The ecological crisis we are facing calls for a renewal of the way we do science. In the light of sustainable development, the challenge is to produce science that is democratic and capable of responding to contemporary issues. This context challenges the role of school in its logic of construction and transmission of scientific knowledge. The emergence of socio-scientific issues is an opportunity to contribute to an education that makes it possible to think and act in a complex and uncertain world. This paper focuses on an educational experiment based on an investigative approach in relation to the ecological transition of the island of Yeu in the Vendée. We analyse what are the implications of an education that cultivates interdisciplinarity, involvement and participation in science, from point of view of both educators and learners. Beyond material and epistemic difficulties identified and tensions involved in co-constructing knowledge and actions, our experimentation reveals several levels of action for education for sustainable development (ESD), including opening up to a plurality of actors, enhancing reflexivity and developing social engineering.