Education for Sustainable Development and the SDGs

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a priority of Erasmus+ and of most national curricula, but it often stays at the level of posters and project weeks. This course shows how to embed the SDGs in everyday teaching and in school development. We work with the UNESCO ESD competences, analyse examples from Portuguese eco-schools, design cross-curricular learning units and look at how to involve students, parents and the local community. Participants develop an ESD action plan for their own school and receive tools for monitoring progress. Suitable for teachers of all subjects, sustainability coordinators and school leaders in primary and secondary education.

Participants will be able to design cross-curricular learning units linked to the SDGs, plan a whole-school ESD action plan with realistic steps and indicators, and involve students and the community as active partners in sustainability projects.

Methods: workshops, case studies from eco-schools, design of learning units in international teams, field visit to a Porto eco-school, World Café and future workshop methods. Assessment: peer feedback on learning units, presentation of the ESD action plan on the final day, daily reflection.

Course handbook, SDG teaching resource collection (open educational resources), learning unit template, whole-school audit tool, examples from Portuguese and European eco-schools, reading list.

25 hours of training, course materials, certificate of attendance, Europass Mobility and Learning Agreement support, welcome get-together, evening walk along the Douro, coffee breaks, pre-departure info pack.