Chemistry Education for a Sustainable Future
Contributors
Summary
Now and in the years ahead, we need to sustain all life on our planet. How do we do this? Chemistry, the science of materials, provides part of the answer to this question. Practicing chemistry in a green and sustainable manner is essential to achieving a sustainable future. However, sustainability concepts seldom are taught in the chemistry classroom. For example, the connections between chemistry and systems thinking, planetary boundaries, sustainable development goals, and ethics are not widely taught, yet these all can inform how we can sustain life now and in the future.
"Chemistry Education for a Sustainable Future" addresses what our students need to learn today to help all people and the planet thrive. This open access book provides a logical sequence of topics and offers chemistry educators practical strategies to equip today’s students with the tools needed to become scientists and citizens who can responsibly contribute to a sustainable future.
Throughout this book, the authors wish to meet the needs of educators who desire to do more with sustainability for all students but may not know how. Each chapter launches with “Opening Thoughts,” a brief rationale to set the stage. A section entitled “Background” then follows, offering readers more in-depth explanations of the concepts presented in the chapter together with useful references. By structuring their ideas in this way, the authors of each chapter first introduce readers to the sustainability-related content and then provide straightforward explanations. The heart of each chapter is the third section, “Teaching and Learning a Sustainability Topic”. Here, our chapter authors offer practical suggestions to help readers reimagine how students in today’s classrooms and labs might learn chemistry. The teaching and learning sections provide concrete suggestions, activities, learning outcomes, and references to facilitate the integration of sustainability into the chemistry curriculum.
Citation: Chemistry Education for a Sustainable Future, ed. C. H. Middlecamp, M. M. Kirchhoff, P. Mahaffy, and K. Kümmerer, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2025, vol. 13.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/9781837676576-FP009
"Chemistry Education for a Sustainable Future" addresses what our students need to learn today to help all people and the planet thrive. This open access book provides a logical sequence of topics and offers chemistry educators practical strategies to equip today’s students with the tools needed to become scientists and citizens who can responsibly contribute to a sustainable future.
Throughout this book, the authors wish to meet the needs of educators who desire to do more with sustainability for all students but may not know how. Each chapter launches with “Opening Thoughts,” a brief rationale to set the stage. A section entitled “Background” then follows, offering readers more in-depth explanations of the concepts presented in the chapter together with useful references. By structuring their ideas in this way, the authors of each chapter first introduce readers to the sustainability-related content and then provide straightforward explanations. The heart of each chapter is the third section, “Teaching and Learning a Sustainability Topic”. Here, our chapter authors offer practical suggestions to help readers reimagine how students in today’s classrooms and labs might learn chemistry. The teaching and learning sections provide concrete suggestions, activities, learning outcomes, and references to facilitate the integration of sustainability into the chemistry curriculum.
Citation: Chemistry Education for a Sustainable Future, ed. C. H. Middlecamp, M. M. Kirchhoff, P. Mahaffy, and K. Kümmerer, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2025, vol. 13.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/9781837676576-FP009
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