📋 Tender Overview
In Switzerland, education for sustainable development is promoted through a whole-of-government approach and a holistic educational concept that combines social, economic, and ecological dimensions. As a national competence center created for this purpose, the éducation21 Foundation supports the implementation of education for sustainable development in compulsory education and at the upper secondary level on behalf of the federal government, the cantons, and civil society.
Country/region Topic Period Budget
Switzerland
Education
Education policy
Teacher training
Vocational training
01.01.2025 - 31.12.2026
CHF 2’650’000
The project in brief
Area of responsibility Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) supports the acquisition of skills that enable learners to actively and independently participate in shaping the present and future and to assume shared responsibility for society and the environment. ESD, as an independent Goal 4.7, is an integral component of the 2030 Agenda, to whose implementation official Switzerland has committed itself internationally and through its Federal Council strategies. The integration of ESD into language-regional curricula and the éducation21 Foundation are the result of cross-departmental and cross-sectoral collaboration and coordination with the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK). In 2012, the EDK, the SDC, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), and the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) agreed to establish and support the éducation21 Foundation, which serves as a national competence center and specialized agency of the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK) for the implementation of ESD in school practice. Due to the cuts in federal funding, é21 will seek to tap into new funding sources, particularly at the cantonal level, and develop various scenarios for the foundation's future.
Switzerland's and the organisation's strategic priorities and their coherence Education21 provides schools and vocational education and training centres with curriculum-compliant offers and tools that enable teachers and school management to use ESD topics in teaching and school development in a targeted manner.
Results of the organisation's previous engagement In its first 10 years, éducation 21 has achieved, among other things, the following key results: Comprehensive teaching dossiers for 39 transversal ESD topics at all school levels were developed. The online catalog contains approximately 1,570 verified and continuously updated offerings and practical examples. In 2022 alone, 88,000 topic dossiers and 7,000 educational films were downloaded. Through numerous training courses and exchanges of experience, ESD content and methods could be specifically conveyed to teachers. Over 100 articles in the trade press each year show that é21 has established itself as a competence center for ESD in the entire educational environment.
Results of Switzerland's engagement
