Research areas

Research into how this process works helps to improve Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the municipal education landscape.

We see the establishment of municipal educational landscapes on sustainable development as an essential prerequisite for municipalities’ full and sustainable development. This process can only succeed if citizens can comprehensively learn and educate themselves about sustainability in its various dimensions. Building on a science-led approach, the ESD Competence Centre Education – Sustainability – Municipality has a clear aim: to support 50 committed cities and districts to introduce, establish and promote ESD.

Our accompanying research serves to explore the paths through which ESD is introduced and promoted locally in order to learn more about the keys to its successful implementation, but also the problems, obstacles and challenges faced in the process. The ESD Competence Centre’s facilitation services complement this research, making insights directly available to the participating municipalities.

Specifically, we address the following research questions:

• What ESD activities and initiatives already exist in the model municipalities?
• Are these efforts part of an overall municipal policy strategy and, if so, how is ESD integrated into this policy?
• Who are the relevant local actors, have they built a network, and do they cooperate?
• Are there programmes in place, and which specific measures have been adopted to promote ESD? Which of these are particularly promising and can be emulated by other municipalities?
• In terms of progress and milestones: what are the achievements, and how can the process be optimized?