Research in the disciplines of education, science education, and environmental education has a rich history. While research in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) may be related to these traditions, there is a need for ESD to carve a new niche that promotes high quality and effective ESD programmes. With an eye towards practice and applied research, this paper suggests that research in ESD focus on strategies that promote sustainable behaviours and engage adult citizens in decision making. Researchers can build on the relevant work in psychology, sociology, education, policy and communication that relates to environmental behaviour and citizen participation. ESD researchers will play important roles on teams of engineers, agriculturalists, economists and architects, for example, as they implement more sustainable technologies.