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Freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility are, according to UN (2000), specific and fundamental values. According to Shepherd et al. (2009), there is a lack of knowledge about the nature of these sustainability values and more research on these values and how they can be measured are needed. The purpose of this article is to present results from a study that aims to develop more knowledge about young people's attitudes towards sustainability. The study focused on three of these fundamental values: respect for nature, solidarity and equality. The methodology was a questionnaire answered by 918 upper secondary students. A new scale was constructed to measure attitudes towards solidarity and equality. The results show significant differences related to gender, urban or rural living and upper secondary program attended. There is also a positive correlation between solidarity and willingness to preserve nature.

In this article we explore students’ attitudes towards solidarity, as an aspect of sustainable development (SD), and analyse how students can be described as solidary. Our motive is to obtain better knowledge regarding important preconditions for education for SD. We conducted a quantitative study with 782 responding upper secondary students from 22 Swedish schools. A new scale was designed to measure shared responsibility and pro-environmental behaviour as aspects of solidarity. Background variables were sex, parents’ level of engagement, geographical knowledge, future orientation, biospheric values and environmental educational tradition. The descriptive results confirm previously found gender differences including women showing considerably higher scores on the three subscales measuring solidarity. The correlation analysis shows significant and moderate correlations between solidarity and biospheric values which is also consistent with previous research. More pioneering is that future orientation correlates significantly and relatively strongly with solidarity. The regression analysis furthermore shows that future orientation is a significant predictor for solidarity. More research is needed before we can draw unequivocal conclusions regarding this relation but meanwhile we interpret the findings as an insistent reminder to highlight the future dimension in education for SD.

The present article is based on results obtained from a survey focusing on attitudes to solidarity among upper secondary school students. A clear relation between positive attitudes to solidarity and future-orientation was observed. To reinforce the survey results, a new study was conducted, interviewing upper secondary school students about their considerations about solidarity and the future, and how they perceived the teaching about these matters. Twenty-two third-year students attending theoretical and vocational programs at five upper secondary schools were interviewed. After coding and transcribing, a thematic analysis was performed, categorizing the interview responses into sub-themes, representing different aspects of solidarity and future-orientation. The analysis revealed that the students are not used to the word solidarity. If at all recollecting solidarity from the teaching, they are primarily linking it to a historical context. Many are however expressing a definite ambition and readiness to act in a solidary manner in order to contribute to increased social and ecological justice, also in relation to future generations. The interviews also disclosed that the future-dimension had been rare in teaching; the students contemplate the future as an individual rather than a shared challenge. In terms of resolving future challenges, such as e.g. the climate threat, their confidence in natural scientists and technologists is high, while few students convey trust in politicians, or believe that school, teachers, and students might play an active role. Conclusively, this study shows that activating the future-dimension in the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) might augment the preconditions for youths’ environmental moral learning.