Education for sustainable development (ESD) is being approached on a multi-level scale, exploring its implementation on different educational contexts, including Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) (e.g. Andersson, 2017). In Sweden, different curricular modifications have attempted to implement sustainability as a goal that pertains to all subject areas. In doing this, it is emphasized how the role of educators and teaching aims to contribute to students’ understanding on how the structure of societies and people’s work shapes sustainable development (Skolverket, 2022). Nevertheless, teachers face challenges rooted in the perception and interpretation they have about ESD on different subjects (e.g. Skolinspektion, 2023), and pre-service teacher education in Sweden struggles to motivate value-based and beyond-knowledge conversations that foster responsibility and positive attitudes towards sustainable development (SD) (Andersson et al., 2013; Cederqvist & Högström, 2025).

Responsibility has a central role in the transformation of educational approaches, moving from the individual action to the responsibility towards the social collective (Eschenbacher & Levine, 2022: Fleming, 2022). Fleming (2018) points out how transformative education as conceived by Mezirow (1997) and with Habermas’ influence (2008) is intended to address the “boundaries of systems to humanize and transform them so that they operate in the interest of all” (p.9). Responsibility not only pertains to the act of engaging in discourse critically, but also being able to modify one’s assumptions, biases or taken-for granted ideas, which constitutes the lifeworld in Habermas’ work in the face of someone else’s experiences or criticism.

Engaging in transformative educational practices could serve to disrupt dominant ways of thinking in education (Jickling & Sterling, 2017). An ever-growing body of research literature points out to the importance of providing pre-service teachers with learning experiences that connect to real-world sustainability issues (e.g. Tillmanns et al, 2017; Yavuzkaya et al., 2024). In this abstract, we highlight the opportunities that interactive visualization can provide to foster competencies connected to sustainability and enhance pro-environmental behaviours among young university students (see also González-Muñoz et al., 2024), founded upon the results of a previous study where we explored the implementation of a dialogical, interactive-visual-based intervention. The results of the first study revealed the complexity of navigating sustainability issues, the effect of interactive visualization in raising awareness and influencing affective responses, and pre-service teachers’ views on responsibility to deal with sustainability issues (Author 1).

More research needs to be done to explore how Swedish pre-service teacher education enables future science educators to address sustainability-related issues on from a transformative, critical perspective. The current paper explores visualization-based ‘disruptive’ opportunities for prospective Swedish science studies teachers to address responsibility regarding sustainability-related issues on a holistic level (Sterling, 2001; Tillmanns, 2020). We conducted a group case intervention that enables dialogue-driven interactions with visually communicated local and global sustainability issues. As stated earlier, this study builds up on the outcomes of earlier studies, particularly the different views on responsibility (Author 1) and approaches it through the lenses of the ‘disruptive learning theory’ (Tillmanns et al., 2017; Tillmanns, 2020), rooted in transformative learning (Mezirow, 1997) and deep learning or ‘third order learning’ (Sterling, 2001). Using Disruptive Learning as the lense through which we assess the features of interactive visualizations adds nuance and value to creating interventions for pre-service science teachers while encountering sustainability issues in their training. The study responds to the following research question:

How does ‘disruption’ through interactive visualization interventions in pre-service science teacher education influence pre-service teachers sense of ‘responsibility’ toward sustainability issues?

The study involved 9 participants, divided in 3 subgroups all enrolled in a science studies course at (Anon.) university, where they have been exploring sustainability topics and concepts from an interdisciplinary perspective. Voluntary student participation was conducted in coordination with the second author (and convenor) to include this study as part of the course’s structure. Data collection was situated in the context of a digital science center, where interactive visualization exhibits communicate different perspectives on sustainability-related issues, as one of the components of the center. Data collection consisted of two moments with each subgroup, inspired by Tillmann’s work (2017/2020) that include: 1) an intervention with three visual interactive exhibits; 2) a ‘deep learning’ moment, where a group discussion that stimulated the reflection about the intervention and its influence on participants’ views on responsibility about sustainability issues. All data was audiorecorded. Three different questions on individual or collective responsibility were designed in connection with the themes of each exhibit and served as ‘disruptors’, and a semi-structured interview protocol was developed for the second data collection moment. The intervention at the science center involved three sustainability-themed visual exhibits that communicate sustainability topics from a global and local perspective, as well as consideration for the state of different ecosystems: The Globe; Climate Food; and the Marine Food Web. Currently, data analysis is being conducted, framing the findings in the three phases described in Tillmann’s work: disruption (creating an affective response through visual cues to spark dissonance; deep learning (critical and dialogical reflections); and action (reconsideration of personal values and choices). The software MAXQDA will be used as a tool for organising, coding and analysing the data. Preliminary results indicate critically-reflected discussions on how responsibility is placed on different levels, and what implications can such distribution have on how educators and students navigate complex discussions and affective responses, revealing what could serve as meaningful educational approaches to the sustainability topics exposed.

The study could serve to expand ongoing conversations on how educating pre-service science studies teachers requires not only the creation of spaces for dialogue, but also a critical stand on sustainability that questions the role of future science educators in addressing sustainability and encourage pro-sustainability mindsets (see Andersson, 2017). This paper builds upon themes that originated in a previous study (Author 1), such as complexity, responsibility, affective responses and perceived advantage, thus further exploring how interactive visualizations serves to ‘disrupt’ different views on responsibility in an ESD context. Potential outcomes of this study could reveal how pre-service science studies teachers in Sweden identify and critically analyse different levels of responsibility in solving sustainability issues. Moreover, it could serve to highlight the complexity of finding solutions for such on a holistic level. Furthermore, our current study extends the work of Tillmanns (2020), wherein images and videos were used, by introducing interactive visual exhibits, with dynamic and exploratory, hands-on elements as meaningful visual cues. These means could resonate on the pre-service teachers’ beliefs, provoking affective responses on the urgency of taking action and sustaining hope. This study invites critical and reflective evaluation of pre-service science studies teacher education and the considerations for including sustainability issues from the premises of transformative learning, emphasizing Sterling’s holistic views through ‘third-order learning’ and its connection to critical reflections on responsibility for transformation (see Fleming, 2018). Another contribution of this paper revolves around the method design and integration, aligning the potential of interactive visual exhibits with the content of a science studies course. In this manner, this work could represent meaningful opportunities for pre-service teachers that contribute to their understanding of sustainability issues, demonstrating how such cohesion provides a dialogical space for pursuing critical reflections on ESD.

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