iBacc schools seek to make a real-world contribution to the global UN Sustainable Development Goals. In addition to Quality Education (Goal 4) each iBacc school chooses to specialise in one other Global Goal as an expert contribution to planetary wellbeing, resilience and sustainability in its own bioregion

The key competencies in education for sustainable development are Systems thinking, Strategy thinking, Futures thinking, Values thinking, Interpersonal thinking, Intrapersonal thinking, Implementational thinking, and Integrated problem solving