From soil science to sustainability competencies: a cyclic model for interdisciplinary geoscience education

Interdisciplinary geoscience education is increasingly expected to equip students with sustainability competencies that connect scientific knowledge with societal relevance and practical action. However, such approaches often rely on individual teaching initiatives that are difficult to sustain and scale across educational levels.

We present a cyclic educational model that integrates geoscience research, teacher education, school practice, and knowledge dissemination, using soil as an interdisciplinary entry point to sustainability education. University researchers, pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and school students are involved in a shared learning process in which teaching materials are co-developed, tested in practice, and iteratively refined.

The case illustrates how problem-based learning can foster interdisciplinary collaboration while reducing dependence on individual educators through shared resources and open educational materials. We argue that cyclic and collaborative teaching designs provide a scalable pathway for interdisciplinary geoscience education and support the development of sustainability competencies from secondary to higher education.