In an era characterized by rapid economic growth, globalization, and pressing environmental
challenges, the role of education in advancing sustainability has become paramount.
This paper's primary focus is on sustainability, aiming to provide meaningful insights
into the function of educational attainment, specifically lifelong learning, in promoting
sustainable development. The paper's novel approach lies in its data-driven perspective,
utilizing international indices to quantify the relationship between educational metrics
and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This paper adopts a quantitative, index-based
methodology to compare lifelong learning performance across four countries with similar
economic circumstances, utilizing sustainability indicators from the SDG Index, Youth
Progress Index, and Social Progress Index. The key findings reveal that while Estonia
exhibited leading performance, Hungary's index value declined between 2016 and 2022.
In contrast, Turkey demonstrated the most substantial improvement during this period,
despite starting from the lowest point. The paper emphasizes the importance of carefully
managing educational incentives and innovations to strengthen the alignment between
sustainability and lifelong learning, particularly in addressing specific sustainability
challenges through targeted ESG strategies.
