<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The United Nations (UN) proclaimed the years 2005 to 2014 the World Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). As a follow up on the World Decade, the UN launched a Global Action Programme (GAP) that is designed to set the framework for international activities on ESD. The GAP focuses on five priority areas that are of high relevance for further implementation of ESD in educational systems.The research presented in this paper results from a training research course that was conducted with advanced bachelor students in environmental and sustainability science. This project pursued two main objectives on different levels: the aim of the research aspect was to identify well-documented success factors for specific research questions associated with the GAP designated priority action areas by means of conducting systematic literature reviews. The aim of the training was to enable students enrolled in the university course to experience systematic review and critical appraisal of the current state of research in the various fields of ESD. As a result, the paper summarizes and discusses both the findings of the research projects and university course. Inclusive is the potential of the teaching approach and its contribution to advancing higher education for sustainable development.</abstract>

UN Global Action Programme and Education for Sustainable Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Evidence Base

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The Baltic and Black Sea Circle Consortium for educational research (BBCC) was established at the beginning of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005). BBCC has obtained its name in the Third International Conference <italic>Sustainable Development, Culture, Education</italic> in the University of Vechta (Germany, 2005).The paper will give insights into <italic>preconditions</italic> of the establishment of the international network in: (1) the stage before the Decade (2000–2004) when the UNESCO/UNITWIN Chair from Toronto and team from Daugavpils University from Latvia were started to prepare participatory action research for the reorientation teacher education towards the aim of sustainable development and (2) the stage of the Decade (2005–2014) when the network and its development continued as an open network for participation. The structure of the network provides the international environment for cooperation and welcomes new participants.The initiative of the network’s foundation was offered by the UNESCO/UNITWIN Chair in Toronto. For the coordination the BBCC actions and self-development the Institute of Sustainable Education (2003) was established in Daugavpils University (DU) and later UNESCO/UNITWIN Chair on Interplay of Tradition and Innovation in ESD were emerged at Daugavpils University (2013).Action research experience was viewed in current article as a complex development process and at the same time as a complex system in which attention on the adaptation and evolution of cooperative relations will be emphasis. Metaphors approach and characterisation of frames of references for reorientation education towards sustainability will be examine in order to find the answers that allow realising reorienting of teacher education towards sustainable development. The analysis will be based on the topics which were discussed in annual BBCC conference <italic>Sustainable Development. Culture. Education</italic> sections.Conclusions will offer main assumptions from the most significant BBCC network lived experiences in teacher education which is the real heritage from ANO Decade and in future it will serve as the frame of reference for realization of UNESCO/UNITWIN Chair in DU and BBCC actions in education and educational research for sustainable development in action.</abstract>

Searching for Sustainability in Teacher Education and Educational Research: Experiences from the Baltic and Black Sea Circle Consortium for educational research

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Since the nineties, the principle of sustainable development has increasingly been adopted by policy makers and civil society in Germany and, of course, in many countries of the world. With the acceptance of this principle, the significance of education for sustainable development (ESD) has also been recognised. Increased awareness of the problems of environmental challenges, globalisation and poverty has meant that the concepts of environmental education, global learning, and education in development policy have been consistently oriented towards more sustainability. This leads to an increased awareness that globalisation processes must be shaped in accordance with the objectives of sustainable development, both nationally and internationally. By encouraging the idea of sustainability to take root in all areas of education systems, the World Decade of Education for Sustainable Development from 2005 to 2014 intended to take significant steps towards greater educational sustainability.The curricula for civic education for sustainable development and global learning in Germany are, therefore of course, very closely linked to global development and globalisation processes, and because of that, they are to be seen within the mandate of the United Nations educational policy.The paper shows, that the learning area of global development objectives is structured in an inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary manner. It carries the essential features of a domain: a delimited object area, a specific approach to the world, and the reference to a basic teaching concept in the educational policy traditions of one-world or development-policy education and global learning.Therefore the aim is clear, that these curricula should contribute to the sustainable development goals of the United Nations, towards inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, as it is mentioned in goal number 4 (United Nations, 2014).</abstract>

Civic Education for Sustainable Development and its Consequences for German Civic Education Didactics and Curricula of Higher Education

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The process of globalization and the changeability of environment nowadays demand that society ensure sustainability for itself and its lifewide environment. Therefore nowadays the paradigm of personality’s and specialist’s competitiveness is changing. The old paradigm is substituted by a set of new viewpoints and concepts. The issue of ensuring the environment fostering the development of specialists competitiveness in the modern enterprise becomes even more important. Research in this sphere had three stages: 1) development of theoretically-methodological base for specialists’ competitiveness research; 2) diagnostics and evaluation of the specialists’ competitiveness in modern insurance enterprise (experimental approbation of the competitiveness research methodology); 3) development, evaluation, improvement of “<italic>The Model for Evaluation, Support and Promotion of the Staff’s Competitiveness Development in Modern Enterprise as Learning Organization”</italic> and its offer for implementation into research base n insurance enterprise. The objectives of research: 1) to investigate the specialists’ <italic>competitiveness</italic> in the modern insurance enterprise; 2) to develop and evaluate <italic>The Model for Evaluation, Support and Promotion of the Specialists’s Competitiveness Development in Modern Enterprise as Learning Organization</italic> in the contexts of information and knowledge society and sustainable development.</abstract>

University College of Economics and Culture, Latvia

Insurance Corporation “Balta” in Latvia, Latvia

Evaluation, Support and Promotion of Specialists’ Competitiveness Development in Modern Enterprise as Learning Organization

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The aim of the study on Estonian secondary school students was to obtain an overview of the gender-related views and experiences of the everyday school life by students, and to analyse the school-related factors in the development of gender roles and gender-related expectations. We view gender equality as a central condition for social sustainability.In the article, we focus on the perceptions and interpretations of the so-called normal boy and girl and the advantages of both genders at school. We analyse the experiences and the views of young people regarding their gender positioning in everyday school life vis-à-vis their views on gender equality.The survey used in the study consisted of 50 questions, mainly open-ended. It was conducted in 10 basic and secondary schools in grades 7, 9, 10 and 12, with a total number of 649 respondents. The open answers were analysed by applying the method of thematic qualitative content analysis. The findings reveal that the perceived advantages of both genders at school and the behaviour considered as normal at school are strongly related to traditional gender stereotypes. At the same time, students claim that they are primarily people with equal opportunities. We conclude that the belief in the ideology of gender equality outweighs personal gender-related experiences.</abstract>

Gender Advantages and Gender Normality in the Views of Estonian Secondary School Students

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Nowadays, the focus shifts from information and communication technology access to skills and knowledge. Moreover, lack of digital skills is an obstacle in the process of learning new digital competences using technologies and e-learning. The objective of this research is to investigate how to facilitate students to use the acquired digital skills in practice and to evaluate the impact of students’ previous knowledge level. Based on the e-inclusion digital skills model, the author develops two research questions: <italic>How students’ previous experience impacts practical usage of the acquired ICT skills</italic> and <italic>How students’ self-assessment correlates with practical usage of the acquired ICT skills.</italic> The research employs student-centred learning theory, where the learning process is based on students’ active action, experience and values. The research is based on a literature review and one case study. The results of this study confirm the relationship of the e-inclusion digital skills model with the knowledge level acquired and its usage.</abstract>

E-inclusion Process and Societal Digital Skill Development

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Children’s social exclusion in the classroom is a threat to the sustainability of education. Teachers should be sensitised to this issue, which raises important implications for teacher education. This paper reports on an action research study in the context of pre-service teacher education aimed at enriching prospective early childhood educators’ perspectives on children’s social exclusion in the classroom and heightening their awareness of themselves as key figures in reducing it. A teacher capable of dealing with children’s social exclusion was the focus of investigation. The students engaged in envisioning through negotiation of meaning in written critical discourse with peers in an e-learning environment (google.docs spreadsheet). Qualitative content analysis of students’ writings suggests viewing pre-service teachers’ professional development towards readiness to address children’s social exclusion in the classroom as movement along a continuum. The study also implies that the performed action research was transformative in that it contributed to a heightened awareness of children’s social exclusion in the classroom among prospective early childhood educators and their awakened commitment to become teachers capable of addressing this problem.</abstract>

Awakening Pre-service Teachers to Children’s Social Exclusion in the Classroom

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This study proposes identification with nature as a pedagogical technique in teacher education for sustainability to facilitate commitment to care about nonhuman nature, such care being an important underpinning of an inclusive and hence sustainable human-nature relationship. 29 pre-service teachers participated in a series of learning activities which involved using identification with nature combined with creative forms of expression such as eco-story and eco-poetry to reflect on the human-nature relationship. Findings from qualitative content analyses of student-generated creative writings and subsequent evaluations of the proposed learning experience support the use of identification in learning about human-nature relationships to promote care for and inclusion in nature through nuanced awareness of similitude between the human and the nonhuman.</abstract>

Identification as Incentive to Care: Pre-service Teachers’ Orientation Towards Inclusion in Nature

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The aim of the paper is to present the results of the research on highlighting values related to sustainable development in Poland and Latvia by secondary school teachers and to compare two models by the use of action research. The research is presented as a process of identifying values mainly from the point of view of social development which is an important component of sustainable development. The research results presented below provide a picture of a comparison between Polish and Latvian secondary school teachers’ views on values related to sustainable development and the process of values education. The paper is based on the doctoral thesis of the author.</abstract>

Teachers’ Values Related to Sustainable Development in Polish and Latvian Secondary Schools

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The article points to new competencies required from basic school teachers, reinforced by the reform processes in the educational system in Latvia, the quality assurance of educational process, and modernisation and critical re-evaluation of educational materials and standards. The authors view sustainability as an integral part of reform processes in the country.The aim of the study is to evaluate the perspective of basic education teachers from the diverse regions of Latvia on the use of holistic approach for shaping the content of basic education. The authors have analysed basic school teachers’ understanding of a holistic approach towards teaching and a learner. By means of a survey the authors have explored the features of teachers’ perception of a holistic approach to their teaching. The authors conclude that sustainability cannot be left to the initiative of individual teachers but should be implemented as a whole-school policy.</abstract>

Holistic Approach as Viewed by the Basic School Teachers in Latvia

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Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education

 Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education is an international, double blind peer-reviewed journal that provides a forum for the examination of policies, theories and practices related to discourse and communication for sustainable education. Since contemporary discourse study has extended its field to the study of multifaceted contexts of discourse, it is able to be integrated in the broader study of the phenomena of communication in relation to sustainable education. The journal Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education publishes research articles and reviews. Its diversity is apparent in the variety of its theories, methods and approaches, thus avoiding the frequent limitation to one school, approach, academic branch. The only criteria will be the quality and the originality of its articles. The journal Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education welcomes articles which explore inspirational ideas in sustainable education, are written in innovative ways or are presented in experimental ways. It does not have article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission charges.  Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 