Highlighting Social Emotional learning as a part of Education for Sustainable Development Praxis

Over recent years, Social Emotional Wellbeing has become a central focus of global education discourse, prompting reflection on how Climate Justice Education (CJE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) can enable deeper engagement with Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). Two key concerns shape this discourse. First is the over-reliance on scientific epistemologies within ESD and CJE. While science explains environmental realities, it does not necessarily foster care or a call to action among learners. Second, dominant narratives are largely grounded in Global North experiences, often overlooking the diverse lived realities of the global majority and the variation of social contexts across regions.

Although prevailing conceptualizations of SEL engage with lived environments, they are insufficient to address the complex challenges arising from lived climate injustices, particularly in Global South contexts, and broader constraints on learners’ ability to live in positive peace. Positive peace extends beyond the absence of violence to include structures that remove inequities. Embedding SEL into ESD, grounded in respect for land and habitat, therefore requires learning underpinned by fundamental empathy for the natural and living world. Empathy spans cognitive and emotional dimensions and ranges from passive emotional processing to active, change-oriented engagement.

The objective of this Capstone is to develop a series of interactive webinars for practitioners and scholars to explore and strengthen connections between SEL and ESD. The series will foster collaborative learning, facilitate the exchange of practical resources and context-responsive case studies, and encourage critical reflection on frameworks and experience-based pedagogies. Developed in collaboration with UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development division, the Learning Planet Institute, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the webinars aim to advance inclusive, empathetic, and contextually grounded approaches to sustainability education.