A transition to a sustainable society will require the creation of a new type of citizenry. The mission of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is to foster in future citizens the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and worldviews that will be necessary to transform the world. To do this ESD scholars and practitioners have proposed a diverse set of learning outcomes from scientific literacy in key topics (Colucci-Gray et al. 2006) to key competencies in sustainability (Rieckmann, 2012; Wiek, Withycombe, and Redman 2011; Wiek et al., 2015)  to affective learning outcomes (Shephard 2008). ESD has set itself no easy task, as ESD learning outcomes stretch far beyond what our conventional education system has ever attempted to produce.

As of yet efforts have only just begun to properly assess the achievement of ESD-related learning outcomes in a systemic and meaningful way. Given the emphasis on affective, skill-based and other non-factually focused outcomes in students, ESD requires new forms of assessment as well. The challenge of developing new assessment approaches cannot wait to be addressed as we are not able to meaningfully ramp up efforts to integrate ESD across curriculums and grade levels without evidence to show that it is achieving the desired ends.

This symposium brings together some of the leading efforts in assessing learning outcomes of ESD by building on the 2016 ECER symposium "Assessing Environmental and Sustainability Education in Times of Accountability, Measurement and Evidence.” Contributors will explore the state of assessment in ESD overall, specific examples of assessment in various contexts and levels of study and more, including specific questions such as:

• Are currently utilized approaches to assessing learning outcomes in ESD sufficient in addressing the non-traditional aspects of ESD learning outcomes?
• In what ways can we assess the attainment of action competence within the curriculum?
• Do transformative ESD approaches impact the sustainability consciousness of students?
• How can in-service and pre-service training outcomes be assessed within a competence framework?

The questions will be explored in different international contexts at levels ranging from primary to higher education. This symposium will offer a clear contribution to our understanding of the current state of assessing learning outcomes of ESD. The diverse set of contributors from United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden offers not just an overview of the current state of the field but a critical reflection of where it stands and the identification of key gaps in knowledge for future investigations. 

Colucci-Gray, Laura, Elena Camino, Giuseppe Barbiero, and Donald Gray. 2006. “From Scientific Literacy to Sustainability Literacy: An Ecological Framework for Education.” Science Education 90(2): 227–52. Shephard, Kerry. 2008. “Higher Education for Sustainability: Seeking Affective Learning Outcomes.” International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 9(1): 87–98. Rieckmann, M. (2012): Future-oriented higher education: Which key competencies should be fostered through university teaching and learning? In: Futures 44 (2), 127-135 Wiek, Arnim, Lauren Withycombe, and Charles L. Redman. 2011. “Key Competencies in Sustainability: A Reference Framework for Academic Program Development.” Sustainability Science 6(2): 203–18. Wiek, A.; Bernstein, M. J.; Foley, R. W.; Cohen, M.; Forrest, N.; Kuzdas, C. et al. (2016): Operationalising competencies in higher education for sustainable development. In: Barth, M.; Michelsen, G., Thomas, I.; Rieckmann. M. (eds.): Routledge Handbook of Higher Education for Sustainable Development. London: Routledge, 241-260.