Introduction

A 2020 study funded by the National Science Foundation found that high quality climate change education can significantly reduce students’ carbon emissions throughout their lifetimes—but only if they have personal connections to the issues and the knowledge and skills to create viable solutions.[1] Effective implementation of climate change education over a 30-year period could reduce emissions by 18.8 GT of CO2-eq, an amount that would rank in the top quarter of the solutions in Project Drawdown.[2]

This research investigates how climate change and sustainability curricula are taught in Icelandic schools, their impact on students, and the support systems available to help teachers implement these curricula and sustainable practices. Iceland provides an ideal context for this study, as sustainability is one of six fundamental pillars in the national curriculum across grades 1-10. All Icelandic teachers are also required to complete a course in sustainability education, which became a formal specialization at the University of Iceland School of Education in 2022.

In October 2024, the Icelandic national curriculum was revised, with implementation scheduled for the 2025–2026 school year.[3] This research is therefore timely, offering a snapshot of current educational practices just before the new curriculum takes effect. The findings provide a valuable baseline for understanding how sustainability education is currently delivered and how future changes may be evaluated.

In contrast, data from a 2020 survey of New York City Department of Education Sustainability Coordinators (all K–12 teachers) reveal significant gaps in climate change education. Of the 1,258 respondents, 21% reported teaching only one to two lessons on climate change per year, 22% mentioned the topic without structured instruction, and 26% did not teach it at all. Many cited a lack of instructional materials and subject knowledge as barriers to effective teaching.[4]

This project aims to address these challenges by developing project-based curriculum and professional development resources on climate change and sustainability for middle and high school educators.