All activities in early childhood education and care and pre-primary education take into account the necessity of an ecologically, culturally and economically sustainable way of living. What kind of pedagogy supports activities in line with sustainable development and its impacts in ECEC and pre-primary education? And what supports children's attitudes to a sustainable future and their empowerment for it?
Kestävää kehitystä tukeva pedagogiikka
Photo: Hanna Ruusulampi, Opetushallitus

Authors: Mari Parikka-Nihti, Specialist in children's nature activities, Suomen Latu – the Outdoor Association of Finland, and Markus Hilander, University Lecturer in Environmental Education, University of Helsinki

The National core curriculum for early childhood education and care 2018 contains a weighty sentence on sustainable development: “All activities take into account the necessity of an ecologically, culturally and economically sustainable way of living.”

For example, ecological sustainability includes:

  • sorting and recycling
  • use of electricity and water
  • monitoring the amount of plastic.

Social sustainability comprises

  • friendly interaction
  • taking into account children's strengths and feelings
  • safeguarding children's participation and opportunities to exert influence.

Economic sustainability is represented by

  • wise choices
  • acquisitions from charity shops, recycling centres, etc.

Cultural sustainability comprises

  • Traditional play and games as well as cultural diversity
  • accepting different values and views.

The public access rights as a Nordic speciality are also part of cultural sustainability. Similarly, observing the architecture of buildings, such as admiring the colours, forms and the symmetrical placement of decorations.

Vihreäsävyinen pikkutyttö pitkillä leteillä

The National core curriculum for early childhood education and care also mentions the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 2030 Agenda. In this context, Helsinki Metropolitan Area Reuse Centre Ltd has created the Palloässät website, which provides a wealth of practical ideas for implementing the 2030 Agenda for children. In 2020, Palloässät covered all SDGs 12–17, including the climate goals. The website contains instructions for play and games, stories, videos and music. Palloässät can also be downloaded as a mobile application enabling children to play and do exercises independently.

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In the field of ECEC, a lot of thought is given to whether climate education can be implemented with children. This is partly because climate education is not mentioned in the National core curriculum for early childhood education and care. Instead, it mentions sustainable development and ecosocial knowledge and ability, the current definition of which can be considered to be the content of the goals in the 2030 Agenda. Because Goal 13 deals with climate acts, climate education may and can also be related to environmental education in ECEC.

Vihreä piirros neljästä linnunpoikasesta pesässään huutamassa ruokaa

In climate education for small children, it is important to listen to the children . A safe atmosphere must be created for them to enable them to talk about their thoughts and feelings regarding climate change. Many must have wondered about the lack of snow in the south of Finland last winter. It is important to enable the child to feel that their feelings are accepted; that it is not wrong to be worried about the nearby environment and the earth. We adults are role models setting an example with how we take care of our planet!

Once on board a bus, a teacher asked the pupils, what day it was that day. The answer was: “the Climate Strike Day!” This does not mean that we should participate in climate strikes with small children. However, we can follow the example of the active approach in the example. We can ask children what they would like to do to help their nearby environment and the earth. In one day-care centre, the children independently set up a climate committee to which adults did not have access. When they noticed that they needed one literate person to act as the secretary of the committee, they accepted one adult member. This way, children grow into active citizens from their early childhood and are interested in their environment and societal matters and also take a stand on them.

In education that promotes ecosocial knowledge and ability, children are given opportunities to influence environmental issues, ecological sustainability and social equality. Traditionally, the values of ECEC have included practising ethics, empathy, and emotional and social skills. These proven methods, play and tasks that improve group cohesion also contribute to ecosocial knowledge and ability. Small children practise activities in an environment that is the size of their own age group. When education that promotes ecosocial knowledge and ability becomes a continuum, we can achieve the goal of a citizen who is responsible and works for climate and a sustainable future.

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What is your relationship with nature like? Is it a place for calming down, learning, being physically active, or do you find Finnish nature a potentially challenging or even a frightening place?

Through personal experiences of nature and our relationship with nature, we learn to understand the importance of biodiversity and people's responsibility for preserving biodiversity. Nature experiences play an important role in environmental responsibility and understanding sustainable development.  Baba Dioum's words can be considered as the leading idea in environmental and sustainability education: whatever I learn to love as a child, I want to protect it as an adult.

Sininen susi

Each of us is a part of nature and each of us has a personal relationship with nature. It is affected by our own experiences and observations in nature and of nature. Own relationship with nature is also formed in layers. The stories, beliefs and experiences transferred from different generations may contribute to it. An example of this can be the way that we transfer our understanding of the justification for the existence of wolves to children today.

The basis of a good relationship with nature requires positive experiences in nature and of nature. With children, we first need safe and pleasant activities and spending time in nature. Remember to make sure that the children wear appropriate clothing, the packed lunch is something they like, and they feel both physically and mentally safe on the trips to nature. After the first contacts with nature, add diverse experiences and familiarisation with biodiversity to the activities. When the children’s interest in nature and its wonders grows, provide more information about different species and their connections with our activities, wellbeing and the preservation of the earth alike. Gradually, the children (and adults) will understand our dependency from biodiversity, a sustainable way of living and the cycles of nature. This way, starting from early childhood, we will build actors whose values, attitudes, competence and knowledge promote the preservation of the earth and sustainable development.

The picture presents a pyramid diagram on how the relationship with nature is built: starting from the bottom level, the pyramid is built of safety and enjoyment, biodiversity, species and connection, through human contribution all the way to attitude to influencing.
Photo: The Outdoor Association of Finland
The picture presents a pyramid diagram on how the relationship with nature is built: starting from the bottom level, the pyramid is built of safety and enjoyment, biodiversity, species and connection, through human contribution all the way to attitude to influencing.
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Sininen pihlajanoksa

With small children, environmental education and education for sustainable development consist of doing concrete things. They are about

  • taking care of the wellbeing of one’s own environment
  • learning by exploring
  • making observations
  • wondering
  • exerting influence in a manner suitable for the age level.

The activities must be carried out positively, always through joy and personal actions. In all activities, the primary feeling that remains should be that our actions matter. This promotes agency, participation, social relationships, interaction skills, ecosocial knowledge and ability, and a sustainable way of living.

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Tips

Below, we have compiled a few practices that will concretely help engage children in sustainable activities, inspire them and also otherwise strengthen sustainable development.

  • Fabric towels instead of paper towels
  • The route of food / food education / insect food
  • Simple tests in growing plants and experimentations with decomposition
  • Garden boxes / year-round cultivation (permaculture)
  • Visits to recycling centres and cooperation with different parties (Environment school Polku in Helsinki)
  • Cultural cooperation with museums, etc.
  • Plogging, collecting rubbish while jogging or walking
  • Making insect hotels, a hibernation nest for the hedgehog, bird and bat boxes together with parents, grandparents, sponsors, etc.

Links

The links below (in Finnish) take you to other useful material providing ideas and approaches to your own day-care centre and activities.

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