In recent years, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has become increasingly important internationally as well as in in the German educational landscape. As a consequence of that, and linked to the general trend of standardization and measurability in (educational) policy (Biesta 2010), the importance of monitoring and evaluation processes on ESD increased. The progress of ESD-implementation has been analyzed on the international level (Tilbury 2007) and (sometimes regarding subdomains of ESD) on national levels (Olsson et al. 2015, Boeve-de Pauw 2015).

Concerning the ESD-upscaling in Germany, recent commitments can be seen on several accounts: e.g. in the setup of a comprehensive multi-stakeholder, ministry-led structure of the UNESCO-GAP -implementation on ESD and the development and effectuation of a National Action Plan on ESD (Nationale Plattform Bildung für Nachhaltige Entwicklung c/o Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung 2017). While there is some data concerning the ESD-uptake in the German educational system (Michelsen et al. 2015), a comprehensive and systematic monitoring process to more precisely grasp the extent and quality of ESD (also in different educational areas) has, however, not been undertaken yet. Data from such monitoring processes can thereby be crucial catalysts for fostering ESD-implementation: In times of evidence-based policy-making (Carney, Oliver 2017) and internationalization of (also educational) policies, measuring a baseline of ESD implementation and identifying reasons for lacks of implementation is a precondition for setting ambitious national aims and developing effective strategies for a further upscaling of ESD.

In order to establish such a baseline and analyze reasons for ESD-deficits in Germany, a quantitative study has been designed in the context of a complex monitoring process in Germany. The research project is in the province of the department of the scientific advisor of the GAP-ESD and comprises four phases: a first desk research, a qualitative study, the quantitative study (an online access panel study) discussed here in more detail and a second desk research phase.

The four phases as a whole and the quantitative study presented here in particular thereby directly contribute to measuring the national extent and quality of different SDGs (UN 2018) and their targets: 4.7 (“all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development”), 13.3 (improve, among others, education on climate change education) as well as 12.8 (ensuring the “information and awareness for sustainable development”). 

The online access panel -questionnaire study (n > 3.000) includes two target groups: young people in different educational settings (age 14-24) (n = approx. 2.500) and school teachers (n = approx. 550). Aims of the study are to collect information on the ESD-implementation, but also to draw a broader picture on the possible reasons for the overall still relatively low extent of ESD-implementation (Waltner 2016) and the differences in ESD- uptake between different federal states in Germany (Brock et al. 2018). The questionnaires for the two target groups were designed on the basis of numerous validated international and national studies and was informed by the first two monitoring phases as well. The validated items have been complemented by newly created items specifically targeting on e.g. the aims of the UNESCO Global Action Programme on ESD and the National Action Programme on ESD in Germany. The study thereby serves as a basis for international comparisons for ESD (and related constructs) and it offers central information on the implementation of the global and German policy aims for ESD. Going beyond descriptive aspects allows to shed light on the question why the ESD implementation has been comparatively slow given the willingness from top down (UN-decade on ESD, a program to increase ESD-knowledge transfer in German schools called “Transfer 21”) and from bottom up (many award-winning initiatives, organizations and practitioners proved their engagement in ESD). The evaluative elements contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms driving an (in)sufficient implementation of ESD. For that reason, also attitudes, knowledge, behavior towards ESD and, towards SD in general, are part of the study. The questionnaires for teachers and young people are for the most part overlapping and allow to mutually refer to each other and compare the attributions, such as teacher’s perceptions of the student’s interest in ESD and vice versa. By that, a more precise analysis of implementation hinderances or implementation “bottlenecks” within the educational system are possible. By that, the multi-faceted online questionnaire entails descriptive as well as explanatory elements of the ESD-uptake in Germany and is taylor-made for the German ESD-implementation context.

The first outcomes presented at the congress will encompass descriptive analyses about the extent of ESD- implementation, differentiated across different educational settings and, as mentioned, across different federal states. It is expected to shed light on the hindrances of ESD-implementation that can be better grasped based on correlations of ESD-implementation and general attitudes, knowledge and behavior related to sustainable development. The roles of socio-economic factors and social desirability for the different sustainability-related constructs will be analyzed as well.

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