Exploring Geography and Education for Sustainable Development Through Issue-Based Case Studies

This chapter expands upon the unique disciplinary position that geography holds for education for sustainable development (ESD), beginning with Pawson’s work on geography for the Anthropocene and the International Charter on Geographic Education. It then shifts to case examples that bring ESD lessons to life in the traditional classroom, including (1) social or “just” sustainability in the Arabian Gulf; (2) the Norwegian paradox of energy and climate change; and (3) community-based solutions for sustainability in Rwanda. This work shows how issues-based inquiry provides a more complex understanding of sustainable development and its complexities. The goal is to make easily accessible case studies available for educators as geography by nature is an applied discipline that is best understood through real world examples that energize ESD pedagogy.