Forty-five years after the report No Limits to Learning: Bridging the Human Gap was presented to the Club of Rome in 1979, the debate on educational challenges has returned to centre stage. The new international call No Limits to Hope: Transforming Learning for Better Futures—promoted by the Club of Rome, The Fifth Element, and the WEEC Network—invites us to radically rethink educational paradigms so humanity can address current and future global crises. The “human gap” identified by Aurelio Peccei—i.e., the distance between available knowledge and our ability to translate it into effective practice and policy—remains starkly open. Many educational institutions, anchored to conservative training models, still struggle to incorporate the solutions and skills the scientific community has developed in response to the climate crisis, social inequalities, and technological transformations.
This contribution explores how to bridge this human gap through a theoretical-and-applied approach that integrates sociological, sustainability, and intersectional perspectives. In particular, it analyses the need for systemic change in educational policy and governance, using the European project SUSEDI (SUStainability in EDucational Institutions) as a case study—a concrete example of institutional transformation towards sustainability. The aim is to outline implications and recommendations for future education policies, connecting traditional knowledge and transdisciplinary approaches in the spirit of active, transformative hope for a better future.
Theoretical framework
The proposal is grounded in Education for Sustainability and theories of transformative change. In the spirit of No Limits to Hope, transforming learning for a better future means acting on all aspects of education—paradigms, organisations, methodologies, and programmes—to bridge the gap between our knowledge systems and the mounting challenges facing humanity. In other words, we must move beyond “conservative” education (still predominantly transmissive and disciplinary) towards innovative, systemic education centred on critical thinking, imagination, and collaborative competence—capable of closing the human gap between knowledge and action.
A central element of the framework is an intersectional perspective. Sustainability challenges are intrinsically linked to social justice, gender equity, cultural diversity, and human rights. An intersectional approach recognises that environmental and economic crises affect social groups differently (by gender, ethnicity, class, etc.), and that transformative education must address these intersections to be inclusive and effective. This entails promoting content and practices that integrate climate and social justice, giving voice to perspectives historically marginalised—such as those of Indigenous peoples, local communities, and young activists. It also responds to the need to connect traditional knowledge with transdisciplinary perspectives: much Indigenous and local knowledge offers valuable sustainable solutions, yet often remains at the margins of dominant curricula due to epistemic power imbalances. Overcoming these imbalances requires embracing a plurality of epistemologies—integrating experiential, relational, and community-based learning alongside analytical and formalised learning—so that both scientific and traditional knowledge are valued in educational institutions.
A further theoretical foundation is transformative and systemic learning. Inspired by critical pedagogy and transformative learning theory, Education for a Sustainable Future must go beyond the transmission of knowledge to facilitate shifts in mindsets, values, and behaviours—of individuals and communities alike. In this sense, UNESCO’s Whole Institution Approach (WIA) in Education for Sustainable Development is crucial. A WIA embeds sustainable development across all processes of an educational institution: not only in curricula, but also in management and governance, organisational ethics, active stakeholder engagement (leaders, teachers, students, staff, local community), long-term planning, and continuous monitoring. The school or university becomes a living laboratory of sustainability, aligning daily practices with the principles it teaches (e.g., ecological campus management, participatory decision-making, inclusion and well-being policies). WIA therefore offers a theoretical and operational framework for implementing systemic change across pedagogy, structures, and governance.
Methodology and approach
This contribution adopts an interdisciplinary, qualitative design that combines theoretical analysis with empirical study.
Critical literature review on sustainability education, transformative learning, intersectionality in education, and the Whole Institution Approach, in order to summarise the state of the art and identify the gap between research-based knowledge and prevailing educational practices.
Exploratory case study of the European SUSEDI project as an exemplary instance of systemic transformation in educational institutions. Project documents, public reports, and preliminary outputs will be examined to understand how WIA, transdisciplinarity, and related principles are operationalised, with what challenges, and with what early results.
Transdisciplinary synthesis to derive implications for education policy. Conclusions will blend academic insight with practical experience to offer recommendations relevant to policymakers, educators, and communities.
The SUSEDI analysis follows a sociological-qualitative lens, attending to governance, stakeholder involvement (leadership, teachers, students, external community), organisational change, and effects on educational and decision-making practices. An intersectional lens will ensure attention to equity and inclusion (e.g., whether and how SUSEDI addresses socio-cultural differences across participating schools, and how diverse voices are included in transformation processes).
Case study: the SUSEDI project
The SUSEDI project (Route to Transformation of Educational Institutions through a Whole Institution Approach to Sustainability)—funded by the European Union under Erasmus+ (2022–2026)—involves 13 organisations in 7 countries and aims to support institutions at all levels in adopting WIA. Concretely, SUSEDI sets out transformative steps to integrate sustainability across organisational structures and cultures. The framework spans three interlinked pillars:
Pedagogical (curricula, teaching methods, student competences);
Organisational & governance (internal policies, resource management, stakeholder participation);
Social (institutional climate, community relations, place-based engagement).
A key element is capacity-building for educational and managerial staff. SUSEDI develops open educational resources (OER) and digital assessment tools to enhance the “green” competences of school leaders, teachers, and administrative staff, in line with the European GreenComp framework. These competences—values, knowledge, and abilities for sustainability—are supported by certification pathways aligned with ISO 17024 standards, formally recognising educators and leaders able to drive change. SUSEDI also trains transformation agents: certified experts who can accompany schools through WIA adoption, facilitating participatory processes and offering technical guidance along the “route” to sustainability.
Among SUSEDI’s main products is a methodological guide, the Route Map for Transformation into a Sustainable Institution, which details step-by-step actions across domains (e.g., establishing an institutional sustainability committee, introducing school gardens, or revising curricula for interdisciplinarity). A self-assessment tool enables institutions to measure progress along the WIA pathway. Building on this framework, SUSEDI is introducing a new certification standard (aligned with ISO) to recognise sustainable schools and universities across three progressive levels: Awareness, Taking Action, and Full WIA. This staged recognition encourages continuous commitment, provides visibility for achievements, and creates an international benchmark. Finally, SUSEDI promotes an alliance of educational institutions engaged in sustainable transformation. Through networks and communities of practice, schools share experiences, good practices, and mutual support—amplifying impact beyond any single project.
In sum, SUSEDI is a benchmark case of systemic change in educational governance and practice. It operates at multiple levels—governance (policies and certification), people (training and recognition for staff), curriculum (sustainability-oriented content and methods), and community (external stakeholder engagement and alliances). Expected outcomes—analysed critically in this study—include institutions better equipped to drive ecological and social change, a teaching workforce empowered to innovate sustainably, and participatory governance models that position schools and universities as agents of sustainability within their localities.
Implications for future education policies
The theoretical analysis and case study suggest several strategic directions for policy at institutional and system levels:
Systemic integration of sustainability: Ministries and local authorities should promote widespread adoption of WIA, shifting from sporadic projects to permanent institutional commitments. National frameworks could require institutional sustainability plans with measurable targets and periodic reporting aligned with the SDGs.
Targeted professional learning for educators and leaders: Invest in in-service development so staff can acquire requisite competences. Incorporate frameworks such as GreenComp into professional learning policies, with certification pathways (e.g., aligned with ISO 17024) and career incentives for those leading educational innovation.
Curriculum reform for transdisciplinarity: Review national curricula to enable transdisciplinary approaches and integrate sustainability, global citizenship, and social justice. Encourage active methodologies (real-world project-based learning, fieldwork, co-design with communities) that embody a holistic vision and connect scientific with local/traditional knowledge.
Inclusion and intersectional justice: Design policies with an explicit focus on equity and on the inclusion of historically marginalised groups. Consult Indigenous communities, ethnic minorities, young people, and other stakeholders in decision-making, and integrate their knowledge and needs into programmes. Ensure school practices are accessible to all students (considering disability, gender, socio-economic status, etc.), so environmental and social aims advance together.
Networking and cross-sector cooperation: Facilitate networks of sustainable schools and universities for sharing resources and practice (as in the SUSEDI alliance). Establish territorial hubs, online platforms, and regular convenings; promote partnerships with NGOs, responsible businesses, and local authorities so learning reaches beyond the classroom and actively involves society.
Realising these guidelines requires a mindset shift: recognising that investment in sustainable education today prevents far greater social and ecological costs tomorrow. Policy should adopt a long-term horizon, consistent with the intergenerational nature of sustainability and the need to cultivate hope and transformative capacity in younger generations. As the motto No Limits to Hope suggests, nurturing informed hope is itself a political act: it means equipping tomorrow’s citizens not only with knowledge, but with the power to imagine—and help build—better futures.
Concluding remarks
Bridging the gap between what we know and what we do in education is a defining challenge of our time. This contribution shows how an integrated approach—both theoretical and practical—can illuminate pathways for transformation: through innovative frameworks (WIA, intersectionality, transdisciplinarity) that redefine learning and teaching, and through concrete examples such as SUSEDI that translate ideas into institutional change. What emerges is the need for systemic change in governance: not marginal reforms, but a profound redesign of policies, structures, and organisational cultures so that education becomes a driver of sustainability, justice, and resilience.
In the face of overlapping global crises, there are no limits to hope—provided hope is understood not as sterile optimism but as an action-oriented vision. Hope can become a concrete force for collective action, triggering a virtuous circle: the vision of better futures stimulates present-day action, and action in turn reinforces hope by fuelling further commitment. Catalysing this positive cycle is also the work of education. Bold education policy, inspired by the principles discussed here, can help form a new generation of critical, creative, and responsible citizens—capable of learning without limits and transforming society. Ultimately, transforming learning for better futures means transforming ourselves and our institutions: a challenging process, but one rich in possibility and promise for a sustainable and equitable future for all.
