Conference Agenda

This symposium is the result of a collaboration in the context of an international scientific network on ‘Sustainability Didactics’ (SUDI). The network brings together researchers from universities in Belgium, Sweden, Germany, and Austria with the aim to facilitate and strengthen didactical research on teaching and learning about socio-ecological issues. Over the past decades, environmental and sustainability education (ESE) research has provided us with increased insight in specific didactical challenges involved. We also gained knowledge about what is, in general, important for fruitful teaching practices and learning processes in this area. However, insight into what it implies to realise these important, general principles in practice – i.e., what kind of ‘didactical work’ of educators it requires – is much scarcer. The SUDI-network wants to inspire and inform such research by bringing diverse theoretical, methodological, and empirical didactical perspectives into dialogue. In this symposium, we do so with a focus on teaching and learning about controversial socio-ecological issues. This topic, as well as the focus of the six presented papers, are relevant to, both, ESE research and research on citizenship education. Therefore, we propose a two-part symposium as joint sessions within the respective EERA-networks (NW30 and NW34).

Adequate ways to address the controversy that often characterises socio-ecological issues is elaborately discussed in educational research literature. Teaching about controversial topics is challenging and teachers have found to be reluctant to engage with controversy associated with socio-ecological issues (e.g., Seow & Ho 2016; Anderson & Jacobson 2018; Waldron et al. 2019; Alkaher & Carmi 2024; Bengtsson et al. 2024; Breitenmoser et al. 2025). There are varied reasons for that such as, among others, teachers’ fear that the content might be experienced as controversial by students, doubts about students’ ability to understand and discuss the issue, fear of being perceived as political and whether this is appropriate as a teacher, avoidance to impose norms and attitudes and intentions to be neutral, avoidance to engage with emotions, insecurity, and conflicts, absence of controversy in curricula, etc. Besides risks, also the educative potential of engaging with controversy in the classroom is recognised in previous research (e.g., Van Poeck et al. 2019; Chan 2023; Bengtsson et al. 2024; Strijbos & Engels 2024). Addressing controversial socio-ecological issues can, for example, stimulate ethical and political learning, elicit concern and emotions as key drivers for learning, contribute to fostering pluralistic and democratic citizenship, disrupt familiar patterns of thinking, provoke self-reflection and critical analysis, and encourage pupils to reconsider current, perspectives or practices, etc. This symposium brings into dialogue diverse theoretical contributions, methodological approaches, and empirical research findings aimed at deepening our insight into how the didactical challenges of teaching about controversial socio-ecological issues can be handled in ways that are fruitful to unlock the educative potential of engaging with such content. Doing so, we hope to nourish a discussion about how educational research can generate useful knowledge that provides navigational support for educational professionals facing this challenging task.

Part I of this symposium presents and discusses 3 papers. Paper 1 problematises the ability of established theoretical models based on the so-called didactic triangle to adequately capture the didactics of engaging with controversial socio-ecological topics and explores more suitable alternatives. Paper 2 presents and discusses empirical findings from an ethnographic study on students’ resistance to ESE and teachers’ didactical responses in secondary schools in Sweden. Paper 3 explores how Arts-Based Learning can allow teachers to overcome pedagogical paralysis related to teaching about controversial topics based on a case study in Brussels, Belgium. A subsequent second part of the symposium will specifically focus on the role of teachers.

Sustainability issues are in particular extremely complex, controversial and emotionally challenging (Kminek, 2023; Lönngren & Van Poeck, 2021). In the context of schooling, where pupils are generally required to attend lessons, they must engage with topics such as climate change and biodiversity loss. The cognitive challenge of sustainability issues is compounded by the potential for social conflict within school classes, while the emotional dimension raises questions about which emotions should be triggered in pupils and how they can be addressed. As outlined, these problems and difficulties also present particular didactic challenges in the context of teaching. In theory, questions of didactics are usually modelled using different variants of the so-called didactic triangle (Porsch, 2016, p. 232ff). This article is based on the initial thesis that the didactic triangle does not adequately capture the complexity of the topic, particularly in the context of sustainability. The criticism of this model is that classical modelling does not adequately take into account the fact that teachers and students view the object (in our case the issues of sustainability) differently and that, as a rule, a teaching situation involves one teacher and numerous students (Gruschka, 2011). Not only, but especially in the case of sustainability it is not possible to speak of a single object to be taught and learned. Against this background, the proposed contribution consists of two parts. The first part deals with general didactics and critically examines common models of general didactics (pupil, teacher, object) (Gruschka, 2011). In the second part of the lecture an alternative model is proposed and put up for discussion: a multidimensional didactic pyramid that attempts to adequately address the problems mentioned above. This is based on a previous version of this alternative modelling (Kminek, 2022). This alternative model raises two issues of interest in terms of scientific knowledge. On the one hand, it implicitly raises the question of how, as researchers, we can model and theorise questions of didactics in our subject area (Kminek et al. 2026). Secondly, this alternative model could be useful for teachers in educational practice, as it may help them to better understand situations in which they are under pressure to act, enabling them to act more reflectively.

Gruschka, A. (2011). Didaktik: Das Kreuz mit der Vermittlung; elf Einsprüche gegen den didaktischen Betrieb (Orig.-Ausg., [Nachdr.]). Büchse der Pandora. Kminek, H. (2022). A Contribution from Philosophy of Science for Education for Sustainable Development. In H. Kminek, A. Geyer, & M. B. Siewert (Hrsg.), Transdisciplinary Impulses towards Socio-Ecological Transformation: Engaged Reflections – Reflected Engagements (1. Aufl., S. 69–90). Verlag Barbara Budrich. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2b07vnr Kminek, H. (2023). Education for Sustainable Development – an aporetic approach. ZEP : Zeitschrift Für Internationale Bildungsforschung Und Entwicklungspädagogik, 46(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.25656/01:27082 Kminek, H., Fischer, D., Singer-Brodowski, M., & Denzin, A. (2026). Problem-Solving over Theory-Building in Sustainability Science and Education? A Provocation. (submitted, under review) Lönngren, J., & Van Poeck, K. (2021). Wicked problems: A mapping review of the literature. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 28(6), 481–502. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2020.1859415 Porsch, R. (Hrsg.). (2016). Einführung in die Allgemeine Didaktik: Ein Lehr- und Arbeitsbuch für Lehramtsstudierende. Waxmann. https://doi.org/10.36198/9783838545653

In contemporary debates on sustainable development, young people are frequently positioned as key agents responsible for advancing and mobilising societal transitions towards sustainability (Molder et al., 2021). This expectation, however, remains contested. Research has shown that students’ engagements with environmental and sustainability issues are not solely characterised by commitment and concern, but also by scepticism, ambivalence, disengagement, and explicit resistance (Anciaux et al., 2023; Urberg, 2025). Teaching environmental and sustainability education (ESE) therefore presents significant pedagogical challenges. This is particularly evident in the context of the topical post-truth denial and polarisation debate, which are not confined to educational settings or youth cultures but are also prominent in broader public discourse and among political leaders (Van Poeck, 2019). Previous research has consistently highlighted that sustainability issues are inherently conflictual, rooted in social, political, and moral controversies that cannot be sidestepped in educational practice (Bengtsson et al., 2024). Rather than being understood merely as obstacles, such tensions can be seen as constitutive dimensions of ESE, as they confront students with perspectives that may challenge everyday practices and taken-for-granted assumptions (Håkansson et al., 2018; Lundegård & Wickman, 2007; Sund & Öhman, 2014). This paper draws on findings from an ethnographic doctoral study examining students’ resistance to environmental and sustainability education in secondary school settings. The study explores resistance in everyday classroom practices and how it is shaped by students’ conditions. The findings demonstrate that resistance should not be reduced to a lack of knowledge or motivation but can be understood as an expression of a complex and often ambivalent relationship between students, sustainability education, and their perceived opportunities for agency. For some students, ESE appears distant or disconnected from their lived experiences, interests, and material realities, contributing to feelings of exclusion or disengagement. The study also highlights tensions related to ambitions of pluralism in ESE. While pluralistic ideals emphasise openness, critical engagement, and the inclusion of diverse perspectives, the findings suggest that large groups of students’ risk positioning themselves (or being positioned) outside a meaningful pluralistic dialogue. This highlights a significant didactic challenge, particularly in classrooms marked by social inequality and divergent experiences of responsibility, risk, and possibilities. Through interviews with teachers, didactic approaches were identified for dealing with students’ resistance and denial. Overall, the findings underscore the need for didactic sensitivity that enables reflective and educational engagement with resistance as an integral part of sustainability education.

Anciaux, A., Cougnon, L.-A., Ducol, L., & Catellani, A. (2023). Youth, communication & climate: A pluridisciplinary analysis of distancing strategies in response to climate change among Belgian youth. Youth, 3(4), 1150–1173. https://www.mdpi.com/2673-995X/3/4/73 Bengtsson, S., Hansson, P., Håkansson, M., & Östman, L. (2024). Positioning controversy in environmental and sustainability education. Environmental Education Research, 30(9), 1405–1431. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2024.2347868 Håkansson, M., Östman, L., & Van Poeck, K. (2018). The political tendency in environmental and sustainability education. European Educational Research Journal, 17(1), 91-111. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474904117695278 Molder, A., Chen, Y., Clemmons, Z., & Lakind, A. (2021). Framing the global youth climate movement: A qualitative content analysis of Greta Thunberg’s moral, hopeful, and motivational framing on Instagram. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 27(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612211055691 Sund, L., & Öhman, J. (2014). On the need to repoliticise environmental and sustainability education: rethinking the postpolitical consensus. Environmental Education Research, 20(5), 639–659. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2013.833585 Urberg, L. (2025). Resistance, Counterculture, and Environmental Issues: An ethnographic study of youth responses to education and sustainable development. Nordisk tidsskrift for ungdomsforskning, 6(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.18261/ntu.6.1.5 Van Poeck, K. (2019). Environmental and sustainability education in a post-truth era: An exploration of epistemology and didactics beyond the objectivism-relativism dualism. Environmental Education Research, 25(4), 472–491. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2018.1496404

In the super-diverse context of Brussels, citizenship education faces a paradox. It must prepare youth for a multicultural society, yet struggles to navigate the polarized legacies of the nation’s past (Rosoux & Van Ypersele, 2012). Teachers report pedagogical paralysis regarding sensitive topics like racism or controversial historical figures (Rowan & Wansink, 2025; Van Droogenbroeck et al., 2025). They often fear open conflict and shy away from uncomfortable discussions (Strijbos, 2022), causing education to retreat into safe factual transfers and to avoid the agonistic engagement (Nieuwelink, 2019) necessary for democracy. To overcome this, we propose Arts-Based Learning (ABL), grounded in dynamic heritage education (van Boxtel, Grever, & Klein, 2016). This framework views heritage as a continuous social process where the past is actively renegotiated. Pang (2010) argues that “making” is a form of thinking, while artistic creation provides a unique language (Tumanyan & Huuki, 2020) where conflicting narratives can coexist without immediate consensus. The study centers on the contested bust of Roger Nols, a controversial and contested former mayor of Schaerbeek (Jaumain & Vaesen, 2021). The research objectives are to: 1) analyze teachers’ perceived opportunities and challenges regarding this method; 2) investigate how ABL functions as a gateway to engage with controversial topics, such as contested monuments; and 3) explore how materializing thoughts allows for multiperspectivity. Students were challenged to reclaim public space by creating a physical counter-monument. This qualitative two-phase case study employs Participatory Action Research and Visual Methodologies. Phase one involved a pilot workshop with six secondary school teachers and a school counsellor, followed by a focus group to assess ABL as a tool for citizenship learning. Phase two involved 21 secondary students (grades 3-4) in a three-stage workshop: historical framing with a site visit, reflection, and an ABL session creating artistic interventions. Results suggest ABL mitigates “pedagogical paralysis” by shifting engagement from volatile verbal debate to constructive creation. The intervention enabled a transition from the cognitive “To Know” to the behavioral “To Do” (De Vries, 2020; UNESCO, 2015). Students actively negotiated heritage, even expanding the inquiry to the colonial violence of Leopold II. Visual analysis demonstrates that materializing thoughts fosters a multiperspectivity often precluded in verbal debate, acting as a safe space for contradictory narratives - from visceral anti-colonial anger to inclusive multicultural visions - to coexist. Ultimately, the creative process of ABL empowered students to move beyond passive learning and to actively enact citizenship.

Van Boxtel, C., Grever, M., & Klein, S. (Eds.). (2016). Sensitive Pasts: Questioning Heritage in Education. Berghahn Books. De Vries, M. (2020). Enacting Critical Citizenship: An Intersectional Approach to Global Citizenship Education. Societies, 10(4), 91. Jaumain, S., & Vaesen, J. (2021). Roger Nols: A mayor to be forgotten? (J. Corrigan, Trans.). Brussels Studies. https://doi.org/10.4000/brussels.6074 Nieuwelink, H. (2019). Lesgeven over burgerschap en democratie. In Handboek vakdidactiek maatschappijleer. Landelijk Expertisecentrum Mens-en Maatschappijvakken. Rosoux, V., & Van Ypersele, L. (2012). The Belgian national past: Between commemoration and silence. Memory Studies, 5(1), 45–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698011424030 Rowan, E., & Wansink, B. (2025). Fostering mutual understanding through multiperspectivity: Insights from 14 cross-border history education initiatives in post-conflict societies. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 57(3), 247–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2025.2455700 Strijbos, J. (2022). Student Participation in Urban Schools [PhD thesis]. Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Tumanyan, M., & Huuki, T. (2020). Arts in working with youth on sensitive topics: A qualitative systematic review. International Journal of Education Through Art, 16(3), 381–397. https://doi.org/10.1386/eta_00040_1 UNESCO. (2015). Global citizenship education: Topics and learning objectives. UNESCO. https://doi.org/10.54675/DRHC3544 Van Droogenbroeck, F., Simon, R., Almey, K., Faddar, J., Kavadias, D., Siongers, J., Spruyt, B., Te Braak, P., & Thomas, V. (2025). TALIS 2024 Vlaanderen. Vrije Universiteit Brussel.