In times of increasing global challenges, e.g. climate change, biodiversity loss or plastic waste in the oceans, education for sustainable development (ESD) becomes more and more relevant. The Agenda 2030 issued by the United Nations emphasizes that by 2030 education needs to “ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development”. Sustainability needs educated citizens for responsible action and transformation of the present society. The project Promoting Relevant Education in Science for Sustainability (PRESS) invests in the capacity of HEIs to better educate teachers for ESD. The aim of the project is to install courses for teacher education in science with a focus on promoting ESD. Courses will be developed and implemented to allow partners to strengthen science teacher education with a focus on ESD. Responsible action in society needs participation skills which are (in our contemporary society) inseparably bound to self-determined coverage of media. For ESD, critical scientific media literacy and communication skills with societal stakeholders are suggested as important goals in education, in general and in science education in particular. That is why the PRESS courses on ESD will include a special focus on critical scientific media education and science communication skills to the wider public, both concerning traditional as well as digital/social media. Courses will also include training teachers for integrating school science learning with partners from businesses (SMEs/industry) and the wider public in small educational projects in connection to the non-formal educational arena.

ACES will investigate and establish a transformative educational model for bridging formal and informal educational contexts via playful and participatory methodology towards a more inclusive, safe and resilient society that will empower young people to flourish despite their social localities. ACES will investigate the role of education in mobilising young people towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), taking into account the impact of wellbeing (SDG3), gender (SDG5) and poverty (SDG1) on education (SDG4) and vice-versa in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. ACES will focus on building resilient communities of young people in rural areas or deprived sections of urban communities through education. Young people refers to those in primary and secondary education. ACES will engage teachers and local community groups in the co-creation and ownership of the educational process, fostering an empowering and agentic practice when it comes to marginalised contexts - to motivate, ground and, most importantly, localise the intervention. The upskilling of teachers is considered as one of the most effective and direct means of achieving all of the SDG4 targets. The effects of quality education are linked to improved development outcomes. In all three countries, access to inclusive and equitable quality education is an impending issue; however, the causes, scope and severity vary from one country to another. In Indonesia, the dominance of political, corporate and bureaucratic elites affects the provision of quality education. In Vietnam, its education system struggles to provide access and quality, although since 2008, its government allocates 20% of its national budget to improve education throughout the nation. In Malaysia, access to quality education is still an issue at remote/rural areas in the country. Even though these countries report the literacy rate of over 90%, the efforts to maintain sustainable growth in their respective economies, to reach developed status, hinge on an updated system of education that is more transformative beyond literacy. While economic growth in these countries brings positive benefits and lifts people out of poverty, societies must be equipped to respond to subsequent changes related to political and social systems. Economic resilience thus depends on social resilience, agency and capabilities to respond, design, implement and support corrective and adaptive measures. ACES will explore the use of playful and participatory methodology towards developing an inclusive, equitable and transformative educational model that will afford opportunities for young people, teachers and community groups to respond to challenges/changes in their community through creative and innovative practices. To navigate an increasingly uncertain and ambiguous world, young people will need to develop curiosity, imagination, creativity, resilience and self-regulation towards innovative economies that are more productive, resilient and adaptable. ACES will emphasise on collaborative, active and playful/creative 21st-century pedagogies, where the focus of the teaching-learning process is on active dialogue, enquiry based, media literacy and student-centred approaches. Collaborative exploration open up opportunities for social innovation, taking into account the complexity of social problems and foster solutions resilient and cost-effective enough to adapt and survive. The project will explore social innovation through the lenses of frugal approaches to social sustainability to allow the community to thrive despite the lack of resources. ACES will investigate the impact of creative thinking, problem-solving and social-emotional learning beyond literacy afforded by playful pedagogy in these countries to conduct a comparative analysis into the complex relationships between transformational education and SDGs across the countries.