Transformational, cross-cutting people skills for the SDGs

<< Background >>Education — formal, informal and non-formal — has been acknowledged to play a central role in enabling us to deal with the enormous challenges humanity faces. The ESD for 2030 Framework by UNESCO lists “transformational skills” and “transformative action” as key to help move the whole of society towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the Framework, “transformative action” is even listed as the first of three key notions that constitute the basis of ESD (Education for Sustainable Development). Non-formal adult education has developed educational practices for facilitating transformation in various, very specific contexts. Formal education is lagging behind, esp. in the higher education sector, considered key to educating future agents of change but focusing mainly on building and transmitting knowledge. There is a lack of adult education covering in a cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral way the normative and behavioural aspects of SD, that manifests in initiatives failing to meet their objectives, e.g. in public engagement, consumer behaviour change, leadership, community development processes — all dependent on the inner strength of the individuals concerned. Needed now are capable educators on a large scale.<< Objectives >>Our key assumption: the SDGs cannot be achieved without strengthening the actors’ (professionals, consumers,…all categories, up to the decision making levels) “soft skills” that are necessary for fully apprehending the SDGs and taking relevant action. Our focus has been the area between the Inner Development Goals (IDGs), which we consider as learning objectives in the context of this project, and the practical applications of the principles involved: an area we have come to think of as ‘teachable skills’. Our purpose: to introduce skill sets that make space for transformative learning (TL) and enable a cross-disciplinary approach, as this opens the way for handling complexity from a perspective of sustainability, regeneration and relationality. We wanted to draft a practice-oriented Compendium for use in designing and delivering formal and non-formal adult education, to introduce and convey these teachable skills. Also, to test the Compendium in two pilot courses, one in higher education and one in non-formal adult education, apply and build on the outcomes of our previous E+ project which explored the boundaries of online TL, and further consolidate our partnership for addressing additional issues in ESD in a cross-sectoral way.<< Implementation >>Online kick-off meeting/transnational project meetingProject managementCommunity of Practice meetings (CoP)Collating of contributions to the draft CompendiumFace-to-face Pilot course in higher education (HE)Online Pilot course in non-formal adult education (NFE)Dissemination activities<< Results >>- A Compendium for use in designing and delivering adult education, both formal and non-formal, to convey competences that cover in a cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral way the behavioral aspects of sustainable development, taking into account the complex and uncertain context we are facing. The draft Compendium is for anyone engaged in education for transformation and sustainable development, as an educator, facilitator, or curriculum designer.- A basis and approach for an in-person teacher training course/training program on transformative learning for higher education (HE); developed through the project’s pilot course in HE, which tested parts of the Compendium and collected feedback. - A new online course/training program for facilitators of transformative learning announced for August 2023. This is based on the work with the Compendium and experience of both the in-person pilot course in HE, and the six-week online pilot course aimed at educators of adults wishing to inject transformative elements into their work with ESD.- A written report from the pilot course in HE, published on the Legacy17 website.- Two websites dedicated to the project, one by Legacy17 and one by Visionautik Akademie.- Photos