"As climate change, overpopulation, and inequalities begin to take their toll on our planet and on global human development, sustainability has become increasingly important for a prosperous future.For the past years, Sustainable Development has been in the EU’s political Agenda. In 2001, the EU established a Sustainable Development Strategy and more recently was a major contributor to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.One cannot talk about Sustainable Development without highlighting the role of education. Education is central to the efforts to develop and promote sustainable solutions for the development needs of both people and the planet (UN, 2013).The Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) should be understood as an integral part of quality education and lifelong learning. All educational institutions ranging from preschool to tertiary education and including both non-formal and informal education should consider it their responsibility to address sustainable development and to foster the development of key cross-cutting competencies related to sustainability. (Issues and Trends in ESD, UN, 2018)The project aims to develop an innovative and playful pedagogy for the Sustainable Development education of children (3 to 6 yo) and to raise their interest over STEM. This pedagogy is based on an interactive learning eBook for formal, non-formal and informal learning contexts. Alongside the eBook, it will be produced a guide for educators to facilitate the use of the eBook in learning contexts.Additionally, the project Greenopolis will also deliver:•Project presentations to disseminate the project and the outcomes next to the target groups•Pilot testing activities to test the Greenopolis methodology (Interactive eBook and Facilitator’s Guide), validate it and capacitate educators on ESD •Website and a Facebook page on Education for Sustainable Development with a repository of the materials produced in the project (but not only) and that can be a meeting point for people involved or interested in the topic.•Sustainability Strategy presenting the guidelines for the future exploitation of results and impact of the project.•Contests/Challenges aiming to engage children and educators in the project and to raise awareness towards the Sustainable Development topic•Project Video to promote the Greenopolis eBook.This initiative gathers 5 partners from Poland, Portugal, Greece and Croatia:•SPN (Poland): public elementary school which includes preschool education, working acting as coordinator. •Advancis (Portugal): private company that provides consultancy and training services in Education and People Development, with competences also in ICT based learning methodologies.•BOON (Portugal): private company that provides services in design and illustration.•Center of Education and Entrepreneurship Support (Poland) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 2004 working in the field of youth, cooperating with businesses, universities, schools, enterprises and educational institutions. •Dječji vrtić ""Radost"" is an Educational Organization with 9 dislocated facilities in which there are 43 educational groups.•EECV is an Environmental Centre from the Education Ministry in Greece, that develops and holds ESD activities for teacher and students, working along with schools."

BackgroundAs climate change, overpopulation, and inequalities take their toll on our planet and on global human development, Sustainability has become increasingly important for a prosperous and viable future. The UN defines Sustainable Development (SD) as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. As such, SD calls for concerted efforts towards building an inclusive, sustainable and resilient future for people and planet by harmonizing economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. STEM has at this level, a huge role to play as it can provide answers to this crucial harmonization. For the past years, SD has been a significant element of the EU’s political agenda. In 2001, the EU established a SD Strategy and more recently was a major contributor to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for SD.One cannot talk about SD without highlighting the role of education. Education is central to efforts to develop and promote sustainable solutions for the developmental needs of both people and the planet (UN, 2013). Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) should be understood as an integral part of quality education and lifelong learning. All educational institutions ranging from preschool to tertiary education and including both non-formal and informal education should consider it their responsibility to address sustainable development and to foster the development of key cross-cutting competencies related to sustainability. (Issues and Trends in ESD, UN, 2018) As noted, ESD should start early in school (UN, 2018). It is in early childhood that children often experience the greatest environmental challenges, and it is a time when the foundations of many of their fundamental attitudes and values are established. We know from research and experience that even very young children are capable of sophisticated thinking in relation to socioenvironmental issues and that the earlier ESD ideas are introduced, the greater their impact and influence can be. In EU member states, SD tends to be covered at the higher levels of school education (EACEA, 2017). In primary school, in turn, ESD has generally been insufficiently addressed. It is common to find some SD related topics covered in class (e.g., environmental protection, waste), but rarely as part of a holistic approach.Project OutcomesIn response to this situation, the Colourful World project gathered 6 partners from the UK, Portugal, Poland and Greece, including a higher education institution, an education authority, schools and companies. The project has developed an innovative and playful pedagogy for Sustainable Development education for children (aged 6 to 10) which encourages their interest in STEM topics. This pedagogy is based around a computer learning game that the project has successfully devised, tested, and launched. This game, which is now freely available online, is for formal, non-formal and informal learning contexts. Available in all the languages of the project partners (English, Greek, Portuguese, Polish) the game is currently being played and enjoyed by young learners in several countries.Alongside the game, the project has produced a guide for educators to facilitate its use in learning contexts as well as a glossary of key terms to augment and refresh the knowledge base of participating educators. Like the game, these are freely available in all the project languages. Additionally, Colourful World has also delivered: project presentations to disseminate Colourful World and associated outcomes to target groups; pilot testing activities of the game and linked learning materials to validate them and capacitate educators on their use; publications and presentations about the project in a range of formats and settings, including peer-reviewed journals, conferences and symposia to spread awareness of Colourful World; a website and a Facebook page on Education for Sustainable Development with a repository of the materials produced in the project (and other relevant matter) that can be a meeting point for people involved or interested in the topic; a Sustainability Strategy presenting the guidelines for the ongoing exploitation and dissemination of the results of the project; contests which have engaged children and educators in the project and raised awareness of Sustainable Development; a project video to promote Colourful World.