“Adult education will not be – and cannot be – the only solution to global challenges, but it is fertile ground in which change can take place, which in turn will enrich the Earth with a more sustainable world”

(Schreiber-Barsch & Mauch, 2019, p. 532)

There is a strong consensus on the importance of integrating environmental competencies and knowledge into all school curricula, from preschool to post-secondary education (Borde & al., 2022; Molthan-Hill & al., 2022). This kind of education is needed not only to empower individuals in a changing world, but also to empower communities to build a viable future.

Through sustainable development goal 4, the United Nations invites us to see education at the service of the common good. In contrast to an individual vision of success, the UN suggests moving “away from an exclusive focus on access and quality, measured mainly in terms of learning outcomes, towards an increased emphasis on learning content and its contribution to sustainability of people and the planet” (UNESCO, 2020, p. 14).

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) explains that humanity’s window to ensure a viable and sustainable future is rapidly closing. The Panel calls for urgent and transformative actions, and in particular for “deep, rapid, and sustained greenhouse gas emissions reductions in all sectors” (IPCC, 2023).

The unprecedented urgency of responding to environmental crises makes continuing education a “decisive issue for the transition” (Bortzmeyer, 2021).

Why is adult education crucial for the ecological transition?

  • Intergenerational justice: Young people do not have to carry the burden of transition alone and “repair the cumulative wrongs of the past” (L’éducation au service de la Terre, 2022, p. 16).
  • Impact force: It is mainly adults who, through their professional and civic activities, “are currently making, in the short and medium term, decisive decisions locally and globally, for the environment and society in general.” (Villemagne & Sauvé, 2021)
  • Urgency to act: Continuing education is more agile than official educational programs, which evolve more slowly. Initiatives can be developed quickly “pending concrete measures taken at the level of ministries and Canadian universities to adjust curricula and teacher training” (Dionne & Lefebvre, 2022, p. 131).

 

Higher education can be a leading figure in continuing education for the transition. Two roles appear to be particularly strategic in this respect:

Support the World of Work

The urgency related to the ecological transition requires a deep transformation of the “forms of production, consumption, transport and work organization, and is, in addition, subject to a strong influence from regulations” (France Stratégie & al., 2021, p. 2). All sectors of activity will be affected, whether by the creation, disappearance or redefinition of jobs. According to the International Labour Organization, the transition to a green economy will therefore involve an increase in professional transitions (ILO, 2019). This will in turn need to be supported by robust and equitable continuing education systems that will provide all workers with the opportunity to improve their lot.

Indeed, research has shown that the consequences of environmental crises disproportionately affect the most vulnerable populations: precarious workers, women, Indigenous peoples.

What is a “Just Transition”?

Officially adopted by the signatory States of the Paris Agreement in 2015, this concept focuses on the changes necessary for the ecological transition to take place while aiming to reduce social inequalities. Education is a “key element in achieving just transition” (Front commun pour la transition énergétique, 2020, p. 25). Therefore, with a view to a just transition, requalification mechanisms should also target workers who have less access to continuing education.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

The professional development and requalification of individuals, from a perspective of a just transition, constitutes a challenge of collaboration between the State, the education sector and workplaces. While reflection on work-related issues linked to the ecological transition is often limited to the concept of “green jobs,” it concerns all sectors of activity. In fact, in order to promote intersectoral cooperation and “act toward building the economy of tomorrow,” in 2023, the Government of Québec created a “centre of expertise on green transition and the workforce” (Scheed, 2023, p. 36).

A global vision of the type of continuing education necessary for the ecological transition to take place should include:

  • Environmental professions (e.g., in the water, renewable energy, energy efficiency or soil management sectors). The sectoral workforce committee, at the request of the Government of Québec, has produced a competency framework for the 10 environmental sub-sectors.
  • “Greening jobs”; i.e., those “whose purpose is not environmental-related, but which incorporate new ‘competence bricks’ to take into account the environmental dimension in a significant and quantifiable way” (Baghioni & al., 2024). These include jobs that will be directly impacted by the introduction of new environmental standards. 
  • Social and health professions, often referred to as “care” jobs. These jobs in health, education and social services, within public services or even within the community sector and the social economy, are indeed at the heart of the transition. Not only do these jobs emit low levels of GHGs, but they also play a key role in adapting to changes and mitigating climate injustice, in addition to contributing to the emergence of environmental awareness in society (ILO, 2023, p. 32). Unlike jobs in the environmental sector, which are predominantly male workplaces (EnviroCompétences, 2023), “care” jobs are mainly occupied by women. Therefore, there is also an equity issue in fully integrating them into the reflection on supporting the transition in workplaces.

Training Teachers

According to a recent study, “less than one in two people who teach feel competent enough to educate about climate change and this content takes up less than 1% of the teaching time. According to the same people surveyed, the main barriers to the integration of climate change education would be the lack of time, the scarcity of teaching resources, as well as the lack of professional knowledge and competencies in the field.”

(Dionne & Lefebvre, 2022, p. 129‑130).

The Québec Education Program (QEP) promotes elements of education for sustainable development, from preschool to high school. However, this aspect is rarely included in the initial education of people who are to become teachers, both in the province of Québec and Canada. Moreover, the Québec framework of professional competencies for the teaching profession does not include specific competencies in this regard. (Coalition Éducation Environnement Écocitoyenneté, 2022).

However, through its adherence to several international conventions, Canada has committed to integrating “learning objectives directly related to environmental and climate change education” and to “ensuring adequate teacher training to promote this kind of education” (Dionne & Lefebvre, 2022, p. 128). Indeed, according to UNESCO, it is not enough to include environmental education in school curricula, it is also necessary to aim at the “systematic and comprehensive building of capacities in education for sustainable development in initial and continuing education as well as in the evaluation of teachers at the preschool, primary, secondary and post-secondary levels” (UNESCO, 2020, p. 30).

Consequently, in addition to initial education, continuing education is an important tool in helping teachers bring environmental education to life in their classrooms2.

2 The Plan d’action de développement durable 2023-2028 includes certain measures that aim to support climate change education projects, in particular through the training of teachers and the development of educational tools.

Supporting the Education Ecosystem

The continuing education of teachers in the ecological transition is also an opportunity to achieve the desired collaboration between higher education, the school system, non-formal stakeholders in lifelong learning, and the state and governmental apparatus (Sauvé & al., 2018, p. vi).

Universities, with their cutting-edge expertise in both environmental and educational matters, are particularly well-positioned to build the capacity of schools to integrate  environmental and climate change education (Reimers, 2021). A concrete way for higher education institutions to increase their presence in schools and to contribute to the continuing education of teachers is, for example, to include them in action-research projects (CSE, 2023, p. 95).

To “build a climate change education ecosystem” (Reimers, 2021), universities can also:

  • select, sort and organize pedagogical resources to help teachers build their own continuing education curriculum on the environment;
  • create and maintain exchange networks between scientists and educators at all levels in order to support the professional educational community;
  • establish partnerships with schools and local non-formal education organizations. 

Synergy with local organizations – for example, with environmental groups involved in non-formal education initiatives [see box below] – is preferred in order to build a solid educational ecosystem. Indeed, several specialists argue that in environmental education, the challenge consists more in creating a “feeling that one has the power to act” rather than merely disseminating facts about environmental crises (Morin & al., 2022).

In this respect, initiatives to reconnect with the environment are particularly promising, which is why it is important for environmental education to be open to non-academic expertise, in particular to Indigenous knowledge (Legault & al., 2023).

A plethora of stakeholders and initiatives in non-formal environmental education

University research infrastructures dedicated to environmental education

Back to the beginning

References

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Borde, B., Léna, P. et Lescarmontier, L. (2022). Education as a Strategy for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation. Dans M. Lackner, B. Sajjadi et W.-Y. Chen (dir.), Handbook of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (p. 3089‑3113). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72579-2_149

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