Rachel Sheffield, Professor at Curtin University’s School of Education, is an advocate for sustainability and environmental education through STEM education.

Her leadership in sustainability-focused projects is exemplified through her work with the STEMinist group, promoting STEM education more recently through an environmental focus and across India, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Her efforts in fostering STEM education earned her the 2016 Executive Endeavour Fellowship to Laos, enhancing local teacher capabilities in sustainability education. Dr Sheffield’s recognition extends to her 2020 induction into the WA Women’s Hall of Fame for advancing science education over three decades. In 2019, her selection for the Homeward Bound program celebrated her leadership in promoting women’s roles in sustainability through global STEM collaborations. Commissioned by UNESCO in 2022, she authored a critical report on global citizenship education in the Asia-Pacific region, addressing sustainability in educational frameworks.

Ms Nouzha Alaoui, deputy president of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, has a wealth of experience in the field of environment and sustainable development. For the last two decades, under the leadership of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, president of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, Ms Alaoui has led the Foundation to evolve from an impactful aspiration into an established and recognized institution. Ms Alaoui previously served as the Secretary General of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, where she played a pivotal role in shaping its strategic direction and initiatives. An active and committed promoter of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), she is a member of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council of the Kingdom of Morocco, as well as the Scientific Committees of COP22, the World Environmental Education Congress, the Education and Communication Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Mission 4.7 Education Task Force of experts. Additionally, Ms Alaoui serves as the Secretary-General of the Foundation for the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage of Rabat. Previously, she held managerial positions in the private sector and possesses an academic background in sustainable development, organizational management, and leadership in civil society organizations.

Alberto Arenas is Professor of Environmental and Sustainability Education in the College of Education at the University of Arizona, and he is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Environmental Education, the oldest journal on environmental education worldwide in continuous operation. He specializes in the connections between pedagogy and ecosocialism; experiential education, with an emphasis on vocational education; and the decolonization of education with a focus on restoring culturally-rich, non-commodified knowledge and skills.

Dr Arenas has a Ph.D. in Sociocultural Studies in Education from the University of California, Berkeley. In 2002, he was hired by the University of Arizona, and has taught in the College of Education since then. His publications have appeared in leading educational journals in the world, including Phi Delta Kappan, Teachers College Record, Compare, the International Review of Education, and the Journal of Environmental Education.

From 2009-2019, Dr Arenas was the co-director of the Study of the United States Institute, which invited Indigenous Latin American college students to the University of Arizona. In 2014 he was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico researching Mexico’s environmental education programs. From 2017-2021 he was Associate Editor for Environmental and Sustainability Education of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Educational Administration. Professor Arenas has been a member of the International Scientific Committee of the World Environmental Education Congresses held in Morocco, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates.

Dr Arenas grew up in Bogotá, Colombia. He has also lived in Brazil and Mexico, where he has taught and researched in the fields of environmental and sustainability education.

Antonella Bachiorri is a Biologist, PhD in Ecology and Master in Education for Sustainability. She teaches “Didactics of Biology and Environmental Education” and “Sustainable Development” at the University of Parma (Italy) where coordinates a laboratory for interdisciplinary research in education for sustainability (CIREA) at the Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability. She is member of Editorial Boards of international Journals and has been involved in many research projects.

Brigit Burkard is an experienced Anthropologist with decades of work in international cooperation. She is deeply passionate about the environment and education, and currently serves as the Programme Director Southeast Asia for the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation, an international NGO, based in Switzerland.

Brigit has played a pivotal role in launching Clean&Green Schools across Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. In collaboration with local environmental conservation departments and ministries of education, she and her teams have developed and implemented innovative programs that promote environmental sustainability in schools.

Her whole team’s contributions have been instrumental in creating criteria and indicators for Eco-Schools, as well as developing a comprehensive teacher’s guidebook on environmental conservation for primary school educators. She is now spearheading efforts to expand the network of Clean&Green schools. Under her leadership, two of these schools have won national Clean&Green School Awards and were nominated for the prestigious ASEAN Eco-School Award.

Brigit Burkard also serves as a member of the Eco-School Jury Switzerland, further influencing the growth of sustainable education.

Mark Caddey is a highly accomplished professional with over 35 years of experience in the education and environmental sectors, specializing in sustainability, conservation, and environmental education. Through his roles in the NSW Department of Education and NSW Department of Environment, he has played a pivotal role in shaping environmental education policy and implementing sustainability programs across the state.

Mark’s career includes significant roles such as Senior Policy Officer in Sustainability, Zoo Education Manager, and Coordinator, Sustainable Schools NSW. His expertise extends to leading the design and delivery of educational programs in sustainability, collaborating on the development of the Australian Curriculum’s Sustainability cross-curriculum priority, and advising on policy implementation in NSW schools and supporting the 25 Environmental and Zoo Education Centres across the state.

A passionate advocate for sustainability, Mark has worked extensively on energy efficiency projects with NSW Councils, leveraging partnerships to deliver state-wide programs with lean budgets and quick turnaround times. Notable projects include his leadership of the Sustainable Schools NSW program, transitioning it from a pilot to a state-wide initiative in partnership with the Department of Environment and Climate Change.

Mark has also made significant contributions to the broader environmental education community. He served as the Chair of the NSW Chapter of the Australian Association for Environmental Education for 8 years and was the National President for 4 years. His volunteer leadership in these roles further highlights his dedication to advancing environmental education in Australia.

Academic credentials include a Graduate Certificate in Place Management and Leadership from Manchester Metropolitan University, a Master of Education in Leadership (UNSW), and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Systems Agriculture (Hawkesbury College). He is known for his expertise in project initiation, program planning and evaluation and stakeholder engagement.

Mark’s deep commitment to environmental education, his extensive experience in policy development, and his collaborative approach make him a key figure in the sustainability and education sectors.

Ellen Casey is an early childhood teacher, pedagogical leader and early career researcher in early childhood education for sustainability. She holds a Masters of Environment and Sustainability, specialising in leadership for sustainable development, and completed her master’s thesis on the connections between gender equality and sustainability in early childhood education. Ellen is the Head of Program and Pedagogy at Swinburne Children’s Centres, and recently worked as a Teaching Associate at Monash University, teaching topics of sustainability with pre-service early childhood teachers. Ellen is a passionate advocate for children, social justice, and the deep importance of early childhood education in building sustainable futures.

Dr Sue Elliott is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of New England (UNE), New South Wales, Australia and a visiting scholar at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Sue is a long-standing early childhood education for sustainability advocate, researcher and author, she currently co-convenes the TransNational Dialogues in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability research group (TND) and the European Early Childhood Research Association Sustainability Special Interest Group (EECERA). In 2023, Sue was awarded a Fellowship of the Australian Association for Environmental Education in recognition of her leading role and her most recent international publication is Young Children and the Environment (Davis & Elliott, 2024).

Professor Michele John is Director of the Sustainable Engineering Group at Curtin University. Her current research is focused on industry decarbonisation and ESG governance. She is a world leader in sustainability education development and has published a number of books on sustainability management including “Global Sustainability Education and Thinking in the 21st Century” (Taylor and Francis, April 2024 ). Her work covers strategic advice across many sectors and areas of sustainability including sustainability performance assessment, climate risk, zero carbon strategy development, circularity and ESG reporting.

Michele has also spent many years working in the resources sector and held a number of senior international executive roles (Asia Pacific) including in commercial market development for multi-national corporations.

She is a resource economist and has served as a Director on a number of Company Boards and executive level committees in the government and NFP sector.

Gillian Kidman is from the Faculty of Education at Monash University. She is the leader of the Interdisciplinary Approaches Research Group, Co-Chair of the International Geographical Union Commission on Geographical Education and the Editor of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education. Gillian is a lead writer of the Australian Curriculum: Science. She has over 30 years of experience as a researcher and educator in environmental education, sustainability and STEM education, focusing on cognition in interdisciplinary STEM learning, climate change education and curriculum development. Gillian supports the Indonesian Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education in advancing climate change education initiatives. She regularly delivers keynote speeches across Southeast Asia and is dedicated to enhancing geographical and environmental education globally through research, policy engagement, and professional development.

Associate Professor Sonja Kuzich is an educational researcher and educator with expertise in sustainability and climate change education.  She brings a wealth of expertise and leadership to her work, notably serving as a member of the national executive of the Australian Association for Environmental Education and has provided crucial guidance to educators in schools through her leadership roles on the UNAAWA Education and Environment Committees.  

Her research spans Education for Sustainability (EfS), educational policy, climate change education and the affective and cognitive impacts of nature on children’s learning outcomes. Sonja has presented her findings at international conferences, and through her commissioned research work with UNESCO Asia Pacific, advocacy through the Global Sustainable Futures Network, continues to inform global educational initiatives.

Heila Lotz-Sisitka is a Distinguished Professor at Rhodes University, a Tier 1 Department of Science and Innovation South African Research Chair focusing on Global Change and Social Learning Systems, and is Director of the Environmental Learning Research Centre. With over 30 years’ experience working within the learning sciences at the interface of the environmental and social sciences, she has worked with civil society, public and private sector stakeholders and local, national and international government partners to advance transformative learning and skills development for just transitions nationally and internationally.

Her research focuses on transformative social learning, education system change and green skills learning pathways in areas of biodiversity, the water-food nexus, climate change, social and environmental justice, and just sustainability transitions. Trained as an educator, her work crosses social and natural science boundaries, and pioneers new approaches to Transformative Learning and Sustainability in multi-actor groups. Notable programmes worked on include the International Science Council’s Transformations to Sustainability Programme, UNEP’s Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability in African Universities, UNESCO’s Decade on Education for Sustainable Development and most recently UNICEF’s Green Learn to Earn pathways programme for youth.

She has supervised over 140 post-graduate scholars, authored over 250 publications, led and delivered professional development training world-wide, and has offered over 110 keynotes in 35 countries around the world. She actively contributes to numerous policy and practice processes focusing on learning and sustainability internationally and nationally, most recently as member of the expert group convened to produce the 2023 UNESCO Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development. She has won numerous awards and is a Member of the South African Academy of Sciences. She serves on a number of international and national policy forums and boards, and is a long standing member of the Social Scientific Committee of the World Environmental Education Congress.

• PhD in Philosophy and Educational Sciences.
• Professor Emeritus at the National University of Distance Education (UNED) Spain.
• Writer and poet.
• She has worked as a UNESCO Consultant on the environment, environmental education, and sustainable development.
• Director of the UNESCO Chair in Environmental Education and Sustainable Development from its inception (1996) until 2023. She is currently Honorary President.
• Director of the International Master’s Degree in Environmental Education and Sustainable Development at UNED, from 1990 to 2015.
• Over several decades, she has developed extensive research projects on emerging topics (environment, sustainable development, environmental education, uses of time, ecofeminism, science/art integration, complex thinking, etc.).
• She has published 30 books and numerous articles. In the scientific field, among others, “Environmental Education: Ethical, Conceptual, and Methodological Principles” and “Sustainable Development: Its Environmental and Educational Dimension.” In non-fiction literature, among others, “Vital Success” (2017) and “The Society of Haste” (2023).
• Founder and Director of the EcoArt Project, for the integration of science and art in addressing environmental issues and sustainability.
• Associate Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science.
• Founder and President of the Slow People Association (people who want to go through life more slowly).
• Member of the Club of Rome (Spanish Chapter).
• International N’aitum Award for her work on the integration of science, art, and the environment.
• Special Advisor to Earth Charter International.

Carlos is the Secretary General of The Club of Rome, where he works for the emergence of a civilizational shift towards equitable wellbeing on a healthy planet. He is an Aerospace Engineer and has been a researcher in systems dynamics at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), as well as an entrepreneur in the digital sector across Europe. He created a foundation to develop research on complex systems, deep learning and responsible innovation. Carlos advises the UNESCO Chair of Global Understanding for Sustainability, as well as the SWEET program on energy transition in Switzerland. He also collaborates with the Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions (MAK´IT) and is a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS).

Sachi Ninomiya-Lim, currently a Professor at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, has been an educator, a facilitator, a learner, and a researcher engaged in environmental education and education for sustainable development (ESD) since the late 1990s. She has worked for several NGOs/CSOs in Japan and Thailand, as well as the Sabah Forestry Department in Malaysia, before she started teaching at universities in 2008. As a faculty member at several universities in Japan, she has devoted herself to empowering students and communities for gaining fair opportunities to participate in the co-creation of a sustainable future. In recent years, she has been responsible for the development of the new College of Environmental Studies at Rikkyo University, to be launched in April 2026. At Rikkyo, she also serves as a committee member of the Research Center for ESD and the Rikkyo Service Learning Center.

She holds a number of responsibilities in both governmental and non-governmental sectors promoting environmental education and ESD in Japan. Her current positions include a board member and the director for international communication for the Japanese Society for Environmental Education (JSFEE), a board member of the Research Institute of Democracy and Education, a national committee member of the Tripartite Environmental Education Network (TEEN: Japan, China and Korea), the chairperson of the 2024-2025 Advisory Panel of Experts on Environmental Education Outcome Indicators of Japanese Ministry of the Environment (MOE), a councilor of Japanese Society for Preservation of Birds, a planning committee member of the Kanto Region ESD Activity Support Center, a member of the Tokai Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability (TRIES), the chairperson of the community education board of Akishima City, and the deputy chair of the environmental education promotion committee of Atsugi City.

She earned her master’s degree in environmental education at Griffith University in Australia in 2005 and her Ph.D at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in 2014.

Gusi Peace Laureate, former Minister of Education, Thakur S Powdyel, is an educator by choice, conviction and passion with particular interest in Education as the Noble Sector, Institutional Integrity, National-Self Respect, Moral Literacy, and Gross National Happiness. Deeply invested in the outer and inner life of his nation, Professor Powdyel has travelled across the length and breadth of his beautiful country and represented Bhutan at many important fora around the world. He has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Innovation Education for his outstanding contribution to global education thought. Powdyel’s little book, My Green School, has been translated into some 19 major languages around the world and taught at many institutions. Professor Powdyel is also a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, Global Education Award, and Institutional Award: the Honour of Druk Thuksey, for his contribution to nation-building and advancement of holistic learning at home and beyond. Professor Powdyel has often been described as the most widely foot-travelled education minister in the world.

Professor Rosenberg is a researcher, educator and academic dean, passionate about People and Planet. For 35 years she has been guiding the education of young people and environmental professionals and the strategies, organisations, research and evaluation to reorient ourselves to Fairness for All including the more-than-human Life on Earth.

Transdisciplinary and transformative research methodology is an enduring interest. Drawing on her academic and strategy experience she leads the Education Faculty at Rhodes University, South Africa, as the Academic Dean. She continues to learn about organisational strategy and human resource development, and strives for ways in which to evaluate and improve educational work, without getting stuck in narrow performance monitoring. She works with fellow scholars towards more generative and ethical ways in which to do research and engage with the world, and she writes about, designs and offers courses in transformative research and evaluation. Eureta is the South African Country Co-Director for the TRANSECTS programme in which scholars and practitioners from Canada, South Africa and Germany collaborate to expand higher education support for trans-disciplinary research and practice. For examples of her work see https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7421-7120.

Mario Salomone has a master degree in Theoretical Philosophy. He is an environmental sociologist, former university professor at the University of Bergamo and Milano (IULM), is teaching Environmental sociology at the University of Milano Bicocca and Torino. Journalist, lecturer in hundreds of conferences, author or co-author of handbooks, papers and book chapters on environmental education, environmental communication, ecological economics and other environmental issues, and writer of novels and tales.

Full-time researcher at the Institute of Research in Education of the Universidad Veracruzana. He has a PhD in educational research and is the coordinator of the collaborative project “CARE-Mexico” that is carried out with basic education teachers in Mexico. He is secretary of the UNESCO Chair “Education for eco-citizenship and sustainability”. He belongs to the Mexican National System of Researchers. He has been an advisor to indigenous organizations in Colombia and Brazil in the design of indigenous universities. He is a founding member of the International Network of Experts in Education for Sustainability (ESD-Expert-Net) convened by the German Ministry of International Cooperation in which academics and educators from Mexico, Germany, India and South Africa participate. His research lines are environmental education and indigenous knowledge, epistemologies and alternative pedagogies in environmental education, audiovisual methods in educational research. His latest book “Handprints for Change” was published in India in collaboration with the Centre for Environment Education and is being used to train basic education teachers in India.

Lucie Sauvé is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Education and Associate Professor at the Institut des sciences de l’environnement at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). She is member of the steering committee of the Centre de recherche en éducation et formation relatives à l’environnement et à l’écocitoyenneté (Centr’ERE), which she founded in 2012 and directed until 2020. Among her academic commitments, she is the editor of the international research journal Éducation relative à l’environnement – Regards, Recherches, Réflexions. Her main areas of specialisation relate to the critical and political dimensions of education, the dynamics of citizen mobilisation in environmental issues and ecosocial transformation, and the challenges of educator’s professional development in both formal and non-formal contexts. Her professional experience has been enriched by 20 years of international cooperation in Latin America and her involvement in numerous environmental social movements.

Phil’s forty-five years in education span the breadth of formal and non-formal education: schools, TAFE, community colleges, universities and a wide range of community settings. He has held leadership roles in schools, government agencies, a national professional environmental education association and local and international NGOs. He has worked overseas in education, training and evaluation. His experience includes advocacy at local, state and federal levels; education in a humanitarian environment (Nauru); sustainability leadership courses for youth, university students and community organisations; professional development for teachers and trainers; teacher-training programs; and conference facilitation. Sustainability education has been and remains a key focus of his education work. As Manager Education in ResourceNSW, he worked with the Department of Education & Training to set up the NSW Sustainable Schools Program.

Currently, Phil lives and works in Vietnam. He teaches public speaking and he runs Speaking 4 the Planet, his international program for schools; it is a public speaking, art, writing and drama competition based on the SDGs. In Vietnam, he has set up NatureWize Vietnam, a social enterprise that works in education, evaluation, professional development, training and research. He does a good deal of volunteer teaching in regional and rural parts of Vietnam.

He is a reader, a writer, a bushwalker, a canyoner and a backcountry skier. He takes a deep interest in the world, and is active in that world – socially, culturally, politically, professionally. What gives cohesion to the diversity of his activities and interests is a sense of working towards a world in which healthy people thrive in healthy communities on a healthy planet: a sustainable world, a world that looks after the vulnerable and cares for the environment.

Professor Daniella Tilbury is an internationally recognised thought leader in sustainable development, climate action, and transformative education. She chaired UNESCO’s Global Monitoring and Evaluation Expert Group for Education for Sustainable Development, a milestone initiative that continues to shape education policy and sustainability reporting worldwide.

Prof Tilbury serves as the UK Government’s focal point at the UN Economic Commission for Europe and is an expert adviser to the European Commission on green and digital transitions in education. Her distinguished career includes senior leadership roles such as Vice-Chancellor, Dean, Director of Research, and Chair at leading universities across the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar. She also served as Commissioner for Sustainable Development and Future Generations, a statutory role created to embed sustainability across government and public sector planning in Gibraltar.

She was the founding Director of ARIES (the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability), where she led pioneering work that influenced national policy, teacher education, and curriculum reform in Australia and beyond. Her research and frameworks have helped governments, UN agencies, and international bodies embed sustainability and systems thinking into formal and non-formal education. Her experience also includes leading field evaluations and impact assessments across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Pacific.

A passionate advocate for climate action, she played a pivotal role on the Board of WWF Australia, where she helped establish the globally recognised Earth Hour initiative in 2007. She has chaired high-level ministerial meetings at the UNFCCC and was the convener for the UN COP26 Presidential event in Glasgow. She was invited by the UN Secretary-General to facilitate key dialogues at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York and continues to advise governments, education agencies, and corporate organisations on transitioning to more just and sustainable futures.

Professor Tilbury currently chairs the Network of Institutions and Leaders for Future Generations (NIFG), a global alliance advocating for long-term thinking, intergenerational equity, and the inclusion of future generations in decision-making. She has been at the forefront of championing youth-led climate transition efforts, supporting young people to shape sustainability pathways and influence policy at national and international levels.

Her academic journey began in 1990 as a doctoral student at the University of Cambridge, where she focused on reorienting higher education towards sustainable development—work that laid the foundations for many of her international advisory roles. She is currently a Council Member of the University of Girona and an Honorary Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. In May 2025, she delivered the Gladwyn Lecture on Education for Climate and Sustainability across the Commonwealth at the House of Parliament, UK.

Pedro Vega-Marcote is University Professor at the Faculty of Education Sciences of the University of A Coruña in Didactics of Experimental Sciences and Environmental Education. His current research interests are focused on teacher training in Environmental Education and Sustainability, especially in relation to transformative learning, development of action competence and climate education, Ecological Footprint and implementation of Agenda 21 in the University and Municipalities (A21).

Marcos Vinicius Campelo Junior is a visiting professor and researcher at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, as well as coordinator of the Interinstitutional Commission for Environmental Education in MS. He holds a degree in Geography Teaching, a Master’s and a PhD in Environmental Education. He is currently researching Environmental Education in Conservation Units, Public Policies and Popular Education (Paulo Freire).

Yolanda Ziaka is Economist, PhD in Environmental Education, Master’s in Visual Arts and Art Sciences. Based in Greece, she has been coordinating, since 1994, numerous international projects on Environmental Education and Communication and has been involved in various research and action networks and in civil society organizations. She has held leadership roles in national and international environmental and educational NGOs, as well as in regional authorities’ agencies implementing and managing regional development projects. From 2016 till today, she has been coordinating several EU Erasmus+ projects in her capacity as coordinator of ‘Polis’ association. She is the author / co-author of several articles and editor of books and periodicals on Environmental Education, pedagogy, and the ethics of responsibility. Her areas of expertise include environmental communication, environmental education in non-formal education settings, education through art, educational projects’ management and the development of educational material.

Researcher at the Institute for Educational Research at the University of Veracruz (UV) in Mexico. Member of the National System of Level 3 Researchers and the Mexican Academy of Sciences. Coordinator of the UNESCO Chair in Education for Eco-Citizenship and Sustainability. Coordinator of the CARE-Mexico Project, which is developed in elementary schools in Veracruz and Yucatán to promote situated learning for the care of the physical and social environment. Ecofeminist. She teaches and supervises theses in the Master’s and Doctoral programs in Educational Research at the UV. Her lines of research include situated learning for care, ecofeminisms in education, and the evaluation of educational policies for rural and indigenous contexts. She is a member of the Thematic Network for Research in Rural Education (RIER), where she coordinates its research seminar, “RIER Open Doors.” She holds a PhD in Politics from the University of York and a Master’s in Anthropological Sciences from the Autonomous University of Yucatán.