Proceedings of the Conference of Growing up the Future: Education for Sustainability (GROUFES 2026)
Growing up the Future: Education for Sustainability (GROUFES 2026)
đMagdeburg, Germanyđïž 5-6 May 2026
26 articles
Proceedings Article
Peer-Review Statements
Karina Becker, Britt Johanne Farstad, Maria Assunção Folque, José Luis Gómez Ramos, Anne-Rachel Hermetet, Maria Ilhéu, Laure Pillot, William Pillot, Philipp Pohlenz, Daniel Pust, Hugo Rebelo, Antonio Roselli, John Scahill
All of the articles in this proceedings volume have been presented at the conference âGrowing up the Future. Education for Sustainabilityâ [GROUFES] during 5th-6th of May 2026 in Magdeburg [Germany]. These articles have been peer reviewed by the members of the Scientific Committee and approved by the...
Proceedings Article
Building Capacity for Sustainable Education in Outdoor Campus Spaces
A Framework for Change
Therese Hume, Fiona Britton, Dolores Byrne, Yvonne Lang, Susan Mc Donnell, Ruth Quinn
As the effects of the current poly-crisis for ecosystems, food security and human health become increasingly evident, a significant role can be played by higher educational institutes (HEIs) in addressing emerging challenges. While HEI campuses provide rich resources that can be adapted or repurposed...
Proceedings Article
Learning in Paradox
Student Engagement with Sustainability in Higher Education
Gabriela Gliga, Noor Alsayed, Ana-Maria Bores, George Onofrei
Despite institutional commitments to sustainability, higher education continues to struggle with engaging students in ways that translate values into consistent behaviours. Many students express pro-sustainability values, yet act in ways that contradict them, a persistent âvalueâbehaviour gapâ that highlights...
Proceedings Article
Women in Entrepreneurship for Sustainability in Irelandâs West, North-West and Northern Ireland
Addressing Gender Disparity through Education
Janine Mc Ginn
In Ireland, women are under-represented among business owners and self-employed compared with the EU average. Despite initiatives, and modest progress since 2018, in 2024, just 29% of start-up teams supported by Enterprise Ireland, had a woman in the founding team (Enterprise Ireland, 2026). This paper...
Proceedings Article
Perspectives on Sustainability in Higher Education
Research Trends, Institutional Practices, and Implementation Challenges
Marius DrugaÈ, John Scahill, Antonella Bachiorri, Karina Becker, Carmel Heaney, Maria IlhĂ©u, Guida Veiga
This paper synthesizes perspectives on sustainability in higher education (HE), drawing on a comprehensive review of over fifty peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2024. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly recognized as critical actors in advancing the United Nations Sustainable...
Proceedings Article
Developing Environmental Sustainability through Student Engagement
A Case Study of Val de Loire Universities
Camille Tulasne
Advancing environmental sustainability in higher education requires not only institutional commitment but also the development of key competences among students. Within this perspective, the European Commissionâs GreenComp framework provides a shared reference for sustainability learning, defining twelve...
Proceedings Article
Art Universities as Transformative Actors in Education for Sustainable Development in the German Higher Education Landscape
On the Role of Artistic and Creative Approaches in Profound ESD Learning Processes
Hamadou Ngoei
Although education for sustainable development (ESD) is receiving increasing attention in the academic discourse of German universities, its practical implementation is often primarily attributed to natural sciences, technology and social sciences (Barth & Rieckmann, 2016). In doing so, the inherent...
Proceedings Article
Exploring Campus Transformation
A Walking Workshop on Sustainability and Teaching
Silke RĂŒhmland, Juliana Hilf
How can university campuses function as living laboratories for sustainability and hubs for innovative teaching and learning? This interactive walking tour workshop invites participants to explore the Otto-von-Guericke-University (OVGU) campus from a transformative perspective â both in its physical...
Proceedings Article
Bridging Generations
A Dialogical Model for Intergenerational Sustainability Education
Bhuvan Israni
Sustainability is an ancient concept. Contemporary approaches to sustainability education often overlook the rich reservoirs of ancestral knowledge on how to be sustainable. In numerous cultures, including many Asian cultures, the advice of elders regarding resource conservation and financial prudence...
Proceedings Article
Empowering Future Financial Decision-Makers
The Role of University Teaching in Shaping Sustainable Finance Literacy and Investment Behavior
Cedric Bardowieck, Joachim Prinz
Our study investigates how sustainable finance literacy shapes investment behavior among first-year Business Administration students and how university education can support the development of a more sustainability-oriented financial mindset. The analysis is based on the first wave of an ongoing full...
Proceedings Article
Ecofiction as Didactic Tool
Shared Anticipations and Agency Towards Possible and Desirable Futures
Britt Johanne Farstad
This paper explores how ecofiction can serve as a didactic tool for cultivating anticipatory thinking, agency, and shared imagination toward sustainable futures in educational contexts. Drawing on the concepts of anticipation, anticipatory governance, and pedagogies of hope, it situates literature and...
Proceedings Article
Addressing Sustainability Themes Using Visual Storytelling
Kathryn McSweeney
This paper explores the use of visual storytelling to address sustainability themes within a Home Economics Professional Master of Education module in an Initial Teacher Education context in Ireland. Firstly, the pre-service teachers engaged in curriculum mapping to identify connections between the Home...
Proceedings Article
Critical Citizens Regarding the Use of Artificial Intelligence
An Approach from Social Engineering
Fernando Broncano, Aurora Cuartero, Mar Ăvila, AndrĂ©s Caro, Pablo G. RodrĂguez
The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on society must be examined from a critical and multidimensional perspective, addressing both pedagogical advances and the associated social, ethical, and environmental risks. Through a literature review and the analysis of relevant cases such as Cambridge Analytica,...
Proceedings Article
Scaffolding Sustainability
Critical Thinking for SDG Achievement
Rita Payan-Carreira, Hugo Rebelo, Ana Maria CristĂłvĂŁo, LuĂs SebastiĂŁo
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals represent humanityâs most comprehensive framework for addressing deeply interconnected global challenges, yet progress on more than half of all targets remains insufficient. This chapter argues that the implementation gap is, in part, a cognitive problem...
Proceedings Article
Teachersâ Beliefs as Resources for Inclusive Teaching
Insights into a Long-Term University Study
Karina Becker
Teachers play a key role in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). They equip learners with the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, foster a culture of respect and belonging, and ensure equitable and quality education for all. Their beliefs also influence the way and...
Proceedings Article
Rethinking Teaching for Inclusive Education in a Postmigrant Society
JosĂ© Luis GĂłmez Ramos, Sergio Silva Vicente, MarĂa Teresa Becerra Traver, Manuel Lucero Fustes, Manuel Montanero FernĂĄndez
This study analyses educatorsâ perceptions of their adaptive capacity in postmigrant classrooms across three domains: culture, multilingualism, and equality. Using a mixed-methods analysis of focus group data from 36 in-service teachers in Madrid (Spain), findings highlight the general perception among...
Proceedings Article
Learning About Care and Learning to Care in Continuing Education
MarĂa del Carmen Afonso, Desiderio De Paz, Israel GarcĂa, MercĂš Gil, Joan Pere GuzmĂĄn, MarĂa Esther GutiĂ©rrez, JoaquĂn JosĂ© MartĂnez, Rosana Miraglino, Marta Montesinos, Lorens Witty
Caring for one another and growing together, fostering and building just, equitable learning environments that are livable in all dimensions and enable success, must be the fundamental purpose of teacher training programmes. Our experience as the Network of Educators for Global Citizenship shows how...
Proceedings Article
Shifting Practices, Shaping Futures
Translating ESD into Teacher Education Practice
Paula JĂ€ger, Anne-Kathrin Lindau
This case study reconstructs how identical ESD policy directives produce divergent practices in Germanyâs second phase of teacher education, conducted in Studienseminare where seminar leaders (teacher educators) mentor trainees and prepare them for state examinations. Narrative interviews with ten seminar...
Proceedings Article
Advancing Sustainability Competences in Teacher Education Through Reflective Practices
Introducing a Concept
Sunet Grobler
This paper introduces research focused on advancing Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) (UN, 2015) within teacher education, which investigates how reflective practices, supported by vignettes (Agostini et al., 2024) and the Socratic method (DeliÄ & BeÄiroviÄ, 2016; Schiller, 2008), can foster...
Proceedings Article
Beyond Disciplinary Knowledge
Outdoor Education and Experiential Learning in Teacher Faculty Development
Elena Nardiello
The European Commissionâs GreenComp (2022) document highlights the urgent need for educational frameworks that integrate cross-curricular sustainability competencies across all disciplines. Through a critical analysis of two European policy documents guiding educational practice in the field of sustainability,...
Proceedings Article
Anchored Instruction in Teacher Training in Focus of Education for Sustainability
Experiences and Results of an Erasmus+ Project
Karina Becker, Giulia Costa, Laura Victoria Fielden Burns, Delphine Guedat-Bittighoffer, Eva-Maria Klan, Cristina Manchado Nieto
Studies have identified multifactorial criteria for effective, sustainable teacher training (e.g. Lipowsky & Rzejak, 2021). These may include the following: orientation towards the latest teaching research; focus on central teaching requirements; strengthening collegial cooperation; linking input,...
Proceedings Article
A Catalogue of Cryptids
Fostering Environmental Awareness through Cryptozoology
Max Jokschus
Contemporary urbanism increasingly shifts away from top-down, capital-driven infrastructure projects toward bottom-up, culture-led urban regeneration. This paper explores the symbiotic relationship between culture-led regeneration and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), proposing that culturally...
Proceedings Article
Into the Wild
Wilderness Education as a Transformative Approach to ESD
Anne-Kathrin Lindau
A variety of approaches to implementing the concept of education for sustainable development (ESD) now exist. These approaches are thematically dedicated to the SDGs and establish transformative forms of teaching and learning. One such approach is wilderness education, which ties in with the widely discussed...
Proceedings Article
Professionalisation in the Third Phase of Teacher Training
Changing the Learning Culture Through Learning Guidance
Lena Maria Kesting
This paper outlines a research project on the professionalisation of teachers in the third phase of teacher training in the context of constructivist learning settings, with a particular focus on learning guidance. In view of the increasing importance of Education for Sustainable Development, students...
Proceedings Article
Reading the Alentejo Landscape
Literary Landscapes as a Pedagogical Tool to Foster Landscape Literacy
Joana Portela
Supposing that literary landscapes of the Alentejo (southern Portugal) in contemporary Portuguese fiction could be a common ground to activate interdisciplinary dialogues between the field of Environmental Humanities and that of Landscape Studies, my dissertation aims to examine the perceptions of the...
Proceedings Article
Fostering Sustainable Teacher Competence Through Digital Assessment of Intercultural Oral Production in English as a Foreign Language
A DigCompEdu-Aligned Approach
Julia GarcĂa QuirĂłs, Laura Victoria Fielden Burns, Gemma Delicado Puerto
This paper presents work in progress within the Erasmus+ project Second Language Learning at School for all TEENagers (SLS4Teens), developed under the EU Green Alliance. The study examines how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can support the digital assessment of oral production while fostering...