Environmental and Sustainability Educat...

In this chapter we trace the development in Austria in terms of education and sustainable development. We start by giving an overview about Austrian culture, political situation and its education system, before moving into the development of Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE). From a historical perspective, environmental education found its way into the school system in the 1970s. In the following years the discourse turned mainly to global learning, political education, ecological education and peace education. In the 1990s, education for sustainable development found its way into the debate based on the first World Summit in Rio and was anchored in the context of environmental education and global citizenship education. A typical element for Austria is the connection between ESE and action research, primarily supported by the influential Project ENSI (Environment and School Initiatives). In the later chapters, the current situation and future trends and issues are presented. The current development is supported by the Agenda 2030 and especially by SDG 4. New Austrian-wide projects and platforms emerge based on established initiatives, structures and networks. However, challenges of the Austrian education system like equal education opportunities for all population groups still remain.