This study contributes to the research in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS) by exploring a case study of two Western Australian early childhood education classes who welcomed an Indigenous Elder to share their expertise about the native plants in the schools' bush space. The findings from this study demonstrate the impact…

Climate change is an urgent global issue that requires concern and action among a climate literate citizenry. Early childhood climate change education (CCE) affords strong potential for developing this climate literate citizenry. Early childhood educators are critical for this endeavor, and their climate change perspectives, teaching practices,…

Natural materials provide children opportunities for artistic engagement, which encourages a dialogue between children and material and provides a platform for children to discuss their perspectives on significant issues like sustainable futures. This article examines the land art characters created by pre-primary education children in the garden…

In the United States, early childhood programs inclusive of nature experiences for young children vary widely in terms of time spent outdoors; purpose of the program, approaches to use of the environment, curricular aims and support of young children's development. A commonality across many of these early childhood programs available in the United…

Global environmental changes and substantial social justice issues are impacting all, raising significant concerns for the Earth's future. There is a need for equitable education as an avenue towards addressing these sustainability challenges. This qualitative content analysis study examined a representation of the concerns and interests of…

A robust emergence of outdoor nature-based play areas in several European, Australian, Asian countries, as well as North America Canadian provinces, has occurred recently. This study explored the rationale for and construction of different play zones and affordances for children at a United States Central Kentucky local arboretum and research…

Finnish legislation and policy on early childhood education and care (ECEC) express sustainability as a basic value. The national core curricula state that, during their years in ECEC, all children have the right to develop necessary values, knowledge and skills for living a sustainable life. Furthermore, early years education should be permeated…

The purpose of this article is to report on a study exploring the sustainability work (i.e., practices and pedagogies related to sustainability education) of Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) teaching practice settings. Recently, the early years and ECEC have gained increasing attention in sustainability education matters.…

In Sweden, the national parliament has adopted objectives to implement the United Nations (UN) "2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" (UNESCO, 2017). Sweden's objectives are more ambitious and far-reaching in several policy areas than the targets listed in the 2030 Agenda and outlined in the report "Agenda 2030 and Sweden:…

In 2015, Canada adopted the UN 2030 agenda for sustainable development and committed to its 17 sustainable development goals aiming to address issues of social, economic and environmental nature (United Nations, n.d.). Although Canada proposed an Indicator Framework with measurable targets to track progress on certain goals, these are still in the…

The Brundtland (1987) report challenged the perception that the environment was somehow separate from humans and the more recent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UNESCO, 2015) have emphasised the pressing need for sustainable development to meet the needs of current and future generations. As progress towards meeting the SDGs by 2030 was not…

Skills 4 Kids (S4K) Cafes is a program of intergenerational community skill-sharing events that offers a form of professional learning for early childhood educators to connect with SDG 4 Quality Education. The S4K model is an alternative 'side by side' approach to supporting educators to develop their pedagogical practice in the community, while…

The focus on early childhood education for sustainability within children's literature is part of a mindful shift towards a more critical praxis with young children, families, communities and students in higher education. This paper reports on qualitative pedagogic research undertaken as part of a first-year module in an undergraduate Early…

Resilience, the capacity to cope with stress and adversity, is universally regarded as a positive and valued trait (LeBuffe & Naglieri, 2012). The purpose of this study was to explore the potential for nature preschools to support the development of initiative, self-regulation, and attachment, which are key protective factors that can offset…

Loose parts is often an ambiguous term with different interpretations depending on the context. Using the search parameters, a scoping review was implemented to narrow down over 2,400 articles related to "loose parts," "early childhood," and "outdoor classrooms" to 15 articles for in-depth review. From the selected…