Contingency and transformation

Teachers’ and students’ experiences of a Climate Council School Project

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of a Climate Council School project within education for sustainable development (ESD). Students and their teachers from grade 9 and upper secondary school took part in this project when working on finding sustainable visions and solutions for their city in 2030. The project involved the local government as well as businesspeople, since they all met and shared sustainable visions at the climate council conference. Drawing on transformative learning theories, the case is studied and analysed from both teacher and student perspectives. Educational challenges as well as new possibilities are documented outcomes through the participants’ experiences in this school project aiming for sustainability. Initial contingency, in relation to the complex content and new ways of teaching, is found to be a presumption for learning as creative work, transformation, and new ideas contributing to a more sustainable society.