What do you picture when you think about students thinking and acting for sustainability? 

Setting up recycling bins?
Studying the science of climate change?
Designing ethical consumer campaigns?
Spending time outdoors?
Engaging in a climate protest?

At Compass Education, we know that there is a plethora of ways people define ‘sustainability,’ let alone what it looks like to engage students and schools with this multi-faceted concept. 

One of our organizational goals is to help educators and schools embrace a systemic perspective on sustainability – it’s not just about the traditional ‘green team’ nature topics and projects but also the human systems that promote sustainable socioeconomic thriving that enable all individuals’ wellbeing. Earth’s systems will recover without us, but we won’t survive without them, so we must set up our human systems to interact with nature’s sustainability to ensure our future. 

When we think about sustainability this way, the list of ways students can think and act for sustainability vastly increases. Now, it’s not just about climate change and environmental conservation, but all the topics outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and more!  This means that projects focused on poverty reduction, social innovation, materials development, gender equity, physical health, etc.… could all arguably be students educating and acting for sustainability. 

So that begs the question, what makes something ‘sustainability education’? There is a famous quote from David Orr: ‘All education is environmental education.’ The same can be said for ‘sustainability education.’ Everything that we teach and guide our students to do can be used to teach about sustainability. Whether in a math lesson, an art class, a community service project, or a football practice, sustainability isn’t just about understanding specific topics (although there are many important ones!). It’s about a worldview and skillset that, when applied, encourages sustainable thinking and action.

This is one reason our Compass Education team has identified  the ‘Sustainable Habits of Mind.’  Inspired by the article Dancing with Systems written by renowned environmental activist and system thinker Donella Meadows, we put together a list of skills that we think, when developed, prepare us to contribute to building a more sustainable world. 

These ten habits of thought and behavior can be nurtured and cultivated through systems thinking practice to help us thrive in and contribute to a more sustainable world.