Yesterday, the Bridge 47 Network, a coalition of people from across continents, held a virtual discussion as part of EU Green Week 2021, emphasising Transformative Education’s role in strengthening Europe’s Green Competencies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out in Agenda 2030. 

This multi-stakeholder event brought together representatives from the European Parliament, the Commission, Member States and Civil Society to highlight the interconnectedness of EU priorities under the Green Deal and Agenda 2030 in the area of education, and the role of transformative education in building and maintaining momentum to reach these goals. 

Transformative Education, as captured in SDG Target 4.7, is lifelong learning designed to equip people with the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, through the development of key competencies such as critical thinking and global citizenship. 

Rilli Lappalainen, Chair and Founder of Bridge 47, President of CONCORD Europe and Director of Sustainable Development for Fingo, said 

“Transformative education equips learners with the competencies needed to become active global citizens and true agents of change. To achieve a sustainable and just future for all, we must build bridges between different types of transformative learning, such as education for sustainable development and global citizenship education, and ensure this learning is lifelong and takes place everywhere.”

Mr. Aleš Ojsteršek, Head of Educational Development Unit, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of Slovenia, welcomed the discussion on transformative education’s role in strengthening green competencies, and highlighted the importance of Member State collaboration and contribution to achieving a more sustainable future: 

“Skills and competencies are fundamental to the capacity of people and countries. Implementation of key competencies in support of sustainable development can help Member States’ progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Member states have a crucial role to play in making sure everyone has the skills and competencies required to make this transformative Agenda reality.”

The panellists highlighted that Agenda 2030 is an important framework in EU’s current work on Green Competencies and will guide the way forward. Speakers underlined the importance of multi-stakeholder dialogue and collectively challenging the usual ways of doing things, among others in the current process on preparing a Council Recommendation on Education for Environmental Sustainability. 

Slovak Member of the European Parliament, Martin Hojsik (Renew), said: 

“We have many strategies in place. Now is the time to create coherence between these strategies, and to implement. We need to work together across sectors and internationally to move from strategies to action"