Incorporating a Political-Economy Orientation to VET’s Project-Based Learning Methodologies for Sustainable Development

Author(s):  
Emilia Szekely
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 8733
Author(s):  
Gisela Cebrián ◽  
Mercè Junyent ◽  
Ingrid Mulà

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development reflects the urgency to embed the principles of education for sustainable development (ESD) into all levels of education. ESD, understood as an integral part of quality education and where all educational institutions, from preschool to higher education and in non-formal and informal education, can and should foster the development of sustainability competencies. This Special Issue entitled “Competencies in Education for Sustainable Development II” responds to this urgency and the papers presented deliver recent developments in the field of sustainability and ESD competencies. They focus on various perspectives: systematic literature reviews and conceptual contributions; curriculum developments and pedagogical approaches to explore competencies’ development, such as action research, serious games, augmented reality, multi-course project-based learning and group model building processes; testing and validation of assessment tools and processes for linking sustainability competencies to employability and quality assurance processes. The contributions show how the field of sustainability and ESD competencies has become a major focus in recent years and present emerging research developments. Further research efforts need to be put into operationalizing sustainability competencies and developing tools that help measure and assess students’ and educators’ competencies development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3687
Author(s):  
Vincent Smith ◽  
Justus H. H. Wesseler ◽  
David Zilberman

This perspective discusses the impact of political economy on the regulation of modern biotechnology. Modern biotechnology has contributed to sustainable development, but its potential has been underexplored and underutilized. We highlight the importance of the impacts of regulations for investments in modern biotechnology and argue that improvements are possible via international harmonization of approval processes. This development is urgently needed for improving sustainable development. Policy makers in the European Union (EU) in particular are challenged to rethink their approach to regulating modern biotechnology as their decisions have far ranging consequences beyond the boundaries of the EU and they have the power to influence international policies.


Author(s):  
Vladimir V. Okrepilov ◽  
Alexander V. Babkin ◽  
Natalia V. Zlobina ◽  
Svetlana N. Kuzmina ◽  
Tatiana A. Salimova

The article examines the objectively existing in modern conditions of economic agents' activity the need to introduce and apply approaches based on the use of quality management methods in internal corporate management. The authors noted that one of the global trends of the XXI century. Is the structural transformation of the world economy associated with the active development and implementation of information and telecommunication (digital) technologies in the real economic processes of both society and business. The authors assess the approach widespread in Russia based on quality management methods in the formation of control systems for the activities of economic agents of the national economy in the context of digital transformation in order to ensure their sustainable development; the analysis of the formation of promising directions for the development of communities, declared by UNESCO, in conditions of instability, complexity and uncertainty was carried out; the toolkit for digitalization of quality management of the education system is considered, in particular, the use of project-based learning to improve the quality of knowledge obtained and assess the impact on the sustainable development of universities, the education sector in general and economic agents of the national economy, taking into account digitalization and global risks. The authors see further areas of research in modeling risks and assessing their impact on ensuring sustainable development of economic agents, socio-economic processes of the national economy and society as a whole by quality management methods in the context of digitalization of the economy.


Author(s):  
Mthuli Ncube ◽  
Charles Leyeka Lufumpa ◽  
George Kararach

Africa's efforts to achieve sustainable development have been hindered by factors such as skills development and enhancing market access in support of sustainable transformation and infrastructure that promote sustainable development and connectivity in Africa. Continental connectivity and logistical problems are the result of peculiar socio-economic conditions in the region such as geology, poor economic governance and conflict. These issues have direct implications for the implementation of infrastructure projects and the type of public policies needed to foster strategic connectivity. Moreover, the major constraints on infrastructure are not technical but managerial, political, ‘cultural’ and due to a lack of specialised resources. Africa needs to find its own solutions to local capacity and development problems with greater involvement of local private sector partners wherever feasible. A political economy perspective is critical to understand the dynamics around infrastructure deficits as well as associated investments and development.


Energies ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 278
Author(s):  
Marzena Podgórska ◽  
Iwona Zdonek

The aim of the article is to examine technological innovations developed by engineers as part of Project-Based Learning at one of the Polish technical universities. We examined whether the innovations being developed meet the goals of sustainable development and whether they provide the basis for the introduction of sustainable business models. We analyzed reports from 49 projects implemented in the years 2018–2020 in which 146 scientists, 282 students of the Silesian University of Technology, and 126 experts from the university’s business environment were involved. We performed the analysis using content analysis and visualization techniques. The results show that the studied innovations implement the goals of sustainable development and most of them may become the basis of sustainable business models. The most frequently pursued goals are Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure and Good Health and Well-Being. Most of the studied innovations can become the basis of the archetype of a sustainable business model called “maximize material and energy efficacy”. We also provide the characteristics of projects that implement the diagnosed goals of sustainable development.


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