ABSTRACT
Sustainability is a pressing global issue that requires increasingly urgent responses. Education has a key role to play and the education of our youngest citizens is the best place to begin. Sustainability is not just about environmental education. It is a multidimensional and interconnected idea that includes society, environment, culture, and economy. Environmental education has evolved over several decades into ‘education for sustainability’ to capture these broad dimensions. The Australian Curriculum and the Early Years Learning Framework encourage schools and centres to embrace sustainability both operationally and in terms of young children’s learning. Increasingly, research in early childhood education for sustainability is endorsing the capabilities of young children to understand and discuss complex ideas related to sustainability. Rich opportunities are available to educators to integrate sustainability across the curriculum. While some discussions about sustainability can be potentially confronting and complex for young children, it is important for educators to consider children’s resilience and their right to engage in topics that are important and relevant for them. This chapter includes two examples of what early education for sustainability might look like in prior-to-school and school contexts. Early childhood education has a key role to play in building sustainable local and global communities.
