In the context of climate change and social-environmental crisis, we must pay attention to the ideology we promote to students in higher education. In education for sustainable development (ESD) and its connection to health education, we tend to use the fear approach, referencing both social-ecological catastrophes (Stevenson, 2006) and the impact of the environmental crisis on our individual health (Barrett et al., 2016; Howell, Dopko, Passmore, & Buro, 2011). In our case study, we suggest that contemplative education, as a pedagogical practice, could help us to think about the conflict between education for wellbeing and climate change by focusing on health versus consumption, rather than sustainable behavior. This conflict requires the consolidation of careful observation of the environment, including its natural resources, with contemplation of inner spiritual development. Contemplative education consists of pedagogical practices for promoting individual and social change by developing self-awareness and mindful learning (Wamsler, 2019). Contemplative education encourages willful awareness of living a healthy life, focusing on wellbeing, learning processes, empathy and relating to others. This is a prerequisite pedagogy for observation of the natural environment, which needs to be integrated by contemplation on climate change and pro-environmental behaviors (Zajonc, 2016). We developed an observation course in an ESD Master’s program according to the contemplative education approach to enable students to explore their wellbeing in the context of the local natural environment. The goal of the study of this course was to explore the students’ perceptions about contemplative pedagogy that enabled inner and outer observation in the context of health and the environmental crisis. In this presentation, we will discuss the process presented by 20 students, consisting 80 reflections, 8 interviews and analysis of 80 pictures taken during the course. We used a qualitative interpretive approach for the data analysis. The findings reflect diverse perspectives about nature and the environment. The students implemented their experiences in their own educational arena and expressed the importance of inner and outer observation for improving their students’ awareness of their own wellbeing and that of the environment. Contemplative education enhanced students’ wellbeing with a sense of belonging, increasing awareness of the need to reduce environmental impact. The findings also suggest the need to put more emphasis on the connection between contemplative pedagogy and pro-environmental behavior in relation to health and wellbeing.

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