The Environmental Education Lab (EEL) is an academic and research center operating within the Department of Educational Studies at the School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA).

Founded in 1837, the NKUA is the oldest and largest institution of higher education in Greece, and one of the most prominent universities in Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean region. With a student body exceeding 125,000 and a faculty of 1,900 academic staff, the university is committed to excellence in both research and teaching across a wide range of disciplines.

Comprising 32 Faculties and Departments organized within 8 Schools, NKUA offers nearly 100 postgraduate programmes. Research is an integral part of its mission, with over 128 specialized laboratories across departments facilitating advanced inquiry and interdisciplinary collaboration. In recent years, the university has been consistently ranked among the top institutions globally, placing 26th out of more than 10,000 universities worldwide in the Google Scholar Citations institutional rankings—making it the top-ranking university in Greece.

Established in 2004, the Environmental Education Lab (EEL) conducts research and supports pedagogical innovation in the field of Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE). The Lab focuses on developing critical, participatory, and transformative approaches to teaching and learning that enhance environmental literacy, citizenship and informed action among young people and the wider public.

EEL’s work spans curriculum development, teacher training, and the design of educational tools and methodologies addressing current environmental and sustainability challenges. A key focus is on bridging academic research with real-world educational contexts. The Lab actively engages with multiple communities of practice, including undergraduate and postgraduate students, school educators, pupils, administrators, NGOs, museums, local authorities, and professional bodies, to co-define pressing socio-environmental issues and co-create knowledge and solutions that are academically rigorous, socially responsive, and practically relevant.

Since 2014, the EEL has been led by Professor Maria Daskolia.