Conference Agenda

Climate change and biodiversity loss—often referred to as the “double crisis”—represent one of the most urgent global challenges of the twenty-first century (IPCC, 2021; WWF, 2024). Education has long been recognized as a key response, with environmental education (EE) systematically developed since the 1970s through major international initiatives (UNESCO, 1976; UNESCO–UNEP, 1977). Türkiye has followed this trajectory through recent curriculum reforms, including the introduction of elective courses on EE and climate change at secondary levels, reflecting a growing emphasis on environmental and sustainability education (ESE). These developments highlight the central role of teachers, as the effectiveness of ESE depends largely on their ecological knowledge, values, and pedagogical competencies (Ballantyne & Packer, 1996; Ernst, 2009; Foust et al., 2024). Accordingly, pre-service teachers (PSTs) represent a critical group, as their competencies will shape future generations’ environmental understanding.

However, EE cannot be reduced to the transmission of environmental knowledge alone. At the core of current environmental crises lies a mismatch between dominant social and economic practices and the functioning of ecological systems. Understanding and responding to these challenges therefore demands ecological literacy (EL), defined as the capacity to comprehend the principles that sustain life on Earth and to apply this understanding in ways that support sustainable human–nature relationships (Orr, 1992; Capra, 1997). Theoretical frameworks of EL have shifted from predominantly knowledge-based models to multidimensional approaches. While early frameworks focused on ecological concepts and ecosystem processes, contemporary models conceptualize EL as a holistic construct integrating cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions (Desmarais, 2024; McBride et al., 2013).

Despite the growing recognition of EL as a core outcome of EE, the assessment of EL—particularly among PSTs—remains limited. Existing instruments are often designed for adult populations, focus primarily on cognitive aspects, or treat EL dimensions as independent rather than interrelated constructs (Ha et al., 2022; Okur Berberoğlu, 2018; Pitman & Daniels, 2016). In Türkiye, while several EL-related measurement tools exist, none comprehensively capture the multidimensional nature of EL for PSTs (Haktanır et al., 2023; Koçoğlu et al., 2023).

Against this backdrop, the objective of the present study is to develop a psychometrically valid and reliable instrument that holistically assesses PSTs’ EL levels and their learning needs across cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions. The guiding research question is: How can ecological literacy among pre-service teachers be measured in a valid and comprehensive way that reflects its multidimensional and interconnected structure? By addressing this question, the study aims to fill a significant gap in the literature and provide a robust tool to support research, teacher education, and evidence-based policy development in ESE.

Beyond its national context, this study holds strong European and international relevance. ESE is a key priority within major European policy frameworks, including Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Climate Change Education (CCE), and the European Green Deal, all of which emphasize teachers’ central role in sustainability transitions. Despite this shared policy focus, cross-national research is constrained by the lack of theoretically grounded and psychometrically robust instruments for assessing PTSs’ EL. Addressing this gap, the EL scale developed in this study is based on internationally recognized EL frameworks and conceptualizes EL as a multidimensional construct encompassing cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. As such, the instrument provides a common analytical framework that can support cross-national and comparative research, as well as large-scale monitoring of teacher education outcomes. Overall, the study contributes a transferable, evidence-based assessment tool that can inform teacher education curricula, support quality assurance processes, and enhance alignment with shared European sustainability goals.

Contemporary environmental problems are highly multidimensional and cannot be adequately explained through single causes or linear cause–and–effect relationships. Particularly within the context of sustainable development, environmental issues often involve contradictions and dilemmas, where different perspectives may offer alternative pathways for understanding and action. For this reason, sustainability education emphasizes the importance of making diverse viewpoints visible and open to discussion (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe [UNECE], 2012). This situation necessitates equipping individuals in environmental education with thinking skills that can address complex systems holistically. At this point, the concept of systems thinking stands out. Systems thinking is described as an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the structure and behavior of complex systems (Hossain et al., 2020). However, dynamic complexity, uncertain feedback, and limited inquiry skills make effective learning about such systems difficult. Therefore, more holistic approaches that utilize tools and simulation-based tests that make perceptions visible and develop scientific reasoning skills for effective learning about systems may be needed (Sterman, 1994).

This need places systems thinking in a particularly important position within the context of environmental education and teacher training. Indeed, studies examining teachers' competencies within sustainable development education (SD) reveal that systems thinking ranks lower compared to other competency areas such as content planning or social skills (Prabawani et al., 2022). In other words, systems thinking is not a naturally developing skill for teachers; it requires conscious, structured, and pedagogically designed learning processes. At this point, it can be said that addressing these skills in the early stages of teacher training, i.e., during the teacher candidacy period, is critical rather than compensating for them through in-service training. Similarly, studies that place systems thinking at the center of teacher education indicate that pedagogical practice forms the core of education, supporting the development of a teacher identity integrated with teachers' biographies and personal interests (Astaíza-Martínez et al., 2021). The implications of this approach on teacher candidates are also supported by research conducted in the Turkish context. A review of the literature reveals that a study examining prospective science teachers' systems-thinking skills regarding biodiversity found that their systems understanding was below average (Şahin, 2021). These findings highlight the importance of addressing systems thinking skills early and in a practice-based manner within teacher training programs as part of environmental education. Similarly, Semiz and Teksöz (2019) stated that systems thinking skills, considered one of the 21st-century skills, should be seen as essential for teachers and trainers in the context of sustainable development. Considering all of this together, it is evident that systems thinking is not merely a theoretical competence for prospective teachers, but a fundamental thinking skill that can be developed through consciously designed teaching processes within the context of environmental education; this clearly demonstrates the need for research on how these processes are structured. Based on this need, the aim of this study is to examine how pre-service teachers' systems thinking skills are structured and transformed throughout an environmental education course restructured on systems thinking principles. The study aims to reveal how pre-service teachers identify relationships between components of a system in the context of environmental problems, recognize dynamic interactions and feedback processes, and understand matter and energy cycles in conjunction with social, ecological, and economic processes. Rather than measuring individual success, the study, through a process-oriented, qualitative approach, describes how systems thinking becomes visible through different learning activities throughout the course and how pre-service teachers' thinking styles evolve from linear to cyclical and holistic explanations.

While barriers and enablers of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Education (GE) in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) are well documented (e.g. Evans et al., 2021; Ferreira &Ryan, 2012) less attention has been paid to how teacher educators position themselves in relation to pedagogical change within the transformative agenda, particularly in under-researched regions. Recent scholarship increasingly calls for more transformative models of ESD/GE that move beyond transmissive knowledge delivery and foster critical thinking, reflexivity, learner agency and engagement with socio-ecological uncertainty (Tarozzi &Mallon, 2019; Gough, 2025). However, the extent to which teacher educators are able – and feel entitled – to enact such approaches remain uneven and highly context-dependent.

Central Europe – and especially the Visegrad countries (Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia), where socio-political and historical contexts differ significantly from the Western part of Europe (Dlouhá et al., 2017; Hodorovská & Rankovová, 2024; Kuleta-Hulboj, 2020; Mónus, 2020; Müller, 2018; Varga, 2020), – remains underexplored in international ESD/GE scholarly literature, despite shared post-socialist institutional legacies, comparable governance structures and similar challenges in teacher education. These national, regional, and institutional contexts simultaneously constrain and enable ESD/GE integration. While regulatory frameworks, disciplinary traditions, and competing policy priorities often limit room for pedagogical innovation, the same contexts also give rise to locally embedded good practices, institutional niches, and individual and collective initiatives that support ESD/GE. Understanding how teacher educators navigate this duality – between constraints and possibilities – while engaging with European and global ESD/GE discourses is therefore crucial, both for comparative research and for strengthening international research networks seeking context-sensitive yet transferable insights.

Building on research emphasising educators’ beliefs, professional identity, and agency, this study explores how teacher educators committed to ESD/GE conceptualise their pedagogical roles, perceive their own preparedness, asses their scopes of action and negotiate their roles within existing institutional conditions. As its theoretical framework, the study draws on Ecological Teacher Agency (Emirbayer&Mische, 1998; Priestley et al., 2012) which conceptualises agency not as an individual capacity but as emerging from the interplay of educators’ past experiences, professional identities, future aspirations and visions and the structural, cultural and material conditions of their work. This framework enables a nuanced analysis of how aspirations for transformative pedagogy are enabled or constrained within specific institutional and policy environments.

The study addresses the following research questions:

1. How do teacher educators committed to ESD/GE conceptualise transformative pedagogy and learner agency in ITE?
2. How do they perceive their own professional preparedness and agency within existing institutional and disciplinary conditions?
3. How do national and international contexts and cross-country similarities shape opportunities and constraints for ESD/GE in Central European ITE?

By adopting a comparative qualitative approach, the study contributes empirically to under-represented regional contexts, theoretically to debates on teacher agency in ESD/GE and methodologically to international research cooperation in ESD/GE. The findings aim to inform both national reform and cross-national dialogue on how teacher educators can be better supported in navigating – and potentially expanding – their scope for transformative action.

Given the many global crises such as climate change, loss of species, and growing inequality, the UN and many participating nations have called for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to be embedded at all levels of education from early childhood through tertiary and beyond. Germany is among the nations to answer this call by recommending ESD become a central element in education with its recent National Sustainability Strategy (Die Bundesregierung 2025), as has the federal state of Lower Saxony (Niedersächsisches Kultusministerium 2021). This logically includes pre-service teacher education, which has long been regarded an important lever for a sustainable transformation (Fischer et al., 2022). In-service teachers and school administrators have shown to be supportive towards this mandate, but they report feeling unprepared and under-supported (Holst et al. 2025).

This brings forth the sticky question of how to offer this support. So far, binding curricular integration of ESD into pre-service teacher education programs has not been achieved due to multiple factors including accreditation processes and local certification requirements for public school teachers. Additionally, the transformation must fit the needs of the local stakeholders while holding the bigger-picture goals of the world community in focus. Suggestions such as competence-orientation place extra pressure on teachers who need to learn to teach for competence along with building their own (Corres et al. 2020). Calls for Trans- and Interdisciplinary are at odds with German context where teacher programs tend to concentrate on specialization to prepare future teachers to be content experts in single school subjects.

One opportunity is to engage with the existing teacher training curricula. ESD is a cross-cutting concept that can serve as a lens in all potential topics. This means that providing a structure that supports future teachers in recognizing the connections between subjects and reflecting on what that means for their future professional praxis can serve as an action and entry point. By making ESD a conceptual focus of the whole program, education students can view their chosen degree program through this cross-cutting lens. Structuring the offer around a competence frame will provide them a tool for guided self-assessment of their learning to understand how, as future education professionals, they are also becoming future sustainability transformation leaders.

The university Leuphana in Lüneburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, currently offers the opportunity to education majors to choose a cross-cutting theme as a focus of their studies (Ahlers et al. 2024). This voluntary focus is offered in a program called "Profile Studies". This program consists of a combination of purposeful class selection within the required courses for an education degree and targeted reflections that are stored in a portfolio of their learning journey. Interested students can choose a profile. They then maintain a portfolio of their work dedicated to this profile, starting with a reflection on their goals and interests. They must successfully participate in a minimum of four courses associated with the profile and selected work from and reflections on these courses is included in the portfolio. The profile topic is then a central part of their Bachelor or Master’s thesis, and their profile work concludes with an exit interview about their learnings.

This presentation provides a case study on the development and implementation of an ESD profile. In this paper the author(s) will present the process of establishing an empirical investigation into the needs of the future teacher community, the local schools, and the university staff responsible for the teacher education program, developing the competence-oriented goals of the ESD profile, and establishing it in the available curriculum.