UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Education for Sustainable Development in Costa Rica

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.70610/tls.v4i02.1550

Authors

Daniel Solano Vargas

Reported year

2026

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-09T19:04:47.788391+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:04:47.788391+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

Universidad de Costa Rica

Reported affiliation countries

CR

Documentary abstract — original language

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has emerged as a cornerstone of Costa Rica's national identity, reflecting a historical commitment to environmental conservation, social equity, and educational excellence that distinguishes the country within Latin America and globally. This study examines the implementation, evolution, and outcomes of ESD across Costa Rica's education system, drawing upon national policy frameworks, curricular analysis, and empirical evidence from institutional practices and international assessments. Costa Rica's approach is distinguished by the early constitutional commitment to free and compulsory education since 1869, the 1949 abolition of the military redirecting resources toward education and environmental programmes, the systematic integration of environmental themes into the national curriculum since 1977, and the innovative "Peace with Nature" Presidential Initiative that positions ESD as a transformative pedagogical framework. The research identifies four critical dimensions of Costa Rican ESD: the transversal integration of sustainability themes across all educational levels, the whole-institution approach linking schools with conservation areas and communities, the development of teacher competencies through the Earth Charter framework, and the alignment of education with national decarbonisation goals. Findings indicate that Costa Rica has achieved remarkable success in establishing policy frameworks and public awareness, with 79% of citizens knowledgeable about climate change and the country reversing deforestation to restore over 50% forest cover. However, persistent challenges include the gap between policy intention and classroom implementation, insufficient teacher training in ESD pedagogies, limited climate change-specific content in higher education, and the need for more robust monitoring mechanisms to assess the behavioural impacts of ESD. The study concludes that Costa Rica's model offers valuable insights for nations seeking to integrate sustainability into education, while highlighting the necessity of sustained investment in teacher professional development, systematic curriculum monitoring, and the translation of environmental awareness into transformative action.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

W7203649350

DOI

10.70610/tls.v4i02.1550

Documentary context

Documentary family

Scholarship

Source-reported types

article

Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources

CR

Natural entities mentioned

Forest

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.70610/tls.v4i02.1550
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W7203649350

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

• openalex:w1979290264 · CITES
• openalex:w2025961898 · CITES
• openalex:w2069092142 · CITES
• openalex:w2165820560 · CITES
• openalex:w2170488209 · CITES

0 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.