When I wrote the memoir back in 2023 for my Master’s Thesis at Besign The Sustainable Design School, my central thought was not simply to describe sustainability in early years education, but to think through what it means to prepare young children for a rapidly changing world. The research explores how ecological uncertainty, climate change, pedagogy and early years development intersect. It asks: what kind of education can help children grow into thoughtful, responsive and agile contributors in an unsettled future?
The Eco-Schools Handbook for Early Years emerges directly from that research. Co-designed with Huma Sabirli, Lea Oberkobler, Sukhprit Kaur for the FEE Global Eco-Schools Programme under the guidance of Olivia Copsey and Pramod Kumar Sharma the handbook translates the memoir’s arguments into an accessible resource for educators. In that sense, the handbook is not the primary site of theory. The memoir is.
The memoir as the conceptual foundation
The research contributed to bring together literature, case studies and pedagogical reflection to understand how sustainability can be impactfully introduced in early years. Its premise is urgent but also hopeful: children are growing up in a world that will need new forms of ecological awareness, adaptability and a sense of care. Early years education therefore has to incorporate the realities of climate change. To begin with it’s important to cultivate habits of attention, responsibility and imagination.
This framing shaped the handbook’s design in important ways. The handbook organizes learning around a seven-step process and five environmental themes based on the Eco Schools Programme at FEE that builds an understanding that sustainability is not a stand-alone topic. These frameworks reflect the memoir’s conclusion that sustainability education must be embedded, experienced and lived rather than simply taught as theory.
Climate urgency and early years pedagogy
A key finding in the research is that children need an education that responds to the future they will inherit. The climate crisis is not a distant concern, it is a condition that is a lived reality. It therefore argues that children should start learning about nature and caring for the environment during their early years education.
This idea is reflected in the handbook’s emphasis on practical learning process. The design does not only focus on messages for children but also builds in opportunities for observation, participation, care and action at every level. In doing so, the handbook is an extension of the memoir’s argument that education for sustainable development must be relevant without being diluted.
The environment as an educational experience
Another important strand of the memoir is the idea of the environment as an educator, drawn from Reggio Emilia. As per the memoir, this is a pedagogical point that elaborates on how children learn from the spaces they inhabit, the materials they use and the sensory relationships they develop with places.
This is closely applied through its Whole School Approach in the Eco Schools Programme, which places value on outdoor learning, nature connection and eco-friendly school grounds. Hence, the design choices for these come directly from the research, which shows that learning environments shape children’s ecological sensitivity and their understanding of care. The handbook therefore turns a theoretical proposition into a planning philosophy for schools.
Play as a way of learning
The memoir also argues that learning in early years is best experienced through play. Play allows children to test ideas, solve problems and use imagination in ways that are essential to development. It is one of the most important ways through which young children experience and learn from the world around them.
This understanding is visible in the handbook’s emphasis on learning through play and child-centred pedagogy. Rather than presenting sustainability as a set of rules and instructions, it creates opportunities for children to explore, construct, pretend, sort, reuse and discover. These design decisions are grounded in the memoir’s research on how children learn best: through embodiment, joy and looking for meaning.
Case studies as inspiration
The memoir includes global examples of schools from around the world such as Vincerola Kindergarten in Germany, where sustainability is taught through learning by doing and Fuji Kindergarten in Tokyo, where learning comes from the design of the space. What matters in these is that they demonstrate good practice as well as confirm the memoir’s larger argument: early years are a critical time for building habits because children learn through repetition, imitation and participation.
The handbook draws on this insight by sharing activities from case studies in Eco Schools in various countries that are inspiring practical examples. It gives educators a framework for helping children build habits such as recycling, conserving, observing nature and caring for shared spaces. The research in the memoir therefore becomes the foundation for the handbook’s action-oriented design.
From whole learning ecosystem to whole institution
A further argument in the memoir is that education for sustainable development is not only the responsibility of the child. Children’s learning ecosystem includes adults, spaces, routines and values. Hence, the memoir presents early years education as a learning ecosystem involving children, teachers, families and the environment itself.
The handbook touches upon this by looking into the institutional design that engages staff, families and communities in environmental action. This is important because it moves sustainability beyond classroom activities and informs the culture of the school.
Why this matters
For me, the relationship between the memoir and the handbook is a reminder that research has impact when it can be carried into design. The memoir develops the conceptual and pedagogical case for early years education. The design of the handbook responds by offering a framework that educators can use in practice.
This matters because early years education is often underestimated when talking about education for sustainable development. Yet the memoir makes clear that this is precisely where the foundation of a child is formed. If children are to grow into responsible citizens of the planet, they need early opportunities to develop care, curiosity and empathy. The handbook takes that insight and turns it into a communication design structure that schools can actually use.
The Eco-Schools Early Years Handbook is, for me, best understood as an applied extension of the memoir’s research. The memoir identifies the pedagogical principles, while the handbook turns those principles into an early years framework in practice. This relationship between thinking and making is at the heart both. Research matters most when it changes what education can do.