Key Insights on Education for Planetary Futures
We stand at a precipice, where the intertwined crises of ecological degradation and the erosion of democratic institutions demand not just reform, but a radical reimagining of education as a powerful force in shaping planetary futures. Choices we face now may well determine whether education reinforces the system dynamics that have led us to this precipice or serves as a catalyst for social-ecological restoration, renewal, and resilience. In this moment of great precarity for people and the planet, scientific and technological solutions alone are insufficient; education must drive cultural shifts and systemic transformations necessary for ecologically just and regenerative planetary futures.
Key Insights on Education for Planetary Futures reclaims the potential of education as a transformative force—not to reinforce the status quo, but to challenge assumptions, rethink systems, and co-create new pathways toward a thriving Earth. It calls for a fundamental redesign of education as a space for reconnecting with the living world, fostering deep engagement and mobilizing action toward ecological and social renewal.
We invite you to be part of a global participatory effort that bridges disciplines, networks, geographies, and knowledge traditions, situated as firmly in the humanities, arts, and educational sciences as in place-based indigenous knowledges, applied social sciences, and foundational fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. By weaving together insights from diverse knowledge traditions, this initiative aims not to only align visions and actions, but to activate new synergies necessary for fundamentally rethinking the role of education in shaping planetary futures. No single perspective holds the answer—but together, we can spark the systemic shifts our world demands.
We invite individual and networked groups of researchers, educators, activists, engaged citizens, and policymakers to contribute their expertise and insights to help shape a comprehensive research-informed and wisdom-rooted vision for reimagining education in response to planetary challenges. We seek rigorous, creative, and interdisciplinary insights that should take center stage in this year’s edition of Key Insights on Education for Planetary Futures.
If you are engaged in work that reimagines education for planetary futures, we invite you to share your contribution (in a short paragraph form) by February 28, 2025. All contributions will be curated for inclusion in the report, with due acknowledgment to contributors and with opportunities for collaborative writing and shared authorship of key insights.
The 2025 edition of Key Insights on Education for Planetary Futures will be launched in time for Climate Week NYC (September 19–26, 2025) and COP30 in Belém, Brazil (November 10–21, 2025)—providing a critical “year-in-review” of the most pressing and impactful contributions in education research related to planetary challenges.
Submit your insights here.
This initiative is led by Arizona State University (a collaboration between Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Lab and Mary Lou Fulton College of Teaching and Learning Innovation), the UNESCO Bridges Coalition, and G-FORCES, an NSF AccelNet-funded project that brings together a global network of networks, including SDSN USA, Mission 4.7, Learning Planet Alliance, CLEAN, ULRI, MECCE, Climate-U, RCE Dublin, ANPEd, DIMACS, in collaboration with the World Academy of Art and Science and the Club of Rome.