The purpose of this comparative study is to clarify the importance and potential of Education in Sustainable Development (ESD) and the enhancement of environmental policy that promotes Sustainable Society; the comparison is between two Nordic countries; Sweden, Finland and Japan.

This study’s hypothesis is that there is a historical background of balance between Top down and Bottom up movements on Environmental Education, EE and ESD in Environmental Policy in the search for a “Sustainable Society” at a national, local, school and company level in Nordic Europe. The reasons for success are entrenched in historical, cultural and social backgrounds that have developed during international coversations on a “Sustainable Society” between cities and countries around the Baltic Sea since the 1990s.

On the other hand, there is a historical background of imbalance between Top down and Bottom up movements on EE and ESD in Environmental policy that promotes a “Sustainable Society” at national, local, school and company level in Japan. The reasons for this lack of balance are historical, cultural and social backgrounds that have made it difficult to construct an international debate on a “Sustainable Society” between city and country in East Asia during the 1990’s.

A key factor in constructing international collaboration could be the importance of and necessity for EE and ESD developed by the Bottom-up movement with citizen and child participation that has occurred since the 1970s in the Baltic Sea region.

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