Integrating Sustainability into Economics Education

Why education? Education plays an integral part in developing a society that is equipped with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to create a sustainable future and “Education for Sustainable Development” (ESD) strives to achieve just that.

Why focus on economics? Economics, the science of scarcity and resource allocation, is intrinsically linked to questions of sustainability. The discipline of economics presents an extremely interesting gateway for exploring all three pillars of sustainability: the planet, society and the economy, and their interactions. While maintaining a holistic view of ESD and acknowledging the importance of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary education, focusing on economics education allows us to begin integrating ESD into schools whilst considering the characteristics of the current educational system.

Missions of this project

Situated at the intersection of E4S’ three pillars by carrying out research on innovation in the field of education, this project aims to achieve the following:

• It aims to highlight results concerning the systemic levers that would enable the integration of sustainability in economics education in the local high schools of Vaud, Switzerland as well as shed light on the evolution of the university landscape and discuss the associated opportunities and barriers through the publication of a white paper.
• This project also seeks to create plug-in tools to assist economics teachers in the integration of sustainability within the frame of current academic guidelines to support them in the transition.
• Lastly, this project seeks to contribute to the co-creation of an in-service training for economics teachers, targeted at the integration of sustainability in their classes, together with local actors including the Sustainability Cell of the Canton of Vaud (Cellule durabilité du Canton de Vaud), the Vaud University of Teacher Education (HEP Vaud), the Competence Centre in Sustainability at the University of Lausanne (CCD Unil) and high school economics teachers.