Objective

The intent of this paper is to discuss the relationships between international and national (Danish) policies within health promotion and education for sustainable development (ESD) in schools, focusing on common themes and challenges and on transformation processes that occur on the trajectory from international to national domains. The paper is based on a study with a twofold aim;

1)      To explore how health promotion and sustainable development are articulated in international and Danish policies related to primary and lower secondary schools. Focus has been on aims, approaches, competences/knowledge and context - within each area individually and across the two areas

2)      To explore the transformation processes, expressed in the relations between international and national policies. The focus here has been ruptures, momentum and tensions.

The study has been carried out as part of the newly established research centre Schools for Health and Sustainability (www.shs.au.dk).

Theoretical framework

The analysis is based on critical health education and health promotion theory (Simovska 2009, Jensen 2000; Carlsson, Jensen and Simovska 2009; Simovska and Jensen 2012) and on the conceptualization of education for sustainable development (Læssøe, Breiting, Schnack and Rolls, 2009; Schnack 2003). On this background health and sustainability are understood as issues which relate to both lifestyle and living conditions, involving individual, sociocultural and societal factors. Participation is a key concept within both health promotion and education for sustainable development - used in a number of different ways. The paper will discuss the different understandings and approaches expressed in the policies, based on distinctions of participation as presented by Simovska (2012).

Given the high political profile of both issues, health and sustainability, which have been identified to be among the large societal challenges of the 21 Century, the school is considered as one of the important arenas where the work with health promotion and sustainable development can take place.  In this respect, schools can be treated as passive arenas for implementing external political aims and targets for health promotion and sustainability, or as active players, emphasizing the importance of the school environment, conditions and meaning making for an effective health education and education for sustainable development (Jensen 2012, Schnack 2003). This study is based on the latter understanding of the school and the assumption is that there are active processes of reinterpretation and translation of policy taking place not only on the path from international to national level, but also further on the trajectory to regional (municipality) and local (school) level.

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