Critical thinking as a concept, has a rich history and is central to much of the debate within international educational research and increasingly within environmental and sustainability education (ESE). Currently, it is gaining a foothold in the curriculum and in practice in Nordic countries. However, to date, there has been no proper account of…

Schools are recognized as important locales for education and action to change food-related environmental and health behaviours. Research shows the potential for a whole school systems approach to integrate educational activities, food in school, and wider food-related interactions. However, little attention has been given to how theory is put…

This response article written from "outside" the Swedish-Danish contexts of this special issue considers how we might highlight and make additional ecocentric meaning of some of the terms most frequently used in this collection. In the first instance my focus is on "meaning" but this is expanded to include other terms such as…

This contribution provides an "outside" commentary on several of the articles provided in this special issue on environmental education and education in the context of sustainability in Denmark and Sweden. Although there is no uniform position or shared single outlook expressed in the articles in this special issue, there are some…

Action competence has been a key concept in educational circles in Denmark since the 1980s. This paper explores the relationship between the action competence approach and recent discourses of education for sustainable development (ESD), competence and quality criteria. First we argue that action competence is an educational ideal, referring to…