Parallel Sessions

Greening Curriculum

The global climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable consumption patterns demand a rethinking of traditional education systems. A green curriculum integrates climate mitigation and adaptation into teaching and learning across pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary education, as well as in teacher training. It emphasises the interconnections between the environment, economy, and society, engaging students across cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioural domains to inspire action for sustainability. By involving teachers, policymakers, and communities, we can create education systems that empower learners to make meaningful changes for a better future.

This initiative is more than just updating textbooks; it's about transforming education to inspire sustainable thinking and actions at every level. It involves embracing a lifelong learning approach that integrates climate education into school curricula, technical and vocational education, workplace skills development, teaching materials, pedagogy, and assessment.

The objectives of this approach are to highlight the importance of integrating sustainability into education systems and to share innovative, scalable practices for sustainability education across the region. The Green Curriculum session brought together experts to discuss sustainability education across India and South and Southeast Asia, highlighting key insights and initiatives. The session was attended by around 40 participants.

Speakers

Key Recommendations from the Session

• Need for a holistic approach- Whole School Approach
• Engaging students in eco-social innovation and action
• Limited research of environment education in the South Asia region
• Lack of consensus on how ESD and CCE can be implemented
• Contributing to ESD and CCE Research in Indian and South Asian contexts-Empirical research on how ESD gets implemented in the cultural and geographical contexts of India and South Asia is important because this region is the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
• Multistakeholder partnerships are vital for accelerating impactful outcomes to meet these SDG goals
• Strengthening collaborations between schools and Universities
• Develop digital content and teacher training platforms, such as FEE Academy, SASEANEE and OCE’s upcoming platform with Probha Aurora
• Need of education on WASH practices in Indian schools
• Revising the curriculum to adopt an interdisciplinary approach
• Empowerment of Indigenous community leaders and youths as sustainability champions
• Development of Indigenous environmental entrepreneurship programs and skills amongst Indigenous women and youth through community recycling, handicrafts, and hydroponics cultivation

Session Report+