International Year of Science Education for Sustainable Development 2028 (IYSESD2028)

The International Year of Science Education for Sustainable Development 2028 (IYSESD2028) is a global effort to elevate the critical role of science education across the lifespan and science education research in creating sustainable futures. It started at NARST and is currently being shaped by a growing coalition of international, continental, and country-based associations of practitioners and researchers focusing on science education and science-related areas.

IYSESD2028 aims to:

• Increase global awareness among citizens of the world and policy makers at every level of the value and impact of science education on (a) understanding and caring about the world we live in and developing solutions to challenges humanity faces and (b) realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030, and Net Zero of greenhouse gas emission in 2050;
• Promote international cooperation and dialogue across countries and create ethno-racially, geographically, and gender diverse networks of science educators and researchers focused on advancing science education for equity and justice across the globe;
• Support capacity-development opportunities for learners, educators, and communities-at-large in formal and informal educational settings across the world and particularly in countries / regions where science education needs to be better resourced.

IYSESD2028 advances the idea that knowledge is dependent on the contexts in which it is created and applied, and that transdisciplinarity, namely leveraging bodies of knowledge from different disciplines along with Indigenous systems of knowledge, is needed to solve problems. It also promotes the bridging of science, technology, and engineering domains with those of the social sciences, arts, and humanities to support the human quest for understanding and caring for the world as an interconnected system. IYSESD2028 is firmly grounded in the idea that everyone on the planet should have the right to quality science education, using it to change one’s life as well as to contribute to community development and a better world.

If an organization would like to support this effort, its leadership should complete this form and email it to executivedirector@NARST.org.

Maria Varelas, NARST President

List of Organizations Supporting IYSESD2028

International

• NARST: A Global Organization for Improving Science Education Through Research
• International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)
• Alliance of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Aephoria (AE4RIA)
• Groupe International de Reserche sur l’Enseignement de la Physique (GIREP) [translated: International Research Group on Physics Teaching]

Continental

• European Science Education Research Association (ESERA)
• Australasian Science Education Research Association (ASERA)
• East-Asian Association for Science Education (EASE)
• Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (SAARMSTE)
• African Centres for Lightning Education Network (ACLENet)

Country-Based