YKAPO Finnish Environmental Education Policy

Environmental education policy enables schools to provide resources to develop sustainability education so that pupils can actively build an ecologically sustainable future. This study examines how sustainability projects of basic schools are improving basic education.

Table of contents

Project duration
-
Core fields of research
Learning, teaching and interaction
Research areas
JYU.Edu
JYU.Wisdom
Education, belonging, and sustainable society
Faculty
Finnish Institute for Educational Research

Project description

The study examines environmental education policy, particularly the processes of financial steering for environmental education in schools. The case study analyzes the journey of the €5 million granted by the government from advocacy work through resource allocation to school life.

The research reveals new information on the governance of sustainability education at different levels. While research on environmental education policy is a rapidly growing field internationally, it has received little attention in Finland. 

The aims are to 

1) study the political process that resulted in schools receiving resources, 

2) investigate the perceptions of educational administration, officials, and teachers on sustainability education, and 

3) examine the impacts of sustainability projects on everyday school life. Documents and interviews reveal perceptions of the development needs of environmental education, ways to address challenges, and results from the perspective of schools.

Project team

Project leaders

Niina Mykrä

Niina Mykrä

Postdoctoral Researcher

Research groups

Maisema
Research group

ESSE - Eco-social sustainability and education

Research of the Ecosocial sustainability and education team ESSE explorers the questions of ecological and social sustainability in education