Assessing Civil Servants’ Training Needs: Bridging Competency Gaps for Sustainable Development in Romania’s Public Administration

The implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is driving a paradigm shift in public administration, reshaping resource management, public service delivery, and institutional values. This study examines the role of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the role of training in equipping public officials with systems thinking and interdisciplinary competencies, aligning training processes with institutional requirements. We provide a theoretical, methodological, and empirical analysis of the Romanian case, offering insights into the development of a new professional category: the sustainable development expert. Our findings highlight the correlation between SDG competency frameworks and the training needs of public officials, proposing educational and institutional strategies to enhance sustainability-related expertise. The Romanian experience serves as a reference model for researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers across the EU in advancing public administration training for sustainable development.