SustainLang

Timetable: 01.09.2024- 31.08.2028

Project status: Active

Funders: Suomen Akatemia

Project budget: 750 000€ - 800 000€

Project external partners: Karlstad University, University of Gloucestershire

Sustainable development goals: Hyvä koulutus; Ilmastotekoja; Rauha, oikeudenmukaisuus ja hyvä hallinto

Summary: Language education has tremendous untapped potential to implement education for sustainable developlement (ESD), because the pedagogical processes of contemporary language teaching and transformation-oriented ESD are commensurate with one another. This potential of language education has been recognized by research, but not practically capitalized. Therefore, we are applying funding for a ground-breaking interdisciplinary research project that will fill that gap by researching the implementation of sustainable development goals in language teaching and learning. The project aims to: 1) map the current state of ESD implementation in language teaching in Finland at different educational levels 2) study the implementation of ESD in language classrooms and language teaching materials, and based on this empirical research, 3) develop a novel theory- and practice-driven implementation model of ESD in language teaching and learning. This cutting-edge project provides new insight into the current state and possibilities of ESD within the language education systems in Finland that can be adapted internationally.