Through studying environmental systems and societies (ES&S) students will be provided with a coherent perspective of the interrelationships between environmental systems and societies; one that enables them to adopt an informed personal response to the wide range of pressing environmental issues that they will inevitably come to face.
Environmental systems and societies (ESS) is an interdisciplinary course that combines a mixture of methodologies, techniques and knowledge associated with both the sciences and individuals and societies. It is offered at both standard level (SL) and higher level (HL).
ESS is a complex and contemporary course that engages students in the challenges of 21st century environmental issues. It requires students to develop a diverse set of skills, knowledge and understanding from different disciplines. Students develop a scientific approach through explorations of environmental systems. They also acquire understandings and methods from Individuals and societies in social, cultural, economic, political and ethical contexts of sustainability issues.
The interdisciplinary nature of the course means students produce a synthesis of understanding from the various topics studied. It also emphasizes the ability to perform research and investigations and to participate in philosophical, ethical and pragmatic discussions of the issues involved from the local through to the global level.
The ESS framework
The ESS curriculum includes three unifying concepts that are revisited throughout the course:
- perspectives
- systems
- sustainability.
Perspectives allow students to develop deeper understandings of worldviews and individual perspectives on environmental issues. Systems theory allows students to apply holistic analysis and understand the mechanics and purpose of human constructed systems and the function of natural ones. The concept of sustainability is also central to ESS. Resource management issues are pivotal to sustainability, and students’ attention is drawn to this throughout the course.
In addition, the syllabus is organized around seven topics, giving students the understandings required to engage with a wide range of environmental issues. These include additional material, providing HL students more opportunity to understand and address these issues with greater breadth and depth.
HL students will engage with all SL and HL understandings through three HL-specific lenses:
- environmental law
- environmental and ecological economics
- environmental ethics.
This will allow HL students to develop a comprehensive and insightful understanding of environmental issues and the complexities in addressing them.
Practical work
Practical work continues to be a central aspect of the DP ESS course. Teachers are encouraged to develop a practical scheme of work that allows students to gain a deeper understanding of the subject content and associated concepts and that provides opportunities to develop a wide range of skills. The practical scheme of work should be broad and balanced to give students the opportunity to experience a wide range of tasks, from closed to open inquiry, and from hands-on experimentation through to the use of cartographic analysis, surveys and questionnaires.
Learn more about ES&S in a DP workshop for teachers.
Environmental systems and societies subject brief
Subject briefs are short two-page documents providing an outline of the course. Read the standard level (SL) and/or higher level (HL) subject brief below.
Learn more about ES&S in a DP workshop for teachers.
Environmental systems and societies subject brief
Subject briefs are short documents providing an outline of the course. Read the standard level (SL) and/or higher level (HL) subject brief below.
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Environmental systems and societies SL - first assessment 2017 (PDF, 43 KB) Environmental systems and societies SL & HL - first assessment 2026 (PDF, 40 KB) |
Latest curriculum updates
This subject is reviewed by the IB regularly to ensure the latest educational research is applied. Please keep up to date with the latest subject updates for Environmental systems and societies.
