The elaboration of a concept for sustainable education that aims at supporting sustainable lifestyles, requires to bridge two main gaps: First, the gap between knowledge and the lack of knowledge and second, the gap between knowledge and action. Two areas of research intend to overcome these gaps: The pedagogic research of competency and the environmental psychological theory development, which is focusing on the interdependency of environmental awareness and other determinants that influence ecological behaviour. The research group "Sustainable Production and Consumption" of the Wuppertal Institute has developed an educational concept that intends to foster sustainable ways of thinking and behaviour. This concept is an attempt to integrate the findings of both areas of research translating them into educational practice. Theoretical as well as practical approaches of the educational concept for sustainability are introduced in this contribution.
The article was published in the journal "Umweltpsychologie" (2008, no. 2) and is available for download (German version only).