Roundup June – August 2026

The past three months have been eventful for the Sustainability Education Research Group. Here is a compact roundup of what appeared on our website in June, July, and August 2026 — enjoy the read!

Welcoming Dr Zintle Songqwaru: TWAS-DFG Research Fellowship at Leuphana

By Sustainability Education Research Group • August 29, 2026 • UNESCO Chair, Teacher Education for Sustainable Development, ESD, SSATL, Higher Education for Sustainable Development, Fellows

We welcome Zintle Nonyameko Songqwaru (Rhodes University, South Africa) at Leuphana University Lüneburg for a TWAS-DFG research fellowship — deepening our collaboration on teacher leadership for Education for Sustainable Development. [read more]

Solving Problems Is Not Enough: Why Sustainability Science Needs Theory Building

By Sustainability Education Research Group • August 17, 2026 • publication, open access, Education for Sustainable Development, sustainability science, gaia

In a new publication in GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, led by Helge Kminek (University of Klagenfurt) and co-authored by Daniel Fischer, Mandy Singer-Brodowski (University of Regensburg) and Alexander Denzin (Leipzig University), we ask why theory… [read more]

Having ownership: students shape teaching at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development

By Sustainability Education Research Group • July 10, 2026 • ScalingHESD, Higher Education for Sustainable Development, higher education, involvement

At HNEE, Master's students design transdisciplinary micro-projects and mentor Bachelor's students in a university-wide introductory course on sustainable development. [read more]

The Eberswalde Studienmodell: spiral competence development as the blueprint for curriculum design

By Sustainability Education Research Group • July 10, 2026 • ScalingHESD, Higher Education for Sustainable Development, curriculum development

The Eberswalde Studienmodell organises curricula around recurring competence lines that students revisit and deepen across their studies - now binding for all new programmes at HNEE. [read more]

Interdisciplinary first-year formation as institutional default: the Transformation module in the Leuphana Semester

By Sustainability Education Research Group • July 10, 2026 • ScalingHESD, Higher Education for Sustainable Development, curriculum development, LUL

In the Leuphana Semester, the Transformation module reaches all first-year Bachelor students and anchors inter- and transdisciplinary work in the institution's culture. [read more]

Continuous student coaching and guidance

By Sustainability Education Research Group • July 10, 2026 • ScalingHESD, Higher Education for Sustainable Development, higher education

Continuous coaching and mentoring across entire study programmes supports students' reflection on learning goals - a building block of institutional support systems for HESD. [read more]

Students co-shaping assessment: the Studierendenrat at Leuphana University Lüneburg

By Sustainability Education Research Group • July 10, 2026 • ScalingHESD, Higher Education for Sustainable Development, LUL, involvement

A student council of 23 randomly selected students deliberated on the Transformation module and proposed staged submissions, learning checks and alternative examination formats - moving assessment toward a companion of the learning process. [read more]

Next UNESCO Chair Lecture on Assessment in ESD

By Mariia Statkova • June 30, 2026 • UNESCO Chair, UNESCO, UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development, UNESCOLectureSeries, assessment, ESD Learning Assessment, ESD, ESDfor2030

The UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development at Leuphana University Lüneburg and SETRI invites you to the next event in our UNESCO Chair Lecture Series on assessment in ESD taking place on the 24th of August, 2026. Following the first session held on 1 June… [read more]

How are school leaders shaping the transformation towards more sustainable and future-oriented schools?

By Mariia Statkova, Daria Humburg • June 15, 2026 • Lole, whole-school approach, Education for Sustainable Development

The LoLE Training brings together school leaders who actively drive change within their schools and advance Education for Sustainable Development through a Whole School Approach and in the context of Learner Empowerment. [read more]

UNESCO Chair Lecture Series: Aaron Redman and Caleb Mandikonza on “Assessment in Education for Sustainable Development: History and Future Directions”

By Mariia Statkova • June 15, 2026 • UNESCOLectureSeries, UNESCO, UNESCOChair, UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development

The UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development at Leuphana University Lüneburg and SETRI is happy to share a recording of the first event in its new UNESCO Chair Lecture Series on assessment in ESD. While Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has made… [read more]

Socio-economic Issues Are Gaining the Upper Hand: Key Findings from the Greenpeace Sustainability Barometer 2025

By Sustainability Education Research Group • June 14, 2026 • publication, ESD, open access

A new study published in June 2026 presents the central findings of the Greenpeace Sustainability Barometer 2025, the fourth wave of a representative survey of young people's sustainability awareness in Germany since 2011. Daniel Fischer (Leuphana University Lüneburg) co-authors… [read more]

Austrian Sustainability Award 2026: Daniel Fischer on the Jury

By Sustainability Education Research Group • June 13, 2026 • UNESCO Chair, Higher Education for Sustainable Development, ESD

On 9 June 2026, the Austrian Sustainability Award 2026 was presented in the Marble Hall in Vienna. The joint initiative of the Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research (BMFWF) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection… [read more]