Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges in education for sustainable development (ESD) implementation in teacher education institutions (TEIs) in Vietnam and propose some appropriate solutions to advance ESD in training teachers toward sustainability. Design/methodology/approach The authors interviewed ten lecturers and 75 students in five TEIs across Vietnam and organized focus groups to obtain qualitative data which were coded to identify themes and provide quantitative results for analysis. Findings: ESD-related topics were included in both formal and non-formal education. However, there remains a wide gap between ESD cognition and ESD teaching capacity among teacher trainees due to the prevalence of top-down pedagogy, large classes and poor facilities. Through strengthening collaboration among multiple stakeholders, TEIs should achieve more effective ESD approaches. Research limitations/implications Future research is required to examine the role of non-formal educational educators, NGOs, for instance, in training teachers about ESD. Practical implications: Low-cost initiatives generating from the paper may be applied in higher education institutions, particularly in training teachers across developing countries. Social implications The paper analyses the key role of lecturers in ESD implementation and promotion which should be useful for ESD educators. Originality/value: The paper points out current challenges in ESD implementation in TEIs in Vietnam and suggests some solutions which may be applied in ESD teaching education in other developing countries.