Empowering Education for Sustainable Development: A Submission from the BEST Network for Ireland’s Third SDG National Implementation Plan – A Case for a Bioeconomy Approach

This submission from the Bioeconomy Education and Sustainability Teachers (BEST) Network sets out key recommendations to strengthen the role of education, and in particular bioeconomy education, within Ireland’s Third Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) National Implementation Plan (NIP). It argues that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), aligned with SDG Target 4.7, should be positioned as a central delivery mechanism for SDG implementation rather than a supporting or awareness-raising activity. The submission recommends establishing a clearly defined national leadership or crossdepartmental coordination mechanism to ensure coherence across SDG education, the ESD to 2030 Strategy, curriculum reform and teacher education. It calls for the formal integration of bioeconomy principles, including systems thinking, circularity, ecological limits, just transition and intergenerational equity, across curricula from early years to higher and adult education, supported by sustained funding and resources. Capacity-building for educators is identified as critical, with recommendations for mandatory inclusion of SDGs, sustainability and bioeconomy competencies in initial teacher education and continuing professional development. The submission also emphasises the need for meaningful youth participation in SDG governance and for whole-school and whole-institution approaches that embed sustainability into teaching, operations and community partnerships. Finally, the submission calls for the introduction of education-specific SDG indicators and reporting mechanisms, ensuring that learning outcomes, educator capacity and youth engagement are tracked alongside environmental and economic measures. Collectively, these recommendations provide a practical pathway for embedding education, particularly bioeconomy education, as a core pillar of Ireland’s SDG implementation and long-term sustainable development strategy.