We investigated the following two research questions: (1) What have police students learned, directly or indirectly, that may promote sustainable development? and (2) To what extent do police students wish to learn more about sustainability, and in which areas?

The concept of sustainable development (SD) gained international prominence through the publication of “Our common future” in 1987 (Hauge, 2023). Closely related is the concept of sustainability, commonly understood as “that which can be maintained over time” (Heinberg, 2010). Although often used interchangeably, sustainability may be seen as the overarching goal, while SD refers to the processes and pathways through which it can be achieved (Wolff and Ehrström, 2020).

The study adopts the tripartite model of environmental, social, and economic sustainability as its analytical framework. Environmental sustainability concerns climate and biodiversity; social sustainability emphasizes human rights, inclusion, and welfare; economic sustainability addresses restructuring economies within ecological boundaries (The United Nations Association of Norway, 2024). A sustainable society requires balanced progress across all three dimensions, which are deeply interconnected. Environmental degradation can contribute to economic instability and forced migration, increasing exposure to social exclusion, discrimination, and exploitation (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 2024). These dynamics heighten vulnerability to transnational crime, while economic incentives frequently drive both unsustainable practices and criminal activities.

These interconnections are evident in Norway’s Arctic region, where melting sea ice has opened new routes and incentives for smuggling, trafficking, illegal extraction, and corruption, while changes in fish stocks have intensified illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing (Interpol Innovation Centre, 2022). The king crab case in Northern Norway further illustrates how environmental crime can intersect with organized crime and fiscal misconduct, undermining trust in governance and resulting in substantial tax losses (Iversen, 2021). Such examples demonstrate how sustainability challenges intersect in ways that shape policing priorities and required competencies.

The links between environmental and social sustainability are also evident in public health outcomes (Ewing et al., 2024). Air pollution poses significant health risks and is associated with increased incidence of stroke, ischemic heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Globally, a substantial share of premature deaths and disease burden is attributed to ambient air pollution, including in countries with relatively low pollution levels. This illustrates how environmental harm directly affects social sustainability through adverse health impacts and increased pressure on welfare systems.

Dilemmas frequently arise at this intersection, particularly when scarce resources lead economic considerations to be prioritized over social and environmental concerns. Sustainable development is therefore also a value-based issue, requiring the three dimensions to be considered jointly rather than in isolation (Sinnes, 2021). Awareness of these trade-offs and of the multiplier effects of sustainability deficits is essential for informed decision-making and cultural change (Hiatt, 2006; Matczak and Bergh, 2023). Accordingly, sustainability depends on the integrated and equal consideration of environmental, social, and economic dimensions (Duran et al., 2015).

While the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a global framework for advancing SD, their use as an analytical research framework has been questioned due to conceptual ambiguity, internal inconsistencies, and limited effectiveness in ensuring social and economic development within ecological boundaries (Duran et al., 2015; Pecquet, 2023; Sjåfjell and Ahlström, 2018). In light of these limitations, this study relies on the three dimensions of sustainability as its primary analytical lens.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been advanced as a critical response to global sustainability challenges (Buckler and Creech, 2014; Pauw et al., 2015). UNESCO defines ESD as: “Education for Sustainable Development means including key sustainable development issues into teaching and learning; for example, climate change, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, poverty reduction, and sustainable consumption. It also requires participatory teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behavior and take action for sustainable development. Education for Sustainable Development consequently promotes competencies like critical thinking, imagining future scenarios and making decisions in a collaborative way” (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2013).

The goal of ESD is to equip learners with the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes necessary to contribute meaningfully to sustainable development (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2014). Since environmental degradation is largely human-driven, achieving sustainability depends on behavioral change (Schultz, 2011), which is closely linked to psychological factors such as knowledge, attitudes, and values (Pauw et al., 2015). Achieving a transition toward a sustainable future therefore requires an improved understanding of, more positive attitudes toward, and behavior aligned with the principles of SD (Pauw et al., 2015). ESD has been shown to foster measurable increases in students’ sustainability consciousness (Pauw et al., 2015).

UNESCO identifies a set of core competencies central to ESD, including systems thinking, anticipatory competence, normative reflection, strategic action, collaboration, critical thinking, self-awareness and integrated problem-solving (UNESCO, 2017). Collectively, these competencies move education beyond knowledge transmission, preparing students to navigate complex sustainability challenges. Essential ESD elements further include the importance of providing up-to-date subject knowledge, adopting an interdisciplinary approach to teaching, connecting knowledge to the students’ own context, and transforming schools into an arena where students can practice sustainable living (Sinnes, 2021).

Norwegian higher education institutions are legally mandated to advance sustainability. The Universities and University Colleges Act explicitly requires institutions to “contribute to environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable development” (Ministry of Education and Research, 2019). The accompanying legislative proposition underscores the sector’s role as a “key actor” in addressing societal challenges, stressing the importance of research-based knowledge for safeguarding prosperity, democracy, and the environment (Proposition to the Storting, 2021).

Sustainability is also a cornerstone of the Long-term Plan for Research and Higher Education (Ministry of Education and Research, 2022), which identifies it as one of three overarching goals. Within this plan, “climate, environment, and energy” are also designated as thematic priorities. Together, these policy instruments align Norwegian higher education with international agreements and strategies.

Such mandates shape both the sector as a whole and specific institutions. For example, the Norwegian Police University College (NPUC) is explicitly tasked with aligning its education and research with government priorities: “As an educational institution, the NPUC shall be further developed on the basis of the core principles set out in the Government’s “Long-term Plan for Research and Higher Education” and the White Paper “Culture for Quality in Higher Education” (Justis-og beredskapsdepartementet, 2020).

Within policing, sustainability can be understood as the promotion of environmental, social, and economic sustainability, both through police practice and through the ways in which the practice is conducted (Sillerud and Boe, 2024a). Environmental sustainability may be advanced by addressing environmental crime-defined as violations of laws protecting nature, environment, and cultural heritage—as well as through adopting green practices. Economic sustainability may be supported by combating financial crime, including fraud, tax evasion, corruption, and money laundering, and by safeguarding fiscal integrity through efficient and accountable organizational procedures. Social sustainability is promoted through efforts to combat labor crime -violations of laws on wages, taxes, and social security, protect vulnerable groups, uphold human rights, and foster diversity, inclusion, and employee wellbeing (Sillerud and Boe, 2024a).

The relevance of sustainability in policing extends beyond normative or ethical considerations and has increasingly been framed as a security issue. Climate change functions as a risk multiplier, intensifying corruption, illicit markets, social unrest, and migration pressures (The Norwegian Police Directorate, 2024), while simultaneously generating new forms of crime and eroding social cohesion (Interpol Innovation Centre, 2022). Environmental crime is particularly pressing, as it causes long-term harm to ecosystems and communities and has emerged as one of the most profitable forms of organized crime (The Norwegian Police Directorate, 2024). These developments have led international security organizations including the UN Security Council (United Nations, 2015), NATO (2021), the EU (European Environment Agency, 2025) and the Norwegian Armed Forces (Forsvaret, 2025) to prioritize sustainability as a strategic concern.

Sustainable policing fundamentally entails law enforcement practices that safeguard the long-term health and stability of communities, institutions and the environment (Sustainability Directory, 2024). Reflecting this perspective, policing organizations internationally are increasingly acknowledging sustainability as a core professional concern. The UK College of Policing, for example, identifies climate change as a key challenge for contemporary policing (Matczak and Bergh, 2023), while Interpol has aligned its Global Policing Goals with the UN SDGs (Interpol, 2023). Similarly, the UN Police emphasize law enforcement’s role in advancing sustainable development (Interpol Innovation Centre, 2022). At the organizational level, police agencies such as the Vancouver Police Department (Konyk, 2018) and Avon and Somerset Police (2022) have adopted dedicated sustainability strategies. Despite these developments, sustainability and climate change still rarely feature prominently on police leadership agendas, suggesting a need for greater awareness and integration (Interpol Innovation Centre, 2022).

Sustainability has also begun to influence police education. Finnish police education, for instance, explicitly incorporates sustainable development into its educational policy framework (The Education Steering Group, 2020). Its mission emphasizes responsibility and social, economic, and environmental awareness, operationalized through degree-level learning outcomes that include familiarity with sustainability principles and the ability to develop sustainable professional practices (Parjanen, 2022). Environmental sustainability is further promoted through resource-conscious pedagogical approaches, such as digital learning and the use of simulations. In contrast, current curricula provide limited explicit coverage of sustainability topics (The Norwegian Police University College, 2018, 2022). While Fagerland and Bergh (2025) observe a growing emphasis on sustainability within police leadership education, particularly in Norway, they also identify persistent knowledge gaps (Fagerland et al., 2025; Fagerland and Bergh, 2025). Addressing these gaps is essential for updating leadership agendas and aligning policing with societal developments, expectations and needs.

Norway’s commitment to environmental protection is constitutionally anchored in §112 of the Norwegian Constitution, which guarantees the right to a healthy environment and obliges the state to implement protective measures and ensure access to environmental information (The National Police Directorate, 2020). This provision constitutes a foundational pillar of Norwegian environmental governance. The statutory mandate of the police further supports sustainability objectives. Under the Police Act (§ 2), the police are tasked with protecting individuals, property, and common goods and preventing threats to societal safety; responsibilities that encompass the protection of environmental common goods (The Norwegian Police Act (Politiloven), 1995).

At the strategic level, national policy documents increasingly frame environmental degradation and climate change as security challenges. Norway’s Office of the Prime Minister of Norway (2025)identifies environmental and climate-related risks as drivers of global instability with direct implications for national security (Office of the Prime Minister of Norway, 2025). This perspective is reinforced through prosecutorial priorities, as serious environmental crime is consistently designated a priority area in the Director of Public Prosecutions’ annual circular (e.g., The Director General of Public Prosecutions, 2024).

Parliamentary reports further consolidate this mandate. Reports to the Norwegian Parliament emphasize the growing significance of environmental crime, its links to economic crime, low detection risk, and harm to common goods, while calling for strengthened police competence, interagency cooperation, and the use of advanced investigative tools (The Royal Ministry of Climate and Environment, 2020; The Royal Ministry of Justice and Emergency Management, 2021). These efforts are aligned with broader strategies to combat economic and labor market crime, which highlight the corrosive effects of profit-driven and organized crime on societal trust and welfare and propose enhanced police capacity, specialization, and regulatory measures (The Departments, 2021; The Royal Ministry of Justice and Public Security, 2023).

Operational expectations are specified in governance and steering documents. The National Police Strategy Keeping Ahead of Crime (2021–2025) recognizes climate and environmental pressures as drivers of societal change, while The Norwegian Police Directorate (2020) establishes a statutory duty for the police to prevent, investigate, and prosecute environmental crime (National Police Directorate, 2021; The National Police Directorate, 2020). The directive mandates environmental crime coordinators in each police district, dedicated prosecutorial competence, and systematic interagency cooperation. The police’ action plan for diversity sees competence and knowledge about diversity as a prerequisite for the police to be able to deliver equitable services to all groups in society (The Norwegian Police Dirctorate, 2022).

Despite this extensive legal and policy framework, environmental crime receives limited attention in annual operational steering, and the 2025 Letter of Allocation to the Police does not set explicit objectives or assignments for environmental crime (The Ministry of Justice and Public Security, 2025). Environmental concerns are primarily addressed through requirements related to the greening of police operations, such as reducing emissions, energy use, and environmental footprint, and obligations to assess the impacts of climate change on policing activities.

This divergence suggests a potential scope for further alignment with societal developments regarding environmental issues and policy documents.

ESD, combined with psychological factors, is key to fostering pro-environmental behavior (Matczak, 2025). As a knowledge-based profession, policing depends on formal education, practice, and experience to develop the competencies and discretionary judgment required to meet evolving societal challenges (Runhovde, 2016). Higher education does not simply transmit technical skills; it also shapes the values and professional norms that guide officers’ priorities and decision-making under resource constraints (Posselt et al., 2020). Consequently, how sustainability is integrated—or omitted—within police education has long-term implications for the development of policing practice.

Research indicates, however, that sustainability-related knowledge and awareness are unevenly developed within Norwegian policing (Sillerud and Boe, 2024b). Education in environmental crime enforcement, for instance, remains both voluntary and limited (Runhovde, 2016), and investigative competence in this area is often underdeveloped across police districts (Kjelland-Mørdre, 2021). This challenge has been documented for more than two decades (Runhovde, 2016), yet continues to constrain professional capacity. The absence of systematic education contributes to low clearance rates (Kjelland-Mørdre, 2021) and reinforces cultural barriers that marginalize environmental crime within policing priorities (Runhovde, 2016). As Runhovde (2016) observes, environmental cases often conflict with elements of “cop culture,” leading them to be dismissed as peripheral or even dismissed as “rubbish” (Runhovde, 2016).

The implications of such knowledge gaps extend beyond environmental crime. Educational priorities—what is emphasized or omitted during training—are likely to be reflected in officers’ subsequent professional practice; Issues deemed insufficiently important to be taught are unlikely to be prioritized operationally. This dynamic risks creating a disconnect between strategic ambitions articulated in policy documents and the realities of everyday policing practice (Runhovde, 2016). For instance, research has shown that police training programs influence police enforcement of environmental related laws in Uganda (Sseggiriinya, 2019), and that awareness plays a crucial role in enforcement of laws addressing industrial waste—related environmental crimes (Mulatu and Yigzaw, 2023).

An international literature review concludes that climate change and sustainability are not mainstreamed in police planning, strategies and everyday work, and that there is an need for more awareness and competence on a societal-, organizational- and individual level (Matczak and Bergh, 2023). Recent empirical evidence suggests that this disconnect remains a salient challenge in Norway. Based on interviews with 18 Norwegian police leaders and environmental crime experts, Bjerke (2024) identifies substantial variation in the prioritization of environmental crime and the allocation of resources across police districts (Bjerke, 2024). Limited staffing and competence mean that only a small proportion of relevant cases are pursued, while many are dismissed due to high caseloads and insufficient expertise. Although most districts formally have environmental crime liaisons, these roles are often part-time or periodically vacant, rendering the work highly dependent on individual commitment and characterized by limited continuity. Implementation of national guidelines therefore varies considerably between districts, resulting in uneven quality and effort in case handling, a pattern reflected in high dismissal rates. Environmental crime is frequently handled by local operational units rather than specialized sections, and resources earmarked for this area are often reassigned to other crime types. The absence of performance targets and formal result requirements further facilitates de-prioritization. Bjerke (2024) concludes that there is a significant need to strengthen competence in environmental crime at all levels of the police.

These findings underscore the need to integrate ESD more systematically into police education. Climate-related and environmental challenges are increasingly reshaping police roles, affecting areas such as emergency response, border and maritime security, public order management, and criminal investigation (Abbott, 2008; Interpol Innovation Centre, 2022; Matczak and Bergh, 2023). Addressing these developments require new competencies, including environmental crime enforcement to conflict management and sustainable leadership (Fagerland et al., 2025; Matczak and Bergh, 2023). Integrating ESD into police education therefore means more than addition of new subject matter; it involves connecting sustainability themes to professional practice, preparing students for emerging security risks, embedding systemic understanding and fostering sustainable decision-making and communication skills (Matczak, 2025). This positions ESD as an essential, yet still underdeveloped, component of police education.

The NPUC is the sole provider of police education in Norway, offering a three-year bachelor program, master’s degrees, and a range of continuing education courses (Sefland et al., 2014; Sillerud and Årflot, 2021). Its mandate is to equip the police with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to safeguard citizens’ legal protection and security, while also serving broader societal interests (Sefland et al., 2014). The bachelor program follows a generalist model, preparing graduates with core competencies in preventive work, crime control, and safety promotion (Justis-og beredskapsdepartementet, 2020).

Sustainability is not explicitly articulated in current steering documents for the bachelor’s program (The Norwegian Police University College, 2018, 2022). Recent program revisions acknowledge that sustainable development is integrated into the study program to varying degrees, primarily through indirect attention to aspects of social sustainability in courses on ethics, human rights, and diversity. Explicit emphasis on environmental sustainability remains limited. The report notes that while there is scope to strengthen learning outcomes in these areas, curriculum development must account for the trade-offs involved, as introducing new learning outcomes may necessitate the reduction or removal of existing content (The Norwegian Police University College, 2024).

Recent internal survey data at NPUC further indicate that while NPUC has implemented measures to reduce its environmental footprint, such as digitalization, reduced travel, and energy-saving initiatives, systematic integration of climate and sustainability topics into teaching and research remains limited (Sillerud and Boe, 2025). Respondents highlighted climate change as an increasing operational challenge and emphasized the need for competence development.

Taken together, these findings suggest that opportunities remain for strengthening ESD across NPUC’s programs.

Individuals who completed the semi-structured interviews were designated as participants, reflecting a more active research role than the terms “informants” or “respondents” (Morse, 1991). The final sample consisted of 11 participants, including 10 bachelor students and 1 master student from the NPUC. All 3 years of the bachelor program were represented, with 40% first-year, 10% second-year, and 50% third-year students. Female participants constituted 54.5% of the sample, males 45.5%. The average age was 24 years. Participants were drawn from all campuses with bachelor-level activity, ensuring representation across study sites.

Data were collected using an interview guide developed by the authors, containing five questions exploring participants’ perceptions of sustainability, their learning related to sustainable development, and expectations for integrating sustainability into future police education. This article reports responses to two specific interview questions: (1) “Have you learned anything that may help you contribute to sustainable development in your studies at the NPUC?” and (2) “Which expectations do you have for your further police education regarding sustainability-is it something you would like to learn more about?”

Semi-structured interviews were employed to facilitate flexible, in-depth exploration of participants’ experiences (Yin, 2013). This approach allows interviewers to clarify ambiguities and pursue emerging insights, aligning with Clifford Geertz’s concept of “thick description,” which emphasizes contextualized accounts of social and cultural patterns (Geertz, 1973).

Participants received the interview questions by email in advance to allow reflection, given the relative novelty of sustainability in policing. Interviews were conducted either by phone or in person, each lasting approximately 60 min. Participants were provided with an overarching definition of sustainability and explanations of environmental, economic, and social dimensions at the outset of the interview to ensure shared understanding. Anonymity was guaranteed, and participants were encouraged to respond candidly.

The key elements of our methodological design can be summarized as follows (Table 1).

For comparison, the overall NPUC bachelor population in 2023 included 55.8% female students and 88% aged 20–25 (Politihøgskolen, 2021, 2023).

We asked our participants the following interview question: (1) “Have you learned anything that may help you contribute to sustainable development in your studies at the NPUC?”

Our second interview question that our participants were asked to ponder upon was the following: “Which expectations do you have for your further police education regarding sustainability-is it something you would like to learn more about?”

Participants reported that teaching on economic crime and sustainability was limited and superficial. P6 reflected on how corruption was presented: “In terms of economic sustainability, we have had a lesson on corruption in the ethics subject. But corruption is a hugely important issue … It was not particularly problematized, beyond the fact it was about getting hot dogs at Statoil. Why is this not problematized more for us?” P8 corroborated: “We have not had much about economic crime. I feel that the responsibility is placed on the Economic Crime Unit, and so we do not learn anything about what they do … Then you do not really get a sense of the importance of having good computer skills.”

Cybercrime was highlighted as an area in particular need of attention. P3 noted: “Cybercrime is perhaps one of the most important subject areas we should focus on going forward.”

In sum, these findings suggest that the participants wish for deeper and practice-oriented training in areas such as corruption and cybercrime.

Participants identified both structural and thematic opportunities for curriculum development. P3 noted that while the first year bachelor study curriculum was described as tightly scheduled, while the third year bachelor study period, particularly before the investigation exam, was seen as offering space for additional teaching. P7 noted that the learning outcome descriptions (LODs) for exams overlap and could be streamlined to create room for new content, such as sustainability, labor market crime, and environmental crime. P7 further proposed integrating topics such as sustainability, environmental crime, and cooperation with external agencies like the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. Interest was also expressed in expanding teaching on human trafficking, radicalization, terrorism, and international collaboration, with guest lectures from practitioners described as both motivating and well received by students.