Sustainable Development in the new Civic Education curriculum: an educational experience in Primary school

Abstract

The year 2020 was characterized, primarily, by the pandemic emergency from Covid-19 which generated an unprecedented social, political, economic and justice crisis on a global level, which we are still experiencing today. In this context, in Italy we have seen, however, starting from 2020, a "great return" in the school curricula of Childhood, Primary, Lower and Upper Secondary: that of Civic Education as a mandatory teaching subject and transversal to teaching, in line with the provisions of the UN 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs. The article presents the Civic Education curriculum in Primary school, critically reflecting on the need to educate to an idea of "complex" sustainability. An educational experience is reported and discussed in a third grade of Primary school, which intended to explore the 2030 Agenda through the "How to save the planet" project, following an integrated approach that actively involved children, families and teachers.