Paul leads the Doctor of Education programme plus MA and BEd modules on learning and sustainability at the University of Gloucestershire. His research focuses on education for sustainable Development (ESD) and he was principle investigator of ‘A Rounder Sense of Purpose’, a six-year programme that developed a competence framework for sustainability educators; the project website (aroundersenseofpurpose.eu) features over 200 activities linking the competences with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Paul is a Chair of the National Association for Environmental Education, a member of the Adult Advisory Board of the youth campaign Teach the Future and academic advisor to the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) Steering Committee on ESD having co-authored the UNECE Strategy on ESD. Formerly, Paul was executive director of an international NGO, ran a regional NGO coalition in South-west England, worked on community-based projects in sub-Saharan Africa and the UK and was, primordially, a secondary school teacher.
Chair of
The National Association for Environmental Education (NAEE)
Academic Advisor to
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Steering Committee on Education for Sustainable Development
Member of
Teach the Future Adult Advisory Board
Principle Investigator for
A Rounder Sense of Purpose, winner of 2020 Green Gown Award and 2021 International Green Gown Award
Recent chapter:
Vare P. (2023) Reflections on organisations from an academic’s perspective in Glackin M, Hine S & Perry S (Eds.)
Heartwood, Voices from environmental education: Academic research meets head, heart and hands. London: KCL
Recent publications:
Vare P.,
et al (2022)
Golden Thread or Gilded Cage? An analysis of Department for Education support for the continuing professional development of teachers, London: UCET.
www.ucet.ac.uk/14594/golden-thread-or-gilded-cage-cpd-position-paper-november-2022Vare P. (2022) Learning our way forward and how we might assess that in Semiz G K (Ed.)
Education for Sustainable Development in Primary and Secondary School Education: Pedagogical and Practical Approaches for Teachers. Cham: Springer
Vare P, Lausselet N & Rieckmann M (Eds.) (2022)
Competences in Education for Sustainable Development: critical perspectives. Cham: Springer
