This blog by Liz Painter looks into Liz’s book, Sustainable Careers, which connects education directly to future career pathways.
In an unstable world of rapid change and with the pressures of climate change, Liz Painter, a registered career development professional, freelance careers writer, and former science teacher, asks how can we prepare students for sustainability in the workplace, and communicate to them the importance of lifelong learning, leading to careers that last?
These questions sit at the heart of my new book, Sustainable Careers. Drawing on years of experience in education and employability, this guide is designed to help educators and career professionals navigate the evolving landscape of work with confidence, creativity, and clarity.
While many books on sustainability focus on environmental science, global policy, or activism, Sustainable Careers takes a fresh, interdisciplinary approach, connecting education directly to future career pathways.
I want readers to take away:
- A sense of possibility: That students’ interests and studies can lead to impactful, fulfilling careers.
- A toolkit for action: Practical strategies and detailed case studies to help young people explore career options, build skills, and make informed choices.
- A mindset for change: An understanding that sustainability isn’t just a topic – it’s a way of thinking, working, and living.
While the importance of sustainable development education (SDE) is widely acknowledged, embedding it meaningfully into schools remains a complex task. There are a number of key challenges that educators face today:
- A lack of integration across the curriculum, with missed opportunities to embed SDE across all subjects.
- Limited understanding of sustainability as students and staff grapple with what sustainability truly means.
- Inconsistent school ethos and leadership support: whole-school engagement is crucial, but not always present. When senior leadership doesn’t prioritise sustainability, it’s harder for teachers to integrate it meaningfully.
To address this, we need all stakeholders (teachers, students, parents, and the wider school community) to have a clear, shared understanding of sustainability, so that SDE can be integrated and taught effectively. With committed school leadership, SDE can be a core component of learning, showing how every subject can contribute to future-ready thinking and environmental awareness. We can make sustainability tangible and relevant, connecting it to real-world roles and transferable skills.
SDE is poised for a major transformation over the next decade, moving sustainability from the margins to the mainstream. What will this look like?
- Curriculum redesign, embedding sustainability across all subjects.
- Greener practices in schools, aligning operational practices with climate goals.
- Cross-sector collaboration between education, industry, and government, to shape green career pathways
These shifts in SDE reflect a growing recognition that preparing learners for the future means more than teaching facts, it’s about cultivating purpose, adaptability, and a sense of agency. As sustainability becomes a thread running through all disciplines, there’s increasing value in resources that help students see the relevance of every subject to a future sustainability-related career, whichever industry they choose to explore. For teachers, this means creating opportunities, whether through classroom projects, local partnerships, or career-linked learning, that help students connect their learning to real-world challenges.
An example of a ‘sustainability in action’ classroom project could be to conduct a circular economy audit and investigate the lifecycle of everyday items such as clothing or electronics, proposing ways to reduce waste through reuse, repair, or redesign. For partnership working with other organisations, an example could be to collaborate with the local council to produce a sustainable tourism trail with students creating a walking trail map and multilingual guides that highlight eco-friendly businesses and attractions and natural sites, promoting low-impact tourism. The aim isn’t just to inform, but to inspire learners to see themselves as active contributors to a more sustainable and equitable future.
Author: Liz Painter
Photographs 1 & 2 of Liz Painter’s book: provided by Liz
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