Beyond the Fossil Era - potential for a pedagogy of sustainability

Abstract: Education has the potential to play a critical role in the sustainable transformation of society which is needed to limit the consequences of the multiple ecological crises society is facing. While this has been recognised internationally at least since 1992, not a lot has been done within the Danish educational system to address issues of climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainability within education policies and practice. And big questions remain concerning the development of a ‘pedagogy of sustainability’. How to not only teach about sustainability but also develop teaching methods that develop the necessary competencies among students to be democratic agents of change. This thesis examines the study material Beyond the Fossil Era as an example of such a teaching method. By bridging literature on the concepts of education for sustainable development, action competence, futures, utopia, and hope, it explores what can be learned from the material’s use of imaginaries as a creative teaching method and a way of fostering hope and action competence. Through observation of the practical use of the material as well as surveys, stories, and interviews, it finds that the material has potential as a way of opening new ‘avenues for action’ and inspiring new ways of teaching and learning. Its potential lies both in its imaginative aspects and its description of different change-bringing forces, an element that can be developed further to strengthen the action competence approach within the material.