Mapping transdisciplinary sustainability education across scales, geographies, and educational contexts: developing and piloting a framework

This article introduces a novel conceptual and methodological framework for mapping, comparing, and evaluating transdisciplinary sustainability education initiatives across diverse scales, geographies, and educational contexts. Addressing a key gap in sustainability education research, which often prioritises formal higher education and relies on case specific or discipline bound evaluation approaches, the framework integrates dimensions of transdisciplinary learning, education for sustainable development competencies, GreenComp sustainability competencies, and the core values of creativity, care, plurality, and emergence. The framework consists of four interconnected analytical components, namely descriptive analysis, transdisciplinary dimensions, competency development, and values alignment, which together enable systematic cross contextual comparison of heterogeneous initiatives across formal, non-formal, and informal educational settings. The framework was piloted through an analysis of 40 purposively selected sustainability education initiatives, including grassroots and community led efforts from underrepresented regions. The findings indicate strong group and societal level learning in collaborative and community-based contexts, alongside pronounced expressions of plurality and emergence in grassroots initiatives, while triple loop learning remained comparatively limited in formal educational environments. Overall, the framework offers a replicable and adaptable analytical tool that supports comparative evaluation, reflexive design, and more inclusive and equitable sustainability transformations across research, policy, and practice.