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Sara Aberkan, Mohamed First University, MoroccoAbstract
Despite growing awareness of global sustainability challenges, public engagement and democratic participation remain limited. This persistent value-action gap, where individuals possess knowledge about sustainability but do not translate it into civic or political action, raises urgent questions about the effectiveness of global frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper offers a critical theoretical exploration of how sustainability is framed in international policy discourse, particularly in relation to shared civil responsibility and democratic agency. Drawing on framing theory, the study examines how dominant narratives surrounding the SDGs tend to emphasize individual behavioral change while neglecting the structural and political dimensions of sustainability. Insights from critical pedagogy further highlight how education, while often positioned as central to sustainability may fall short if it promotes awareness without cultivating critical consciousness or participatory agency. Through a synthesis of interdisciplinary scholarship, the paper critiques the prevailing representations of responsibility and citizenship embedded in sustainability discourse. It argues for a reframing toward models that emphasize collective agency, democratic participation, and systemic transformation. The study concludes with theoretical reflections and conceptual recommendations for reimagining sustainability education and policy as frameworks that support active civic engagement and empower individuals as agents of change. In doing so, it contributes to wider debates on how language and discourse shape public action in the context of global challenges.
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Conference: ACE2025Stream: Education
This paper is part of the ACE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Aberkan S. (2026) From Value to Action: A Critical Examination of Barriers to Democratic Participation in Global Sustainability Agendas ISSN: 2186-5892 – The Asian Conference on Education 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 1607-1618) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2026.122
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2026.122
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