Purpose: This study aims to address how a higher education pedagogical course in sustainable development (SD) for university educators affects their teaching efforts in providing sustainability matters for students. Design/methodology/approach: With the aim of improving that course, a case study approach was used to understand how the educators made use of the course in their teaching practice. Data were collected as written and oral feedback reflections and as semi-structured interviews at course completion. Findings: Educators clearly express that they understand the concept “about” SD, but there are only vague expressions of a developed teaching repertoire to address education “for” SD in their teaching practice. Research limitations/implications: When it comes to the purposes of developing sustainability literacy among students, implications from the study furthermore address the needs for further clarifications on both structure and intent on the course presented in this contribution. Practical implications: The educators as well as their students will be exposed to, and trained in concepts, to prepare them to act in alignment with SD. This, in turn, meets requirements from higher education authorities concerning SD at higher education institutions. Social implications: A core aim of the covered approach is to support student readiness in SD, and for those to become future agents of positive change. Originality/value: This study has a focus on presenting how educators change the structures of courses and learning elements to approach SD in their teachings.

Teachers need knowledge of species and species identification skills for teaching the structure and function of ecosystems, and the principles of biodiversity and its role in sustainability. The aim of this study is to analyze Nordic student teachers’ views on the most efficient methods and strategies to teach and learn species and species identification, and to find some trends about how well their views are reflected in a species identification test. Student teachers in Finland, Norway, and Sweden (N = 426) answered a questionnaire consisting of fixed and open-ended questions, and a species identification test. An analysis of variance, Chi-Square, and t-test were used for quantitative data and an inductive content analysis for qualitative data. Results showed that outdoor teaching and learning methods are more efficient than indoor methods. The majority of student teachers considered outdoor experiential learning with living organisms as the most efficient teaching and learning method. Student teachers who highlighted outdoor experiential learning and outdoor project work as their most efficient methods received significantly better results in the species identification test than the others. Field trips and fieldwork were emphasized as the most important sources in schools and universities, while the Internet was the most important source among media. The student teachers underlined teachers’ expertise in the form of in-depth understanding of subjects and supervising skills for efficient teaching both outdoors and indoors. Therefore, teaching and learning of species and species identification as the practical part of biodiversity and sustainability education is emphasized as an integral part of teacher education programs.

People’s knowledge about nature, their interest in nature, their nature experiences, and their values and emotions regarding nature are factors that promote people’s positive views on environmental issues and sustainability. Knowing the variation and patterns in teachers’ and student teachers’ views is an essential step in considering the ways in which sustainability might be interpreted and enacted in schools and in teacher education. The aim of this study is to analyze student teachers’ views on the importance of species and species identification in general and as a part of their professional development regarding their understanding of biodiversity and sustainability. A total of 426 student teachers in Finland, Norway, and Sweden answered a questionnaire consisting of fixed and open-ended questions. Mixed methods were used: t test and analysis of variance for quantitative data and inductive and deductive, model-based content analysis for qualitative data. According to the majority of student teachers (85%), both species identification and biodiversity are important for sustainability; species identification in general was important to 58% of them. Their statements about importance contained mostly ecological views (46%), followed by emotional (17%), educational (16%), and utilitarian (11%) views. The remainder of the student teachers’ statements (10%) contained negativistic or indifferent views. The reasons for the low percentage of educational views are discussed. The implications of the results for teacher education worldwide are emphasized, especially the importance of those teaching methods that have the potential to increase student teachers’ understanding of sustainability.

Children explore their environment through experiences and each experience is meaningful in developing their environmental consciousness and identity. On the basis of the drawn landscape experiences, the present qualitative study set out to find out what landscapes the participating students deemed worth conserving. The data consisted of the drawings of 11- to 16-year-old Finnish (n = 311) and Swedish (n = 246) students. Deductive and inductive content analyses were used to analyse the data. The results showed that all three landscape types; nature, built, and social were presented in the drawings. Nature and built landscapes were the most frequent types, with the proportion of nature landscapes increasing and that of built landscapes decreasing with age. There were gender and cultural preferences: boys drew built landscapes more often than girls; and Finnish students drew summer cottages, a cultural phenomenon typical of Finnish landscapes, which was not found in Swedish drawings. Similarities in Finnish and Swedish data were identified e.g., in forest and water and “cultural landscapes”. Some of the students displayed a more distant, observing role, whereas others adopted an active one in relation to all three landscape types. The results are discussed in connection to the landscape theories and earlier findings of the drawn environments.

In the context of landscape, both the natural environment and the built environment can be linked with human health and well-being. This connection has been studied among adults, but no research has been conducted on young people. To fill this gap, this case study aimed to elucidate students’ views on landscapes worth conserving and the landscapes that affect and support their well-being. The participants (n = 538) were Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish students from grades 3–6. The students drew the landscapes they wanted to conserve. The drawn landscapes and the welfare-supporting features they contained were analysed using inductive and abductive content analyses. The students from all three countries preferred water, forest and yard landscapes. In the drawings of natural landscapes, the most recurring themes were sunrise or sunset, forest, beach and mountain landscapes. Physical well-being was manifested in the opportunity to jog and walk. Social well-being was reflected in the presence of friends, relatives and animals. Therapeutically important well-being-related spaces—the so-called green (natural areas), blue (aquatic environments) and white (e.g., snow) areas—were also depicted in the participants’ drawings. It can be concluded that the drawn landscapes reflect several values that promote students’ well-being.

Enligt Högskolelagen skall högskolorna i sin verksamhet främja en hållbar utveckling. FNs Agenda 2030 och dess 17 globala hållbarhetsmål belyser ytterligare högskolornas roll att utveckla och sprida kunskap om hållbar utveckling. Det ställs dock krav på högskolelärares insikter kring hållbarhetsbegreppet och iscensättandet av dess flervetenskaplighet i undervisningssituationen. Den här artikeln beskriver en fakultetsövergripande högskolepedagogisk kurs, Undervisning för hållbar utveckling, med dessa krav som utgångspunkt. Kursens genomförande och design presenteras, liksom syfte och lärdomar.