In 2017, Norway began a reform process of the national curriculum, which included the addition of three interdisciplinary topics: Democracy and Citizenship; Public health and Life skills; and Sustainable Development. The realisation of these reforms is explored through the selection of three case studies that offer different approaches. The first of these cases is a state funded elementary school which is part of a research project with an All-day approach that is offered to pupils up to 4th grade. The whole-school approach is visible through the Positive Behaviour, supportive Learning Environment and Interaction (PALS) model. The school has worked with the PALS model since 2015 which focuses on strengthening pupils with lifelong learning skills, ESD competencies and encourages participation from the pupils. The second case is a state funded lower secondary school. This case identifies sustainable development as a priority area and has adopted a whole-school approach which is achieved not only through in-school collaboration, but close collaboration with external actors to develop student active ESD projects and initiatives. The third case is a private Steiner school with both elementary and lower secondary level. The whole-school approach is visible through the Steiner pedagogy. The local municipality has ambitions to be a ´green´ municipality, and as the first in Norway to build an eco-village, the establishment of the Steiner school is an extension of this vision. We conducted document analysis, interviews with school leaders and teachers, and class observations. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyse the documents, interviews and observation data. Findings suggest that in all three of the case studies a whole-school approach is important for the implementation of ESD projects and initiatives, as supported by the literature (Greenpeace, 2021; Henderson and Tilbury, 2004). A further finding suggests that a whole-school approach was also important for the promotion of ESD competences with active engagement of external actors (Bianchi, G., Pisiotis, U. & Cabrera, M., 2022; Glasser & Hirsch, 2016; Rieckmann, 2018). However, the biggest challenge to ESD being lack of engagement on the part of some colleagues and this is something the schools continue to work on. In one of the case studies the All-day school approach was seen as a positive contribution to both the development of a whole-school approach and the promotion of ESD competences.

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