility and responsiveness, particularly for youth whose aspirations are threatened by anxiety at what they see around them. They need to be a primary target for education that gives hope and that empowers them to take action at whatever level available to them. Learning with a values dimension can help to give meaning and purpose as they devote their lives to service to their fellow human beings and to the natural environment upon which we all depend.

 

REFERENCES AND LEARNING MATERIALS CITED

1. Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 1998. Small Island Environmental Management
Training Course. Prepared for the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional
Environment Programme, originally published on UNEP Islands website,
archived at http://yabaha.net/dahl/islands/siem.htm.

2. Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 2002. Linking Science and Indigenous Knowledge for
Local Environmental Management. Presented at World Summit on Sustainable
Development, Johannesburghttps://iefworld.org/ddahl02b.htm.

3. Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 2008. Rural Environmental Management: A
do-it-yourself course and training programme. 48 units. International
Environment Forum. https://iefworld.org/rem.htm

4. Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 2012. Ethical Sustainability Footprint for
Individual Motivation. Paper presented at the Planet Under Pressure
International Scientific Conference, London, 26-29 March 2012.
https://iefworld.org/ddahl12d

5. Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 2012. Values education for sustainable consumption
and production: from knowledge to action. Paper presented at the Global
Research Forum on Sustainable Consumption and Production, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, 13-15 June 2012, on the theme: Global and Regional
Research on Sustainable Consumption and Production: Achievements,
Challenges, and Dialogues. Proceedings:
https://grf-spc.weebly.com/rio-de-janeiro-2012-publications.html Chapter 1, pp. 1-7.
https://grf-spc.weebly.com/uploads/2/1/3/3/21333498/_dahlgrf_values_education_for_scp_rev.pdf.

6. Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 2013. A Multi-Level Framework and Values-Based
Indicators to Enable Responsible Living, pp. 63-77. In Ulf Schrader,
Vera Fricke, Declan Doyle and Victoria W. Thoresen (eds), Enabling
Responsible Living, Springer Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg,
(hardback/eBook). DOI:10.1007/978-3-642-22048-7_6
http://yabaha.net/dahl/papers/2013c.pdf

7. Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 2014. Putting the Individual at the Centre of
Development: Indicators of Well-being for a New Social Contract.
Chapter 8, pp. 83-103, In François Mancebo and Ignacy Sachs (eds),
Transitions to Sustainability. Dordrecht: Springer. DOI
10.1007/978-94-017-9532-6_8
http://yabaha.net/dahl/papers/2014i_chpt8.pdf

8. Dahl, Arthur Lyon, Marie K. Harder, Marilyn Mehlmann, Kirsi
Niinimaki, Victoria Thoresen, Onno Vinkhuyzen, Dana Vokounova, Gemma
Burford, and Ismael Velasco. 2014. Measuring What Matters: Values-Based
Indicators. A Methods Sourcebook. PERL Values-Based Learning Toolkit 1.
Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living (PERL)
Available online: https://iefworld.org/fl/PERL_toolkit1.pdf

9. Dahl, Arthur Lyon, Marie K. Harder, Marilyn Mehlmann, Kirsi
Niinimaki, Victoria Thoresen, Onno Vinkhuyzen, Dana Vokounova, Gemma
Burford, and Ismael Velasco. 2014. Discovering What Matters: A Journey
of Thinking and Feeling. Activities Developed with Students, for
Students. PERL Values-Based Learning Toolkit 2. Partnership for
Education and Research about Responsible Living (PERL). Available
online: https://iefworld.org/fl/PERL_toolkit2.pdf

10. Dahl, Arthur Lyon, Marie K. Harder, Marilyn Mehlmann, Kirsi
Niinimaki, Victoria Thoresen, Onno Vinkhuyzen, Dana Vokounova, Gemma
Burford, and Ismael Velasco. 2014. Growing a Shared Vision: A Toolkit
for Schools. Activities for Organisational and Staff Development. PERL
Values-Based Learning Toolkit 3. Partnership for Education and Research
about Responsible Living (PERL). Available online:
https://iefworld.org/fl/PERL_toolkit3.pdf

11. Burford, Gemma, Elona Hoover, Arthur L. Dahl, and Marie K. Harder.
2015. Making the Invisible Visible: Designing Values-Based Indicators
and Tools for Identifying and Closing ‘Value-Action Gaps’, pp.
113-133. In Thoresen, Victoria W., Robert J. Didham, Jorgen Klein and
Declan Doyle (eds), Responsible Living: Concepts, Education and Future
Perspectives. Heidelberg and Switzerland: Springer. DOI
10.1007/978-3-319-15305-6_9
http://yabaha.net/dahl/papers/2015burford.pdf

12. IEF Toolkit for the Sustainable Development Goals. 2017. Resources
at the community, organization and individual levels.
https://iefworld.org/node/882

13. Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 2021. Why Education is Key for the Sustainable
Development Goals, essay on Global Governance Forum Website, 19 January
2021,
https://globalgovernanceforum.org/education-sustainable-development-goals/

14. Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 2021. For Nature’s Sake: A Moral Compass for the
SDGs. Viewpoints, G20 Interfaith Forum, 19 March 2021.
https://blog.g20interfaith.org/2021/03/19/for-natures-sake-a-moral-compass-for-the-sdgs/

15. Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, Sylvia and Arthur Lyon Dahl. 2021. Towards a
Global Environment Agency: Effective Governance for Shared Ecological
Risks. A Climate Governance Commission Report. Stockholm: Global
Challenges Foundation. 77 p.
https://iefworld.org/fl/dkarlsson_dahl21.pdf

16. Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 2024. Towards Effective Multilevel Environmental
and Sustainability Governance for Shared Ecological Risks, chapter 19,
pp. 317-331 in “Global Governance and International Cooperation: Managing
Global Catastrophic Risks in the 21st Century”, Richard Falk and Augusto
Lopez-Claros (eds), London: Routledge.
https://globalgovernanceforum.org/global-governance-international-cooperation/

17. Muller, Christine. (frequently updated). Scientific and Spiritual
Dimensions of Climate Change. IEF website
https://iefworld.org/ssdcc0.html.

For the references, see https://iefworld.org/values_learning

Reimagining Education for a Transformative Future

Education is the cornerstone of human progress, a powerful force that shapes individuals, communities, and societies. The concept note “No Limits to Hope: Transforming Learning for Better Futures” encapsulates a vision of education that transcends traditional boundaries, fostering optimism, inclusivity, and innovation to prepare learners for a rapidly evolving world. Reflecting on this theme, I explore how education can embody hope, break down barriers, and create equitable, sustainable futures through transformative learning.

Education as a Beacon of Hope

Hope is the heartbeat of education. It is the belief that every individual, regardless of circumstance, can grow, learn, and contribute meaningfully to society. The phrase “No Limits to Hope” suggests that education should not be constrained by socioeconomic status, geography, gender, or systemic inequities. Instead, it should serve as a universal right, igniting aspirations and empowering individuals to envision brighter futures.
In my reflection, I recall the stories of learners who have defied odds through education. From Malala Yousafzai (Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate), who championed girls’ education in the face of violence, to students in remote villages accessing online learning for the first time, these narratives embody hope. Education offers a pathway out of poverty, a tool for empowerment, and a means to challenge injustice. By fostering hope, education transforms not only individual lives but also entire communities, creating ripple effects of progress.
However, hope alone is not enough. It must be paired with action—systems, policies, and innovations that make education accessible and relevant. The concept note’s emphasis on “transforming learning” calls for a reimagining of how education is delivered, ensuring it is equitable, inclusive, and forward-looking.

Transforming Learning: A Paradigm Shift
Transformative learning is about more than acquiring knowledge; it is about equipping learners with the skills, mindsets, and values needed to navigate an uncertain future. The world today is marked by rapid technological advancements, climate challenges, and social upheavals. Traditional education models, often rooted in rote memorization and standardized testing, are increasingly misaligned with these realities. Transformation requires a shift toward learner-centered, flexible, and holistic approaches.

One key aspect of transformative learning is embracing technology. Digital platforms, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality have the potential to democratize education, making it accessible to those in underserved regions. For instance, initiatives like Khan Academy and Coursera have brought high-quality resources to millions, breaking geographical barriers. Yet, the digital divide remains a significant challenge. In 2023, UNESCO reported that 2.6 billion people—roughly one-third of the global population—lacked internet access, limiting their ability to engage in modern learning environments. Transforming learning means bridging this gap through investments in infrastructure, affordable devices, and digital literacy programs.

Beyond technology, transformation involves redefining what we teach. The future demands skills like critical thinking, collaboration, adaptability, and emotional intelligence. Curricula must prioritize interdisciplinary learning, blending science, humanities, and ethics to prepare students for complex global challenges. For example, climate education can empower students to innovate sustainable solutions, while lessons in empathy and cultural competence can foster social cohesion in diverse societies. Transformative learning also means valuing indigenous knowledge and local contexts, ensuring education is culturally relevant and inclusive.

Equity and Inclusion: The Heart of Transformation
Hope and transformation are hollow without equity. Education systems worldwide grapple with disparities that perpetuate cycles of disadvantage. Children in low-income communities, girls, refugees, and those with disabilities often face systemic barriers to quality education. The concept note’s vision of “better futures” hinges on dismantling these barriers.

Reflecting on global efforts, I am inspired by initiatives like the Global Partnership for Education, which funds education in low-income countries, and programs like Room to Read, which focus on girls’ literacy. These efforts demonstrate that equity is achievable through targeted interventions. However, challenges persist. For instance, UNESCO data from 2022 showed that 244 million children and youth were out of school, with girls disproportionately affected in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa. Addressing this requires not only funding but also policy reforms to eliminate gender-based discrimination, provide safe learning environments, and support marginalized groups.

Inclusion also extends to neurodiversity and disabilities. Transformative learning environments must be designed to accommodate diverse needs, using tools like universal design for learning (UDL) to ensure all students can thrive. Teachers, too, need training to foster inclusive classrooms, where every learner feels valued and supported.

Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Futures
The concept of “better futures” implies sustainability—not just environmental, but social and economic. Education must prepare individuals for lifelong learning, as the skills needed today may become obsolete tomorrow. The rise of automation and artificial intelligence underscores the need for continuous upskilling. For example, the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs report predicted that 44% of workers’ skills would be disrupted by 2028, highlighting the urgency of adaptable education systems.

Lifelong learning also means fostering a growth mindset, where individuals see challenges as opportunities to learn. This aligns with the concept note’s emphasis on hope—an optimistic belief in one’s ability to grow and contribute.
Governments and institutions can support this by creating flexible learning pathways, such as micro-credentials and online courses, that allow adults to reskill at any stage of life.
Moreover, education for better futures must address global challenges like climate change. By integrating sustainability into curricula, schools can empower students to become stewards of the planet. Programs like the UN’s Education for Sustainable Development initiative show how education can drive action on issues like renewable energy and biodiversity conservation.

The Role of Educators and Communities
Transformative learning cannot happen without educators. Teachers are the architects of hope, guiding students toward their potential. Yet, they often face low pay, burnout, and lack of resources. Supporting educators through professional development, fair compensation, and access to modern tools is critical to realizing the vision of “No Limits to Hope.”
Communities, too, play a vital role. Parents, local leaders, and organizations can advocate for equitable education and create supportive environments for learning. In my own experience, I’ve seen how community-driven initiatives, like after-school programs in underserved areas, can spark hope and opportunity for children who might otherwise be left behind.

Challenges and the Path Forward
Despite its potential, transforming education faces significant hurdles. Funding shortages, political resistance, and cultural biases can impede progress. For instance, efforts to modernize curricula often face pushback from those who favor traditional approaches. Overcoming these challenges requires collaboration among governments, educators, private sectors, and civil society.
The concept note’s vision also calls for bold innovation. Pilot programs, such as competency-based education in Finland or mobile learning units in refugee camps, offer models for scaling transformative practices. Data-driven approaches can help identify what works, while partnerships with tech companies can accelerate access to digital tools.

Conclusion
No Limits to Hope” calls for reimagining education as a dynamic, inclusive force. By embracing technology, prioritizing equity, fostering lifelong learning, and empowering educators, we can unlock human potential and build sustainable futures. Education is about igniting dreams and breaking barriers. With transformative action, hope knows no limits, ensuring education remains a beacon for generations.

Foundations for hope

When discussing the concept of hope in relation to the climate crisis, one of my students remarked, “Talking about hope gives me uneasiness and anxiety; the fact that we need to talk about hope is scary.” In one way or another, hope involves confronting a challenge or a threat. It’s about a future that we cannot predict, and our desire for a positive outcome. Hope is also linked to our ability to accept and meet challenges and limitations in life, recognizing that outcomes may not be guaranteed and that there are always elements beyond our control (Ojala, 2017; Rosa, 2019). This is not easy, and the multiple crises facing societies and the planet make it difficult to engage in questions about hope in education. For many a sense of stability and security has been lost and feeling hopeful is increasingly hard.

As a concept “hope” invites students to engage in overarching reflections and judgments regarding the state of the world and where it is heading. This can be overwhelming and inevitably includes distressing global issues where the possibility of a positive outcome is very limited, and in some cases, lost. Students’ worldviews and attitudes toward life—such as whether one identifies as an optimist, realist, or pessimist—can further make these discussions very personal and the sensitive subject. Choosing to try not to think and talk about hope and the future may appear as a solution. However, having hope is vital for learning and motivation to create a better world. So, discussions are needed in education, even if we may be at loss, and answers and perceptions diverge.

As Ojala (2017) shows, “hope” can be conceptualized and approached in many ways in education. Here I wish to share a few poems relating to the foundations of hope that I find supportive. The first is a famous verse by Emily Dickinson, also found in Satish Kumar’s book Soil, Soul and Society (2024, p. 9):

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without words

And never stops at all.

Hope may be seen as an inner source of energy and inspiration, which is fundamental to our existence and purposefulness in life. In the terminology of Hartmut Rosa (2019), hope may arise when we engage in resonant relationships with the world, actively listening and responding to our experiences and environment. Hope manifests in action when we are connected to our inner core, our values, dreams and our creative energy. It is very difficult to live without hope, as it is essential to what we find meaningful and connected to our curiosity for life. Hope as a life-affirming energy needs to be taken care of and nurtured. Sustaining this energy in ourselves and supporting it in others in education, however difficult, is therefore urgently needed.

As Ojala (2017) concludes, hope relates to the goals one considers desirable, the pathways perceived as effective for achieving these goals, and one’s ability to motivate oneself to pursue these pathways. For youth and adults, reflecting on problems from multiple perspectives, considering constraints, and imagining futures can create critical hope. We may promote active and radical perceptions of hope, when hope becomes a conscious choice—taking the right action, irrespective of what the future holds (Ojala, 2017; Lange, 2023). Reflecting may not necessarily start from an overall question such as “Is there hope?” but from more concrete ones such as “What can we hope for?” and “What do we hope for—ourselves, for other human beings, and for the more-than-human world?” Providing space in education for alternative perspectives and stories, as well as the significant work and efforts that have been and are currently being undertaken for sustainability, can help in envisioning desirable and possible futures (Berry, 1999; Lange, 2023).

As Ojala (2017) argues, the ways we develop our conceptions of hope are deeply socially embedded, and social relations and communities are foundational for hope. Hope is closely intertwined with experiences of trust and beliefs in the benevolence of others. Trust is significantly developed in childhood, but is equally important for adults, and is reflected in our expectations on life. Children’s lack of trust in adults’ engagement in climate issues has been shown to be central to their experiences of hope and distrust (Hickman et al., 2021). Lack of trust in fellow human beings and society can also be a significant reason why adults do not engage. Individuals worldwide systematically underestimate the willingness of their fellow citizens to act for the climate (Andre et al., 2024). This shows the need for greater knowledge, but strengthening interpersonal trust and collective hope is also central. As Lange (2023) and many sustainability educators argue, to build more trust respect, compassion and love need to have more space in education. Love as a foundation for trust and hope is beautifully expressed in the poem by Chief Dan George, cited in Lange (2023, p. 391):

The Right Kind of Love

The right kind of love, the silent, deep, and lasting one, pleases the Creator. Sometimes there may be darkness in our hearts that makes us dread the future. Young people should never overlook that this love is working silently in a thousand ways. Because of it, we can have confidence in the years ahead. Where this love lives, beauty grows.

Sin límites a la esperanza: Transformando la educación para construir un futuro mejor

En el contexto del mundo actual, con todos los problemas y desafíos que a diario se nos están presentando, me parece excelente, muy pertinente y necesaria, la iniciativa “Sin límites a la esperanza: Transformando el aprendizaje para un futuro mejor”, por lo cual quiero unirme al Foro educativo en línea, abierrto para intercambiar nuestras ideas e iniciativas creativas y novedosas desde la Educación, y poder implementarlas para llevarlas a la práctica y de esta manera contibuir a lograr un mundo mejor, para nuestros hijos y las generaciones futuras.

Zhejiang Normal University’s leadership in interdisciplinary education, sustainable technology transfer, and rural revitalization

Educational empowerment acts as a vital bridge linking advanced technology and local communities, substantially increasing acceptance and sustainable operational capability.

This framework exemplifies how locally tailored educational strategies can address inherently complex socio-technical challenges. Seeding Tomorrow, as educational innovations not only empower learners with technical competencies but also nurture agency and ownership, critical factors for sustainable adoption and long-term resilience.

In reflecting on the ongoing global transformation challenges faced by education, the “Seeding Tomorrow” experience offers several key
insights:

  • Interdisciplinary Integration and Practice-Oriented Learning;
  • Balancing Technology Diffusion with Capacity Building;
  • Promoting Social Equity and Inclusion through Education;
  • Deep Coupling with Sustainable Development;
  • Harnessing Digital and Networked Platforms for Broader Impact.

Educational transformation is not merely a supportive element for technological application but a crucial driver of societal resilience and climate action. In an era marked by sweeping global change, empowering grassroots communities—particularly farmers and vulnerable groups lacking educational resources—injects enduring vitality into green agricultural development. Seeding Tomorrow, will foster substantive innovation that collectively “seeds” a sustainable and livable tomorrow for all humanity.