In recent years, environmental education has evolved from a niche topic into a critical foundation for building a sustainable future. Across Europe, schools, teachers, and policymakers are beginning to view climate and sustainability learning not as an optional extra, but as a core competency for the 21st century.
However, research carried out through projects such as ASSET – Assistance for Skilled Environmental Teaching and Clima-Kit – Climate Education with Hands-on Science at School reveals a mixed picture: progress is real, but uneven; motivation is high, but support systems remain fragile.
Understanding Where We Stand
The ASSET project’s policy review shows that most European countries have, in some form, integrated climate or sustainability education into their curricula. Yet, the depth and consistency of implementation vary widely.
In many systems, climate topics appear as cross-cutting themes rather than structured subjects — resulting in fragmented teaching, dependent on individual initiative rather than national policy frameworks.
Meanwhile, the Clima-Kit project’s needs analysis, based on in-depth interviews with teachers, experts, and students in Belgium and Türkiye, highlights that even where climate education exists, teacher preparedness and confidence remain major challenges.Teachers often express interest and enthusiasm but lack practical resources, training opportunities, and institutional support to integrate climate issues into everyday learning
From Knowledge to Competence
One of the key insights emerging from these studies is the shift in emphasis from awareness to competence.
Environmental education is no longer just about understanding the greenhouse effect or recycling — it’s about developing the skills and agency to act.
This requires hands-on learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and strong links between science, citizenship, and creativity.
Projects such as Clima-Kit illustrate how this shift can look in practice: students engaging in real experiments, connecting local environmental issues to global challenges, and translating classroom knowledge into daily behaviour
The Road Ahead
“education systems must become more resilient — empowering students to address environmental challenges and contribute to a sustainable future.
To truly scale environmental education, the focus must move beyond pilot projects toward systemic change.
That means:
Embedding sustainability into curriculum frameworks, not just lesson plans;
Investing in teacher training that builds both content knowledge and facilitation skills;
Supporting collaboration between schools, policymakers, and civil society;
Measuring not only what students know, but how they apply what they know in real life.
As the ASSET report concludes, “education systems must become more resilient — empowering students to address environmental challenges and contribute to a sustainable future.”
Environmental education is, at its heart, an act of hope.
It bridges the gap between what we know and what we do — helping young people imagine new futures and giving them the tools to build them.
At Methodora, we believe that method and meaning go hand in hand.
Turning evidence into impact means understanding that the classroom is not just a place of learning — it’s where transformation begins.