Health and sustainability. Individual responsibility or democratic politics?

This research project analyses how health and sustainable development is being handled in the Swedish education system. The project is multidisciplinary with researchers from the subjects of Education, History and Political Science.

Focus on responsibility

The project emphasises the role of education in order to develop the participation of young people in a democratic society. This is particularly important in a time where alternative sources of knowledge are becoming increasingly common and where individual responsibility and freedom of choice is predominant. The research has a particular focus on the difference between individual responsibility, on the one hand and societal responsibility for health and sustainable development.

Collage, photos of pizza, text about BMI, climate demonstrations, sign poste about positive effects of walking in stairs (calorie wise)

Photo: Joachim Brink and Claes Malmberg

Health and sustainable development

Our research interest in health and sustainable development departs from several observations of contemporary societies. First, that the aim of education is to develop young people into active and participating citizens in a democratic society. Second, that health and sustainable development are two urgent societal challenges characterized by a paradox of responsibility. The paradox of responsibility means that responsibility for societal problems and potential solutions to the problems is placed at the individual level even though the problems need societal—political—solutions. Third, that both health and sustainable development are characterized by epistemological conflicts and conflicts between values.

Research

Studies within the project

Health and sustainable development in educational materials for the subjects Biology, Natural Science, and Physical Activities.
NEET (Youth Not in Education, Employment, or Training). How the state, city councils and schools view the causes, actions and solutions regarding students with school absenteeism.

Our research shows that the responsibility for health and sustainable development tends to become individualized and de-politicized.

Development project for the Swedish National Agency for Education

The participants in the project have developed cross-subject learning modules for sustainable development. These are accessible via the Swedish National Agency for Education, in Swedish:

Hållbar utveckling, gymnasiet External link. (Sustainable development, upper secondary school (A-levels))
Hållbar utveckling, åk 7–9 External link. (Sustainable development, year 7 to 9)

About the project

Project participants

Financer:

Sustainable development, year 7–9 2017–2018: The Swedish National Agency for Education, SEK 2.3 million
Sustainable development, upper secondary school (A-levels) 2019: The Swedish National Agency for Education, SEK 0.75 million
Participation at conferences about education for sustainable development 2019: The Swedish National Agency for Education, SEK 41.1k

Scientific publication (in Swedish and English)

Urbas, Anders och Malmberg, Claes (2019). Värden, demokrati och lösningar på samhällsproblem – exemplet kost och hälsa, External link, opens in new window. i Nordgren, Lars och Hansson, Kristoffer (red.). Health management – Att skapa vinst och värde i välfärden. Stockholm: Sanoma utbildning.

Malmberg, Claes och Urbas, Anders (2019) A paradox of responsibility – stress and obesity in Swedish schools. Health Innovation conference, Halmstad university, Båstad October 15th – 16th.

Malmberg, Urbas & Nilsson (2019) Health education in school – a paradox of responsibility. ESERA-conference Bologna 2019.

Malmberg, Claes and Urbas, Anders (2018). Health in school – individual responsibility and democratic politics, Cultural Studies of Science Education External link, opens in new window.. doi: 10.1007/S11422-018-9882-0.

Malmberg, Claes; Urbas, Anders and Nilson, Tomas (2018). Utbildning om hälsa och hållbar utveckling. Forskning om Naturvetenskaperna Didaktik (FND2018), Malmö, Sverige. november, 2018.

Malmberg, Claes och Urbas, Anders (2018). Health and sustainable development education – A paradox of responsibility? European Science Education Research Association (ESERA). Special Interest Group (SIG) 4. Science/Environment/Health. Kiel, Germany. 19th -21st August 2018.

Malmberg, Claes (2018) Professional development in education for sustainable development – a Swedish example. International Organisation for Science and Technology Education (IOSTE) Future educational challenges from science and technology perspectives, Malmö 13th – 17th August 2018.

Malmberg, Claes; Urbas, Anders and Nilson, Tomas (2018). Nutrition Education and Citizenship. 12th Conference of European Researchers in Didactics of Biology (ERIDOB), Zaragoza, Spain. 2-6 July, 2018.

Malmberg, Claes and Urbas, Anders (2017). Health education and citizenship – from democratic politics to individual responsibility? 12th Conference of the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA), Dublin, Ireland, 21st-25th August, 2017.

Popular science publications (in Swedish)

Hasslöf, H., Malmberg, C., Lundegård, I., Urbas, A., Dessen Jankell, L. (2019) Att arbeta med hållbarhet – didaktiska redskap för ämnesövergripande perspektiv. External link, opens in new window. SO-didaktik 7-2019.
Malmberg, Nilsson & Urbas (2019) Sin egen lyckas smed. Pedagogiska magasinet. Februari 2019.
Malmberg, Claes & Urbas, Anders (2019) Värdekonflikter i det kommunikativa klassrummet. External link, opens in new window. Lärportalen för gymnasieskolan. Skolverket: Stockholm.
Malmberg, Claes (2019) Metoder för kommunikation External link, opens in new window.. Lärportalen för gymnasieskolan. Skolverket: Stockholm.
Malmberg, Claes, Urbas, Anders & Hasslöf, Helen. (2019) Politiskt eller individuellt ansvar. External link, opens in new window. Lärportalen för gymnasieskolan. Skolverket: Stockholm.
Hasslöf, Helen, Urbas, Anders & Malmberg, Claes. (2019) Komplexitet och handlande. External link, opens in new window.Lärportalen för gymnasieskolan. Skolverket: Stockholm.
Lotta Dessen Jankell, Helen Hasslöf, Iann Lundegård, Claes Malmberg & Anders Urbas (2019) Hela skolan för hållbar utveckling External link, opens in new window.. Lärportalen för gymnasieskolan. Skolverket: Stockholm.
Hasslöf, Helen & Malmberg, Claes (2019) Hållbar utveckling, styrdokument och bedömning. External link, opens in new window.Lärportalen för gymnasieskolan. Skolverket: Stockholm.
Malmberg, Claes (2019) Framtidsverkstad. External link, opens in new window. Lärportalen för gymnasieskolan. Skolverket: Stockholm.
Malmberg, Claes; Urbas, Anders; Hasslöf, Helen; Dessen Jankell, Lotta och Lundegård, Iann (2019) Handledarguide för hållbar utveckling - Gymnasiet. External link, opens in new window. Lärportalen för gymnasieskolan. Skolverket: Stockholm
Lundegård, Iann; Malmberg, Claes; Hasslöf, Helen; Dessen Jankell, Lotta och Urbas, Anders (2019) Didaktiska perspektiv på hållbar utveckling. External link, opens in new window. Lärportalen för gymnasieskolan. Skolverket: Stockholm.
Caiman, Cecilia, Hasslöf, Helen, Lundegård Iann, Malmberg, Claes & Urbas, Anders (2018) Hela skolan för hållbar utveckling. [elektronisk resurs]. I Skolverket, Lärportalen - Modul: Hållbar utveckling, årskurs 7-9.
Hasslöf, Helen, Urbas, Anders & Malmberg, Claes (2018) Konsekvenser av handlande i en komplex värld [elektronisk resurs]. I Skolverket, Lärportalen - Modul: Hållbar utveckling, årskurs 7-9. (15 sidor)
Malmberg, Claes (2018) Hållbar utveckling och bedömning [elektronisk resurs]. I Skolverket, Lärportalen - Modul: Hållbar utveckling, årskurs 7-9. (11sidor)
Caiman, Cecilia, Hasslöf, Helen, Lundegård Iann, Malmberg, Claes & Urbas, Anders (2018) Introduktion - didaktiska perspektiv på hållbar utveckling [elektronisk resurs]. I Skolverket, Lärportalen - Modul: Hållbar utveckling, årskurs 7-9.
Malmberg, Claes (2018) Skolan och eleverna – mottagare av kunskap och deltagare i förändring [elektronisk resurs]. I Skolverket, Lärportalen - Modul: Hållbar utveckling, årskurs 7-9.
Urbas, Anders & Malmberg, Claes (2018) Hållbar utveckling – vem är och bör vara ansvarig? [elektronisk resurs]. I Skolverket, Lärportalen - Modul: Hållbar utveckling, årskurs 7-9.
Urbas, Anders & Malmberg, Claes (2018) Hållbar utveckling, avpolitisering och avdemokratisering [elektronisk resurs]. I Skolverket, Lärportalen - Modul: Hållbar utveckling, årskurs 7-9
Malmberg, Claes & Urbas, Anders (2017) Stress i skolan blir individens ansvar. Debatt. Hallandsposten. 24 augusti 2017.
Malmberg, Claes (2016) Intressekonflikter och handlingskompetens. [elektronisk resurs]. I Skolverket, Lärportalen för naturvetenskap och teknik - Modul: Förmåga att granska information, kommunicera och ta ställning, årskurs 4-6.