Even if sustainability issues increased in education on all levels both in Europe and worldwide after the millennium shift (see UNESCO, 2012; Wals, 2012), voices argue that the development is still too slow (e.g., Huckle & Wals, 2015; Wolff, 2011). One reason mentioned is that educational efforts have not been radical enough (e.g., Bessant, Robinsson & Ormerod, 2015; Hursch, Henderson & Greenwood, 2015; Kopnina, 2014). A slow process has been the case in many countries; this is also the situation in Finland. Rajakallio and Salmio (2001) were not very enthusiastic about the situation of basic education in Finland at the beginning of the millennium.

The sustainability issue is included very variously in basic education in Finland (Pathan, Bröckl, Oja, Ahvenharju & Raivio, 2012), and likewise in primary teacher education (Wolff, Sjöblom, Hofman-Bergholm & Palmberg, 2017). There are schools with sustainability as one of the most central issues, while it is more or less lacking in other schools. Pathan et al. argue that in Finland education for sustainable development suffers from the same problems as the national strategy for sustainable development. Even if strategies deal with important issues, they seem to lack ownership, commitment and power. Pathan et al. consider this problem as mainly leadership related. Already in 1990, Goldbech and Jørgensen state that environmental education to a large extent is in need of courage, from both teachers and leaders. Yet they also talk about the need to involve both parents and students, and emphasize that environmental understanding and commitment build on theories, personally experienced knowledge and bodily experience. Partanen-Hertell, Harju-Antti, Kreft-Burman and Pemberton (1999) underscore the need for actions on two levels: shaping environmentally friendly schools and developing the content of environmental education. According to Partanen-Hertell et al., changed curricula are not enough to foster environmental awareness, but school leaders and teachers need ongoing training in environmental education. This is definitely a point that is frequently neglected.

The role of sustainability in policy documents has increased, and many Finnish strategies focusing on sustainability education have seen the light since the 1980s. Especially curriculum texts have changed remarkably since the curriculum of 1985. The newest national curriculum of 2014 mentions the word ‘sustainable’ (in the form of sustainable development, sustainable future, sustainable living, etc.) nearly 200 times (National Board of Education, 2014). This is interesting, but important questions are: Does it make a genuine difference? Has Finland now received a curriculum for basic education that really will promote change? It is impossible to answer these questions now, but evaluations during the coming years may show the outcome.

This paper presents the results of a study that examines the recent Finnish history of sustainability in educational policy. Since Finland has been active in both joint Nordic and Baltic environmental education and sustainability projects, the policy documents also include those where Finland has cooperated with neighboring countries. The aims of this study are two: to find how international policy related to sustainability education has been dealt with a) in Finnish educational laws and national educational policy documents and b) especially in the national curricula for basic education.

The research questions are:

1. How has the Finnish educational policy related to sustainability developed from the 1980s to 2017?
2. How has international and national sustainability education policy influenced the four different curricula that have been created during this time?
3. What kind of change can be seen from one curriculum to the other?

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