GATE // School Managers Quiz
área II: Embracing complexity in sustainability
Feedback and Tips
Basic Level
Description
You are beginning to recognise sustainability as a complex issue involving interconnected systems and multiple perspectives. Your school may have some early or project-based initiatives, but these efforts are still developing and may feel fragmented. At this stage, you are exploring how to better support staff and students in dealing with uncertainty, complexity, and interdependence. Building shared understanding and encouraging open dialogue within the school community can help lay the foundation for deeper, more coordinated sustainability work.
Advanced Level
Description
You are developing the capacity to approach sustainability as a systemic challenge. You are increasingly supporting collaboration, reflection, and interdisciplinary thinking across school roles and departments. You actively help staff and students consider different perspectives, manage uncertainty, and link sustainability initiatives across areas of school life. Sustainability is becoming more embedded in planning, decision-making, and daily practices, and you are working to strengthen coherence and long-term impact through strategic alignment.
Expert Level
Description
You demonstrate strong confidence in addressing sustainability complexity through a coordinated, whole-school approach. You embed systems thinking into policies, structures, and school culture, and you foster long-term reflection, collaboration, and adaptability. You actively connect the different GreenComp Areas and enable students, staff, and community partners to work together on complex challenges. Your leadership promotes shared responsibility, resilience, and continuous learning, shaping a school culture that is inclusive, forward-looking, and sustainability-oriented.
Tips to raise your level
level basic TIPS
To strengthen this Area, you might consider:
Encouraging dialogue among teachers, students, and staff about sustainability complexity and uncertainty
For example, at the Junior High School of Gera (Greece), school leadership supported discussions between students, teachers, and local authorities following a school water audit, helping the school community understand systemic connections.
Try this: Organise a monthly “Sustainability Conversation Circle” where small groups discuss one real-world problem (e.g. energy use, transport, water) and identify causes, effects, and possible actions.
Supporting initial interdisciplinary or project-based initiatives that explore sustainability challenges
In Ruusuvuori School (Finland), management enabled small-scale projects related to food systems, allowing students and staff to explore links between health, consumption, and climate.
Try this: Allocate short “project windows” during the term where teams can co-design interdisciplinary sustainability projects, linking science, geography, home economics, and civic education.
Creating opportunities for shared reflection across school actors
Schools participating in the MOS Network (Belgium) use whole-school eco-audits and reflection tools to help staff and students jointly reflect on how different practices interact.
Try this: Introduce a simple sustainability reflection log for staff and student teams, reviewed quarterly in mixed stakeholder meetings (students, teachers, admin).
Including sustainability complexity as a topic in school planning or staff development activities
At Sainte-Bernadette Establishment (Belgium), leadership integrates sustainability discussions into staff meetings and planning processes.
Try this: Dedicate one staff meeting per term to a sustainability topic—framed as a complex problem with multiple perspectives. Use tools like stakeholder mapping or systems diagrams.
Focusing on building shared understanding rather than isolated sustainability actions
At Wrocław International School (Poland), early sustainability efforts focused on building a common understanding across the school before scaling up initiatives.
Try this: Run a short “What does sustainability mean to us?” survey or interactive workshop to surface diverse interpretations and identify shared principles for action.
Advanced basic TIPS
To strengthen this Area, you might consider:
Support collaboration across departments and roles to strengthen interdisciplinary approaches
For example, at Escola Secundária de Estarreja (Portugal), school leadership actively supports cross-subject collaboration for sustainability projects involving teachers, students, and external partners.
Try this: Set up an “Interdisciplinary Sustainability Team” that meets monthly to plan cross-subject projects and align actions with the school’s strategic goals.
Embed reflection on complexity and uncertainty into school decision-making processes
At MOS Network schools (Belgium), leadership teams regularly review sustainability actions using structured reflection tools to understand interactions between systems.
Try this: Use a sustainability impact map during school planning meetings to evaluate how new initiatives may affect social, environmental, and economic systems short- and long-term.
Encourage staff and students to connect sustainability initiatives across different areas of school life
At the British School of Brussels, management supports coordination between curriculum projects, campus initiatives, and student-led sustainability actions.
Try this: Create a shared digital “Sustainability Tracker” that documents ongoing projects across departments, allowing staff and students to identify synergies and gaps.
Use self-evaluation and feedback to improve coordination and coherence
Wrocław International School (Poland) uses structured self-evaluation to reflect on how sustainability initiatives align across governance, teaching, and operations.
Try this: Run a twice-yearly school-wide sustainability self-check using simple rubrics. Use the results to adjust coordination, clarify responsibilities, and celebrate progress.
Strengthen partnerships that bring multiple perspectives into school sustainability projects
At the Junior High School of Gera (Greece), school leaders collaborate with municipal authorities, helping students see how school-level actions connect to wider systems.
Try this: Co-host a “Sustainability Futures Day” with local officials, NGOs, or experts to explore how school-based actions can support broader community goals.
Expert basic TIPS
To strengthen this Area, you might consider:
Promote long-term, whole-school strategies that integrate systems thinking into policies, teaching, and daily practice
For example, at IES EL PALMERAL (Spain), sustainability is embedded across vocational training, innovation projects, and strategic planning, addressing environmental, social, and economic dimensions together.
Try this: Create a “Sustainability Compass” in your school development plan that explicitly connects environmental, social, and economic goals to every major school initiative.
Support shared leadership involving students, teachers, and external partners
At Max Windmöller Gymnasium Emden (Germany), school management formally supports student-led Climate Councils, enabling shared responsibility for complex sustainability decisions.
Try this: Form a joint “Sustainability Leadership Board” with student, teacher, parent, and partner representatives to co-lead project planning and resource decisions.
Encourage continuous reflection and adaptation in response to complex sustainability challenges
At Sainte-Bernadette Establishment (Belgium), leadership supports regular audits and reviews that allow sustainability actions to evolve over time.
Try this: Introduce a yearly “Sustainability Learning Cycle” that includes school-wide audits, open feedback forums, and updates to the school’s sustainability strategy.
Strengthen connections between all GreenComp Areas to support a coherent whole-school approach
In MOS Network schools (Belgium), management uses mapping tools to align systems thinking with values, collective action, and long-term vision.
Try this: Use the GreenComp framework as a lens in leadership meetings; regularly ask, “Which Areas are we reinforcing?” and “Where are the gaps?”
Share experiences and learn from others through national and international networks
For instance, Wrocław International School (Poland) actively participates in international sustainability frameworks, supporting learning exchange and continuous improvement.
Try this: Join or initiate an Erasmus+ or eTwinning partnership focused on sustainability systems thinking. Task your sustainability team with sharing insights from these networks at whole-school briefings.