ESD ‹in the Making›?

Abstract

The article explores potentials and limitations of educational making for education for sustainable development (ESD) based on a list of competencies proposed by ESD researchers to achieve transformational educational goals (Rieckmann 2021). It focuses on three areas offering potential for ESD: first, learner empowerment; second, sustainability thinking, innovation thinking, and entrepreneurship education; and third, Education 4.0 and twenty-first century skills. It outlines central demands and concepts of both ESD and educational making as the theoretical backdrop for the analysis. After presenting core ideas and relevant research in each of the three areas, the article discusses their potential to foster the set of competencies proposed by the ESD movement. The analysis suggests that educational making indeed offers potential for ESD, but with some limitations and conditions that are discussed along with desiderata for further research.