To address the environment and climate crisis, behaviour, knowledge and actions need to be framed around sustainable development. Production and consumption patters will finally change when this is recognised as beneficial for the individual and the society.

This is why the research spectrum of the Wuppertal Institute includes the transfer of research results into educational application fields, the identification of teaching and learning content and the development of target group specific concepts, as well as testing new methods of conveyance. Thanks to the interdisciplinary and application oriented nature of the research, it is more accessible for this purpose. General as well as professional education are addressed: in schools, companies and other institutions. Here exchange between these organisational spheres is also encouraged, such as in a learning partnerships between a school and a corporation. Research is often conducted in exchange with education projects in all of Europe. Numerous of media and educational material has been developed in this way: a toolbox for Sustainable Economisation in Corporations, didactic modules for andragogy, movies and material collections.

With its research the Wuppertal Institute contributes to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Many research projects have already been distinguished as official decade projects. The Wuppertal Institute sits on the Round Table of the German National Committee of the UN Decade.