Dr Beth Christie
Senior Lecturer / Director of Scotland's United Nations University-Recognised Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development
- Moray House School of Education and Sport, IETL
- University of Edinburgh
Contact details
- Email: beth.christie@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
-
Thomson's Land Rm: 2.03
Moray House School of Education and Sport - City
- University of Edinburgh (Holyrood Campus)
- Post code
- EH8 8AQ
Background
Beth Christie is a Senior Lecturer in the Outdoor and Environmental Education Section of the Moray House School of Education. She is also the Director of Scotland's United Nations University-recognised Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development (Learning for Sustainability Scotland). Her interdisciplinary research, teaching and advocacy is broadly located at the intersection of sustainability education, social movement learning, social and environmental justice, and critical pedagogical practices. She is deeply committed to reshaping and enriching a range of educational contexts - such as compulsory and higher education - to foster more just, equitable, and sustainable futures.
She is a Trustee of Wen (Women's environmental Network), an environmental charity that takes an intersectional feminist approach to tackling the climate and nature emergencies, focusing on issues that connect women, health, equity and environmental justice. She is committed to continuing her community-focused work and is keen to co-create and support similar projects through her role at Learning for Sustainability Scotland and their pan-sectorial approach to sustainability education.
Qualifications
PGCert Academic Practice, University of Edinburgh (2015).
PhD, University of Edinburgh (2004) - 'Raising Achievement' in Secondary Schools?: A study of Outdoor Experiential Education.
BA (Hons), Heriot Watt University (1998) - Awarded Watt Medal, Undergraduate Dissertation Nominated for UK Award.
Responsibilities & affiliations
Director, Scotland's United Nations University-recognised Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development (Learning for Sustainabilty Scotland)
Honorary Fellow, Royal Scottish Geographical Society
Fellow, Higher Education Academy
Fellow, RSA
Trustee, Wen (Women's Environmental Network)
Steering Group Member, Teacher Education for Equity and Sustainability (TEESnet)
Member, UNESCO Greening Education Partnership
Member, European Institute of Adventure Education and Experiential Learning
Member, Moray House School of Education Ethics Committee
Mentor, Edinburgh Teaching Award (EdTA)
Undergraduate teaching
- Course Organiser: EDUA08116 Sustainability and Social Responsibility (UG)
Postgraduate teaching
- Course Organiser: EDUA11424 Sustainability and Social Responsibility (PG)
- Course Organiser/ Academic Lead: EDUA9991 Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): Learning for Sustainable Futures
- Course Organiser/ Academic Lead: EDUA9992 Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): Learning for Sustainable Futures: Live at COP
- Dissertation Supervisor: MSc Outdoor Education; MSc Outdoor Education and Sustainability Education; MSc Learning for Sustainability
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Areas of interest for supervision
Beth currently supervises doctoral students exploring a range of interdisciplinary areas examining sustainability education, nature connection, and futures thinking from various critical perspectives and within context of the UK, Europe and other parts of the world.
She is open to supervising PhD students in a number of areas relating to the philosophy, policy and practice of environmental and sustainability education, climate justice education, futures thinking, social justice and critical pedagogies. Please do make an enquiry if your studies fall into these broad, intersecting areas.
MSc dissertation supervision
She has supervised 71 MSc dissertation students to completion.
Her MSc supervision is mostly situated within MSc Learning for Sustainability, MSc Outdoor Environmental Sustainability and MSc Outdoor Education.
Current PhD students supervised
She is currently supervising PhD students at the University of Edinburgh:
- Brian Wright: Outdoor Education for a Sustainable Future: The United World Colleges as a participatory case study of outdoor education structures, theories of change, and pedagogical practices for impacting student outlooks regarding sustainability. Awarded University of Edinburgh Doctoral Scholarship.
- Louise Hawxwell: An exploration into the impact of outdoor experiences on the perceptions and practices of trainee teachers over the course of their undergraduate study and into their NQT year – a longitudinal study.
- Elisabeth Angerer: An artist walks into a sustainability department, and what happens next: an ethnography of playful disruption in the active hope of ecologising sustainability leadership
Past PhD students supervised
She has successfully supervised a number of PhD students to completion at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Iceland where she was an Invited International Expert Doctoral Committee Member and at Cornell University (New York) as a Doctoral Committee Member in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment.
- Elena Dominguez Contreras: Conceptual Contributions to Early Childhood Environmental Education. Cornell University, New York (2025).
- Jakob Frimman Þorsteinsson: The Nature, Value and Role of Outdoor Education in Iceland – Eðli, gildi og hlutverk útimenntunar á Íslandi. University of Iceland, Reykjaivk, Iceland. (2024)
- Chris Mackie: The role of the natural heritage in supporting learning and development in Scotland (Magnus Magnusson Scottish Natural Heritage PhD studentship) (2023)
- Sharon Boyd: Fostering student-community engagement activities at distance – the role of the University as change-agent. (2023)
- Ethan Lewis: Identity, space, place and power: An ethnographic study of a community garden. (2022)
- Abdul Kahlid: The nature and scope of outdoor education in the city-state of Singapore. (2018)
PhD Examinations
Beth has extensive experience as an internal and external PhD examiner both nationally and internationally.
- Lewis Stockwell: Philosophical Paddling: Reviving the Aesthetic Core of Canoe Journeying in Nature and Outdoor Education. University of Edinburgh (2025)
- Sophie Perry: Education for a Liveable Future: A study of three environmental education programmes that seek to bring about change. Kings college London (2024).
- Christian Hanser: Wandering with a shepherd’s hut: fragments of a vagabond methodology. University of Edinburgh (2023).
- Cathy Francis: Becoming Naturish: Exploring children’s embodied connections with nature. University of Aberdeen (2021).
- Leire Agirreazkuenaga Onaindia: Local answer for a Global issue. Education for sustainability: governance and implementation from key actors perspective in the Basque Autonomous Community Development Studies Doctoral Program, University of the Basque Country (2020).
- Jakob Frimman Þorsteinsson: The Nature, Value and Role of Outdoor Education in Iceland – Eðli, gildi og hlutverk útimenntunar á Íslandi. University of Iceland, Reykjaivk, Iceland. Interim Evaluation (2019).
- Matluba Khan: Environment, Engagement and Education: Investigating the relationship between primary school grounds and children’s learning: A case study from Bangladesh. Edinburgh College of Art, School of Landscape Architecture, University of Edinburgh (2017).
- Asma Khanum: Environmentally Conscious Global Citizens: An Evolution from Environmental Education to Sustainable Development Education in Pakistan. College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow (2017).
- Sharifah Intan Sharina Syed Abdullah: An Investigation into the Influence of Outdoor Environmental Education Courses on the Environmental Attitude and Behaviours of Malaysian Participants: A life history approach. Moray House school of Education, University of Edinburgh (2016).
Research summary
- Philosophy, theory and practice of sustainability education/ Learning for Sustainability / outdoor learning
- Critical pedagogical practices
- Climate justice / climate justice education
- Comparative educational policy
- Social justice, inclusion and intersectionality
- Social movement learning
Current research interests
Beth's interdisciplinary research is broadly located at the intersection of sustainability education, social movement learning and critical pedagogical practices. She is deeply committed to reshaping and enriching a range of educational contexts - such as compulsory and higher education - to foster more just, equitable, and sustainable futures.Knowledge exchange
She has undertaken a range of knowledge exchange projects involving, consultancy, workshops, focus groups and commissioned work with organisations such as British Council, NatureScot, Forestry Commission Scotland, Field Studies Council, Natural England, Scottish Museums Council, General Teaching Council for Scotland, Education Scotland, GroundWorks, Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
Project activity
2026: Investigator: PEARL (Peace, Empowerment, and Action through Reflective Leadership) (2026 – ) Designing a curriculum to empower non-formal and lateral leadership in the teacher profession through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). International Research, led by UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education Towards Sustainability, York University, Canda.
2025: Principal Investigator: ESRC Impact Accelerator Award - Building a Movement for Change: The impact of Learning for Sustainability-focused professional learning across Scottish schools and communities
2024: Co-Lead: School Climate Simulation Event - Knowledge Exchange Event 31st October 2024. British Council.
2024-2025: Academic Lead: Development of Massive Open Online Courses to support International educator Professional Development in 'Learning for a Sustainable Future' & Learning for a Sustainable Future: Live at COP29. British Council.
2023-2024: Academic Lead: Development of Massive Open Online Courses to support International educator Professional Development in Learning for a Sustainable Future' & Learning for a Sustainable Future: Live at COP28. British Council.
2023: Principal Investigator: Advancing Cornell-Edinburgh Leadership in Sustainability Education University of Cornell: Global Strategic Hub Research and Education Seed Grant Award
2023: Co-Lead: School Climate Simulation Event - Knowledge Exchange Event 16th November 2023. British Council.
2022: Principal Investigator: Review and Recommendations for upscaling: Sustainability and Social Responsibility UG and PG courses. Curriculum Transformation Programme Fund:, University of Edinburgh.
2022-2023: Academic Lead: Development of Massive Open Online Courses to support International educator Professional Development in Learning for a Sustainable Future' & Learning for a Sustainable Future: Live at COP27. British Council.
2022: Co-Lead: Climate Sisters: Local Women of the World Exhibition22nd - 29th September.
2021-2022: Academic Lead: Development of Massive Open Online Courses to support International educator Professional Development in Learning for a Sustainable Future' & Learning for a Sustainable Future: Live at COP26. British Council.
2020-2021: Co-Investigator: Keeping the Door Open: Curating, developing and evolving University of Edinburgh teaching in spaces and places within the city and beyond..Principal Teaching Award Scheme, University of Edinburgh.
2020- 2021: Advisory Board Member: MARCH Network Plus. Natural Outdoor Environments and Mental Health: Developing Sustainability Indicators using a Cross-Disciplinary and Multi-Stakeholder Approach.
2020-2021: Co-Investigator: Education for climate justice: Centring social justice amidst demands to ‘prioritise the climate crisis in education. Partnership with University of Edinburgh, University of St Andrews, Centre for climate Justice, Teach the Future Scotland. Scottish Universities Insight Initiative.
2019-2020: Principal Investigator: Whole school approach to Learning for Sustainability. Connecting Classrooms and Global Learning Practitioner Fund, British Council.
2018- 2022: Co-Lead: Learning for Sustainability: Global Learning: Professional Development programme with Learning for Sustainability Scotland, International Development Education Association for Scotland (IDEAS) and Scotland Malawi Partnership (SMP).
2019: Principal Investigator: Commissioned Literature Review. Educational Impact of Learning for Sustainability.. Scottish Government.
2017-2019: Co-Investigator: Curriculum for Climate Justice: A collaborative investigation of the challenges and opportunities for climate change education through a social justice lens. Principal Teaching Award Scheme, University of Edinburgh.
2015-2018: Co-Lead: Learning for Sustainability/Connecting Classrooms Professional Learning Services for Teachers. British Council.
2015-17: Co-Investigator: PRISMA pre-school teacher job-shadowing between thirteen preschools in Reykjavík and five host countries (Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Slovenia) with the aim of developing a pan-European understanding of outdoor learning and education for sustainable development. Erasmus.
2014: Co-Investigator: Walking for Wellbeing: Developing sustainable engagement between research, policy and practice. Scottish Universities Insight Initiative.
2012: Principal Investigator: Commissioned Literature Review. The impact of outdoor learning experiences on attitudes to sustainability: A brief review of literature. Field Studies Council/University of Edinburgh. Field Studies Council Report 06/2012.
2012: Principal Investigator: Commissioned Literature Review - The impact of outdoor learning experiences on attainment and behaviour: A brief review of literature. Forestry Commission Scotland/University of Edinburgh. Forestry Commission Report 11/2012.
2012: Principal investigator: Exploring the multi-dimensional potential of outdoor learning; a critical review of literature. Seedcorn Fund, University of Edinburgh.
2011: Principal Investigator: A Natural Curriculum: Improving the quality and availability of outdoor learning experiences in schools. Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.
2010: Principal Investigator: Evaluation of the Greenways to Health Initiative. Natural England/Groundworks Northumberland.
2010: Co-Investigator: Outdoors and Health Network. ESRC grant no. RES-355-25-0040. Economic and Social Research Council.
Invited speaker