Given the magnitude and severity of the problem of climate change, it is not surprising that a marked emphasis had been put on the issue over the last two decades, resulting in a series of proposals containing mitigation and adaptation measures. Education is often considered as one of such measures. This study was aimed at assessing the extent to and ways in which global climate change has been addressed in the geography curriculum guides and students' textbooks for Ethiopian schools. Content analysis has been used as a principal technique to generate data based on the latest versions of the curriculum guides and textbooks. Results show that the curriculum guides for Ethiopian schools' geography provide a huge opportunity to systematically integrate issues related to global climate change. The students' textbooks for all the four grades adequately cover the science behind climate change including its causes and consequences. However, issues related to the "politics of global climate change" are largely missing in the curriculum guides. The impact of human actions is, for instance, not clearly articulated while discussing factors that contribute to global climate change. Similarly, measures against climate change have been least emphasized in both the curriculum guides and students' textbooks.

It is believed that the possibilities of integrating environmental issues into the formal and nonformal education programs depend on the capacity of teachers who put such programs into effect. A pilot project, aimed at building the capacity of schools in Ethiopia to address key environmental issues, was initiated in 2004. Among the major strategies to achieve the goal of the project was empowering teachers to solve local environmental problems. This paper reports the achievements and limitations of the project in relation to teachers' empowerment. The results indicate that teachers who took part in the inservice training on natural resource management have taken distinct steps to integrate environmental issues into their lessons, establish environmental clubs and start school nurseries. The study also indicated some limitations. The handbook prepared for the training purpose had little provisions to guide the practical application of some of the principles of natural resource management discussed therein. The other limitation was the insufficient effort made to build (directly) the capacity of environmental clubs and community leaders. Some recommendations have been put forward in view of these findings.

Purpose There is broad consensus that the implementation of education for sustainable development (ESD) requires the consideration of geographical and cultural contexts. Despite such an agreement at a theoretical level, there is so far an apparent lack of practical experiences and solid research on approaches that effectively manage to engage professional educators in higher education with ESD in the context of a developing country from the Global South. This paper aims to address this gap and present a case study from a pilot professional development program (PDP) that sought to implement and mainstream ESD among Ethiopian colleges of teacher education (CTEs) and theological seminaries (TSs). Design/methodology/approach The research presented is based on the methodology of evaluative case study research in ESD. It analyzes the PDP’s specific objectives with regard to capacity and structure building, describes major activities implemented and how these relate to the objectives and explores major outcomes of the PDP. Findings The paper presents a comprehensive training curriculum aimed at addressing ESD in Ethiopian CTEs and TSs in a whole-institution approach. Results suggest that the PDP’s approach to combine human capacity and institutional structure building was effective in supporting the implementation and mainstreaming of ESD in CTEs and TSs in Ethiopia. Originality/value This case study presents original research on a pilot Ethiopian PDP that was implemented in collaboration with two academic institutions from Ethiopia and Germany.

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