SUPPORT: Partnership and Participation for a Sustainable Tomorrow
The goal of SUPPORT was to promote and enhance the quality of education for sustainable development by linking schools, research institutions and communities in a web-based network.
Education for sustainable development (ESD) aims to help young people become lifelong learners and active and responsible citizens. To achieve this, new kinds of educational frameworks are needed, which enable pupils to understand complex issues and provide them with opportunities to acquire relevant skills, reflect critically and develop their own values and attitudes regarding sustainable development.
The goals of SUPPORT were to generate and spread knowledge about how ESD can be effectively supported through cooperation with actors in the local community. Interaction and cooperation among key stakeholders and best-practice exchange were the main themes at conferences, workshops and seminars organized by SUPPORT, as well as at the web-based school campaign “CO2nnect – CO2 on the way to school”.
Specific objectives of SUPPORT were to increase participation in science studies by making these more attractive, reduce the gender imbalance in science education and promote entrepreneurship by supporting a school culture of innovation and responsibility.
Basic information
2009-2010: Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, www.udir.no
- Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture, Austria
- Austrian Institute of Ecology, Austria
- Center of Schools' Science Education, University of Bergen, Norway
- College of Education and Lifelong Learning, Bangor University, UK
- Educational Research Institute, Slovenia
- FORUM for Environmental Education (FORUM Umweltbildung), Austria
- Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Field Studies Council, UK
- Finnish National Board of Education, Finland
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Germany
- Hessian State Authority of Teacher Education / Amt für Lehrerbildung, Hessen, Germany
- Hungarian Institute for Educational Research and Development, Hungary
- Hungarian Society for Environmental Education, Hungary
- In-service training of the catholic Education (Secretariat of the Flemish Catholic Education), Belgium
- Institute of Ecology and Botany of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (IEB-HAS), Hungary
- Karlstad University, Sweden
- Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation, Sweden
- Liceul Pedagogic “Mihai Eminescu”, Romania
- Lillehammer University College, Dept. of Social Science, Norway
- MF Associates, UK
- NGO Ökokratt, Estonia
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
- Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, Norway
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway
- Nottingham Trent University, UK
- Roskilde Technical College, Denmark
- Stichting Codename Future, The Netherlands
- The National Education Institute, Slovenia
- Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat de les Illes Balears, Spain
- Healthy Environment Regional Organization "HERO", Romania
- The Swiss Foundation for Environmental Education (Stiftung Umweltbildung Schweiz), Switzerland
- University of Sciences (Universiti Sains Malaysia), Malaysia
- The Norwegian Centre for Science Education, University of Oslo, Norway
- Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Norway
- Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE), Australia
- Beijing Normal University, China
- Education and Teacher Training Agency, Croatia
- Ministry of Environment, South Korea
- Cheognju National University of Education, South Korea
- KanEnergi, Sweden
- Ministry of Education and Science of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Mari Ugland Andresen, Norwegian Centre for Science Education, University of Oslo, m.u.andresen (at) naturfagsenteret.noа>
Christine Affolter, ENSI (Environment and Schools Initiative), secretariat (at) ensi.org
Contacts to SUPPORT partners: http://support-edu.org/partnerlist
The main outcomes of SUPPORT include:
- better understanding of ICT-based innovations (their role and potential) in education for sustainable development (ESD)
- development of www.co2nnect.org as part of the existing educational website www.sustain.no
- quality criteria for use of ICT in ESD
Conclusions and learning outcomes from SUPPORT were:
- ESD needs a multi-perspective approach. It is not parallel to other subjects or pedagogical approaches, but is an overarching concept.
- ESD can be a catalyst which encourages actors on all levels in the education system to see the “bigger picture" and not only their isolated area of expertise.
- The school is always responsible for the learning process and needs to ensure that methodologies and tools used correspond to the learning goals.
- Schools also need to ensure that they function as learning organizations.
- ESD means working on “real issues”, and schools can only achieve the complex learning goals if collaborating with actors outside the school.
- Good tools can play a very important role by allowing schools to get acquainted with working methods, which over time will contribute to, develop and change the education systems.
To download the SUPPORT publications, please visit http://support-edu.org/Publications
During the project, SUPPORT developed new teaching materials to support education for sustainable development. They include:
- The CO2nnect website (www.co2nnect.org) which is an international school campaign aimed at promoting education for sustainable development, while focusing on the theme of transport and climate. All uploaded data is stored in a shared database, to encourage analysis and discussions about the transport systems locally and globally. The entire website is a teaching tool, and important pages for teachers are:
- guidelines for collaboration between schools, research institutions and the local community (see the “help sheets” on the CO2nnect website http://www.co2nnect.org/help_sheets/ )
- a teacher’s guide to how to use the website (http://www.co2nnect.org/download/Teachers_guide_Co2nnect.pdf)
- a CO2-from-emissions-calculator where all uploaded data is stored in an international shared database which can serve as a base for discussions and analyses.
- a shared list of “climate ideas” where schools/classes upload ideas on how to reduce the emissions in their area.
The book “Biodiversity in Education for Sustainable Development, Reflections on school-research cooperation” includes best-practice examples: http://support-edu.org/webfm_send/609
For more information about SUPPORT for teachers and schools, please visit http://support-edu.org/node/100