The European Association for Practitioner Research on Improving Learning (EAPRIL) has nominated my project Debunking Myths in Sustainability Education: A Collaborative, Evidence-Informed Approach (MYTHSE) for its 2026 Best Practice Based Research Award. The award recognises innovative projects on learning and development in educational and workplace settings. All three nominees will present their work during the Award Session at the EAPRIL conference in Cork, Ireland.
Why myths in sustainability education?
“Sustainability education is just environmental education.” “Only those who live sustainably should teach it.” Most educators have heard claims like these in a staff room or a faculty meeting. MYTHSE starts from that discomfort. It does not ask who is wrong. It asks what a claim rests on, why it persists, and how to correct it without provoking defensiveness.
What participants can take away
The Award Session offers instruments that researchers, teachers and academic developers can use in their own work, including the Educational Myths Refutation Canvas, together with an assessment of which refutation strategies hold up and where they fail.
Two invitations
- If you attend, bring a claim from your own field that you suspect is a myth. We can examine it together during a break.
- If you cannot attend, browse the published refutations on my open-access science blog EvSusEd and tell me which myth you would like examined next. Articles, podcast episodes and interactive infographics are available there without a paywall.
Elevator pitch
Together with Elia Heinzer and Luca Schmid (Medialab of the University of St.Gallen), I condensed the project into a short teaser video: