Fostering education for sustainable development through mathematics education: A systematic review study

This systematic review analyzed 68 studies indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus databases to investigate how education for sustainable development is integrated into mathematics education across different contexts and levels. The analysis focused on study characteristics, methodologies, alignment with sustainable development goals (SDGs), and research gaps. Results show a growing interest in the field, especially in the past five years, though further development is needed. Most studies were conducted in European countries which have relatively high environmental performance index scores. Many adopted qualitative methods and included in-service and pre-service teachers as participants, while studies involving students were comparatively limited. Over half of the studies did not explicitly reference specific SDGs. Findings highlight the transformative potential of mathematics education for sustainability: participants showed greater understanding of real-world issues and stronger engagement. This review offers valuable insights for educators and policymakers to strengthen mathematics education’s role in achieving the SDGs globally.