We live in an interconnected and interdependent world which is characterized by migration, cultural diversity and globalization. According to the UN’s Agenda 2030, it is education’s critical task to enable individuals and communities to act as responsible global citizens and shape social futures. Both teachers and learners therefore need to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable them to participate in cultural discourses and promote sustainable development, including among others issues of global citizenship and human rights, cultural diversity, gender equality, peace and non-violence, sustainable lifestyles.

Our project is based in language education but reaches out to other disciplines in order to explore subject-specific as well as transdisciplinary issues of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship Education (GCE). These approaches are used as a theoretical basis for the development of online modules and other digital formats (e.g. virtual exchange projects, online courses, international summer schools) that facilitate teacher ESD and GCE competences in pre-service teacher education. While one focus will be on the role of language education and the development of critical literacy, our project will equally rely on interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration with Social Studies, History, Geography and Science Education. Apart from developing online courses for pre-service teachers at the University of Potsdam and our partner institutions, the project also aims at the development of teaching materials with a focus on ESD and GCE. 

The UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will serve as a framework for exploring social, political, historical and ecological issues and challenges from multiple perspectives. Pre-service teachers from various disciplines – i.e. English, History, Geography, Chemistry – will discuss subject-specific as well as transdisciplinary approaches and develop teaching materials that can be used to develop learners’ ESD and GCE competences. The development of international online formats (COIL) and modules at the University of Potsdam and our partner institutions (SUNY Cortland, La Trobe University Melbourne) will be conducted in the form of network meetings, guest lectureships and student summer schools. Collaborative courses, school projects and online modules will facilitate the development of teaching materials for ESD and GCE in language education for both primary and secondary level.