This research was commissioned in August 2022 by the Scottish Government as part of the refresh of the Learning for Sustainability 2030 Action Plan (2019). Researchers at the University of Dundee were asked to investigate the following questions. 

• How is learning for sustainability (LfS) understood and implemented by the school and Community Learning and Development (CLD) workforce? 
• What can we learn from LfS ‘best practice’ taking place around the system? 
• What do the voices of young people and practitioners say and how do we feed them directly into LfS policy and the refresh of the Action Plan? 
• What are the successes and challenges LfS has faced since 2019? 
• What is the impact of the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) on LfS? 

This research work is predicated on the Scottish Government’s Action Plan for Learning for Sustainability (2019), stating that children and young people in Scotland have an entitlement to learn about sustainability. Set against a backdrop of sustainability-related activities and toward the end of the UN’s Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2014, Higgins (2012) reported that the Scottish Government’s commitment to develop the concept of ‘One Planet Schools’ had taken on added significance if the intention to maintain the momentum and build on work that had occurred during the UN Decade for Sustainable Development was to be realised. This work culminated in the 2016 Vision 2030+ report which recommended five priorities for LfS (see conclusion). These priorities were also used to outline the key findings and recommendations for action in the current research and highlight what has been successful and where new approaches need to be considered. 

A mixed methods approach was undertaken for this small-sample research using a JISC online survey, World Café events and 3 Horizons focus groups (see methodology below). Sampling for the survey and in person data collection was designed with a mix of urban, semi- urban, rural locations including the highlands and Islands to be representative of the Scottish population. A range of socio-economic parameters was also applied using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SMID) with participants from all major quantiles represented. At each site the researchers engaged with young people 14+ years and separately with practitioners in secondary schools and CLD settings. In total there were 16 separate in-person engagements across Scotland with 80 individual transcripts recorded and shared across the research team for analysis. Analysis was conducted using the Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) (Braun & Clarke, 2012, 2019) process using NVivo for managing coding and developing themes. Given the mixed methods approach, survey data is represented through a number of graphs, with the qualitative data represented through thematic narratives and graphics. 

The main findings represent an expansion of the earlier work and include new proposals for the Learning for Sustainability Action Plan refresh. The findings and analysis provide a snapshot of what is currently happening in Scotland and a clear picture of what stakeholders would like to see happening to support LfS in secondary schools and CLD settings. Calls to action from the Children’s Parliament research with children from nursery to S3 were also correlated in our findings to demonstrate a synthesis across of the research findings of both projects. The findings from this project will be disseminated in the ECER Paper session with the lapsing of the information embargo at the time of publication of the research report by the Scottish Government. 

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8586-294X

The mixed method approach provided the triangulation of data construction and analysis with rich data through the qualitative World Café methodology. World Café methodology was originally conceived and implemented in 1995 (Brown & Isaacs) has become a globally adopted practice for large group table conversations initiating generative feedback and creative thinking. World Cafés due to their inclusive, democratised, and co-creative nature became very popular within organisations wanting to adopt the principles for community transformation, as well as being a participatory assessment tool for organisational change (Löhr et al, 2020). Most recently the World Café approach has been used within academic research, where adaptations have been used in participatory qualitative methodology complementing existing models for focus group research (Löhr et al., 2020). Löhr et al. (2020) suggest that the World Café method both increases participation whilst also benefiting participants as it ‘facilitates dialogue and mutual learning, thus motivating their participation and responses’ (p.1). The “research World Café” methodology has also been found to reduce barriers between academic research and practical circumstances of participants, therefore benefiting the relevance, robustness and richness of the data constructed (Schiele et al., 2022). Schiele et al. (2022) demonstrate that World Café’s can also speed up academic research enquiries as it is a ‘circulating focus group’ approach with a larger group in one space rather than individual interviews or a formalised focus group setting. To extend and deepen the data collection the methodology included a dedicated focus group at the end of each World Café session with practitioners, where additional understandings were sought using the 3 Horizons process, which offers a practical way to engage multiple stakeholders in constructive conversations about transformational change (Sharpe, 2013). The 3 Horizons approach to focus groups complements the principles of World Café and responds to calls for more relational, reflexive and co-creational methodologies in sustainability science and the wider shift towards more societally relevant research (Fazey et al, 2020). In recognition of the need for transformation changes in education (Leicester et al, 2013) the framework offers a practical, effective way to provide robust information to inform a refresh of the Learning for Sustainably Action Plan.

In this presentation, the researchers will discuss the research conclusions and findings which will be publicly available February 2023. The findings and recommendations build upon the five priority areas from the ‘Vision 2030+ Concluding Report of the LfS Implementation Group’ (2016). They include: 1. Learners should have an entitlement for Learning for Sustainability. 2. In line with the new GTCS Professional Standards, every practitioner, school and education leader should demonstrate Learning for Sustainability in their practice. 3. Every school should have a whole-school approach to Learning for Sustainability that is robust, demonstrable, evaluated and supported by leadership at all levels. 4. All school buildings, grounds and policies should support Learning for Sustainability. 5. A strategic national approach to supporting Learning for Sustainability should be established. The new findings include discussion of the understanding, experiences, and implementation of LfS from both young people and practitioners’ perspectives. A range of case studies that emerged, including successes and best practice of LfS will be shared along with some of the challenges and potential approaches to strengthening LfS within secondary school and CLD contexts. The researchers will outline the future vision and aspirations articulated by young people and practitioners, as well as the research implications for current and future practice and policy. The Scottish Government Research and Analytical Division have a publication date set for Wednesday 8th February, after which we can share additional conclusions from the research and how these will be used in the refresh of the Learning for Sustainability Action Plan in Scotland.

Braun, V. and Clarke, V (2019) Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis, in Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, V 11:4, pp. 589-597. https://doi-org.libezproxy.dundee.ac.uk/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806 Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2012) Thematic Analysis, in Cooper, H. (Ed) APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology, Vol2: Research Designs, pp.57-71. Brown, J. and Isaacs, D. (2005) The World Café: Shaping our Futures through Conversations that matter. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers Fazey I, Schäpke N, Caniglia G (2020) Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth: Visions of future systems and how to get there, Energy Research & Social Science, 70, 1-18.H3Uni (2022) Practices>Three Horizons accessed 6.7.22 from H3Uni | Practice: developing foresight with Three horizons Higgins, P. (2012) Learning for Sustainability: The Report of the One Planet Schools Working Group. Education Scotland: One Planet Schools Working Group PDF, accesed at: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/One-planet-schools-report-learning-for-sustainability.pdf Leicester G, Bloomer K, Stewart D, Ewing J (2013) Transformative Innovation in Education: A Playbook for Pragmatic Visionaries, Triarchy Press. LfS National Implementation Group (2016) Vision 2030+. Scottish Government: LfS National Implementation Group. Löhr, K., Weinhardt, M. and Sieber, S. (2020) The “World Café” as a Participatory Method for Collecting Qualitative Data, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, V:19, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920916976 Sharpe B (2020) Three Horizons: The Patterning of Hope, 2ndEdition, Triarchy Press Shiele, H., Krummaker, S., Hoffmann, P. and Kowalski, R. (2022) The “research world café” as method of scientific enquiry: Combining rigor with relevance and speed, Journal of Business Research, V:140, pp. 280-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.075