Education for sustainable development plays an increasing role in environmental education policy and practice. In this article, we show how sustainable development is mainly seen as a goal that can be achieved by applying the proper processes of learning and how this learning perspective translates sustainability issues into learning problems of individuals. We present a different perspective on education for sustainable development and emphasize the importance of presenting issues of sustainable development as "public issues", i.e. as matters of public concern. This shifts the focus from the competences that citizens must acquire to the democratic nature of the spaces and practices in which participation and citizenship can develop. (Contains 2 tables and 2 notes.)