The I3E model for embedding education for sustainability within higher education institutions

Purpose This paper aims to report on the status and the development of education for sustainable development (ESD) and sustainability literacy (SL) in three Latin American (LA) higher education institutions (HEIs) business programs in Peru, Brazil and Colombia. The paper examines institutional efforts to both introduce and implement ESD curricula and provide SL. Design/methodology/approach The methods used in this paper included reviews of university Web pages and course materials. Structured interviews were also conducted with program leaders, to examine the level of ESD, as input affecting the business programs curricula of the universities concerned. Findings Initial findings suggest that, in the three HEIs surveyed, there is still a tendency to talk about issues related to ESD but actions that confirm this interest are not sufficiently advanced. The authors surveys a sample of business programs curricula and interviewed its leaders and a mixed and dated picture emerged. When compared to other regions particularly the USA and Europe, the findings show that the HEIs surveyed still have not developed enough work to distinguish conceptually between sustainable development, ESD and SL making the embedment of these concepts in the curriculum not fully developed. Originality/value In LA HEIs, the ESD message seems to be slowly taking ground, equipping HEIs to respond to SL concerns. Implementation and practice in some HEIs are still at an embryonic and conceptually confused stage with regard to LA HEIs SL. This paper sheds light to help ESD delivery. It offers some strategies for moving on from this inception phase to a more structured SL provision and ESD outlook.

Download Full-text

How Teaching Affects Student Attitudes towards the Environment and Sustainability in Higher Education: An Instructors’ Perspective

European Journal of Sustainable Development ◽

10.14207/ejsd.2020.v9n2p172 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 172-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anastasia Misseyanni ◽

Christina Marouli ◽

Paraskevi Papadopoulou

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Student Attitudes ◽

Higher Education Institutions ◽

Essential Element ◽

Learning Objects ◽

Education For Sustainability ◽

Emotional Engagement ◽

Environmental Pressures ◽

Attitudes And Behaviors ◽

And Behaviors

In the rapidly changing, 21st century globalized world, with increasing environmental pressures and challenges, education for the environment and sustainability is a priority at all levels; from kindergarten to higher education. It is the education that will create the environmentally aware and socially responsible individuals, capable of addressing existing and future environmental challenges. Courses on the environment and/or sustainability are now an essential element of all Higher Education Institutions with a sustainability vision. But, does teaching about the environment and sustainability lead to a change in student attitudes? What teaching and learning methods seem to have a more significant effect on attitudes and behaviors and what are the challenges for instructors? In this study, instructors reflect on which educational methods seem most effective in promoting change in student attitudes and behaviors towards the environment and sustainability. This reflection is based on instructor experiences from selected courses or course activities (learning objects) and it focuses on the goals, teaching methods and effect on student learning and attitudes; changes in student attitudes in the course of the last years are also discussed. Suggestions are offered and implications for higher education institutions are outlined. Keywords: education for the environment, education for sustainability, higher education, active learning, student behaviors, emotional engagement

Download Full-text

Promoting Education for Sustainable Development: Challenges and Issues for Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan

International Journal of Learning and Development ◽

10.5296/ijld.v1i1.1131 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 159

Author(s):

Shahid Hussain Mughal ◽

Nasim Qaisrani ◽

Ghulam Mohuyuddin Solangi ◽

Sumaira Faiz

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

United Nations ◽

Higher Education Institutions ◽

Education For Sustainable Development ◽

Conservation Strategy ◽

Education For Sustainability ◽

Life Styles ◽

The United Nations

Abstract Education is critical agent of transformation in terms of changing life styles, attitude and behavior. The role of education in pursuit of Sustainable Development is indispensable. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1987) used the term Sustainable Development. According to UN Commission (known as Brundtland Commission) Sustainable Development is “development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generation.” Sustainable Development talks about environmental problems and its solution in a broader perspective. It takes into account social, political, cultural and economic aspects. The United Nations has declared 2005-2014 as the decade for Education for Sustainable Development. Since the 1993 Kyoto Declaration on Sustainable Development, the role of higher education has become vital. The recent trend in the depletion of natural resources, energy, water and food crises, has increased and challenged the role of higher education institutions in Pakistan. The question arises “To what extent our higher education & research institutions are playing their role in order to ameliorate the situation? The other questions that come to mind are “how higher education institutions can respond to prevailing intricate situation? And what role can these institutions play for promoting education for sustainability? This research study intends to critically examine the role of higher education institutions for the promotion of education for sustainability and to explore the opportunities for the integration of education for sustainability considerations in the existing courses being offered in the universities of Pakistan. This study intends to analyze the National Conservation strategy (NCS) of Pakistan with reference to the promotion of education for sustainability. Key Words: Education for sustainability, Higher Education, National Conservation Strategy, Integration

Download Full-text

Higher Education for Sustainability in the Developing World: A Case Study of Rafik Hariri University1 in Lebanon

European Journal of Sustainable Development ◽

10.14207/ejsd.2019.v8n2p379 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 379 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jamil Hammoud ◽

Mohamed Tarabay

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Developing World ◽

Higher Education Institutions ◽

Analytical Framework ◽

Education For Sustainable Development ◽

Education For Sustainability ◽

Sustainable Society

Responding to heightened global interest in and concern for the sustainability of the planet and our ways of life on it, The United Nations’ Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015) came out as a very ambitious and historic global agreement. The agenda identified what have become known as the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), along with their detailed targets to mobilize and guide global efforts toward ending poverty, fostering peace, safeguarding human rights and protecting the planet. Education for Sustainable Development forms part of Target 4.7 of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which seeks to “ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles…”Departing from the Brundtland Commission’s (1987) definition of sustainable development as a paradigm of resource use that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” universities have progressively been incorporating sustainability values, practices and initiatives into their activities, throughout the realm of what they do in teaching, research, administration and operational systems. Indeed, Commitment to sustainability at universities worldwide dates back to the 1980’s, with a number of landmarks and declarations such as the Magna Charta of European Universities (1988), and the Talloires Declaration of University Presidents for a Sustainable Future (1990).However, the debate so far has centered mostly on the rationale and reasoning for broad adoption, rather than the various actions to be undertaken by higher education institutions (HEIs). Moreover, Efforts and initiatives to integrate sustainability into higher education in the developing world have been ad-hoc, modest and small (Mohamedbhai 2012). We could only find a few research studies covering such efforts and initiatives anyways (Awuzie & Emuze, 2017; Bhat et al., 2017; Khalaf-Kairouz, 2012).This paper aims to describe sustainable practices of higher education institutions in the developing world, via a case study of Rafik Hariri University in Lebanon. The authors utilize the 12 Features of Sustainable Society, developed by the Forum for the Future (2003) as an analytical framework, based on the Five Capitals Model. The research instrument was a questionnaire derived from the 12 Features of a Sustainable Society and designed to identify the strategies, policies, values and practices pursued by the university to contribute to sustainable development.The outcome is a detailed level analysis into the ways in which a small institution of higher education in a developing country contributes to the betterment of the world via engagement in sustainability. Keywords Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Higher Education; Developing World; Higher Education for Sustainable Development; Rafik Hariri University; Lebanon; ESD; SDG; HESD

Download Full-text

Four Impediments to Embedding Education for Sustainability in Higher Education

Australian Journal of Environmental Education ◽

10.1017/aee.2015.36 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 248-263 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Fred Gale ◽

Aidan Davison ◽

Graham Wood ◽

Stewart Williams ◽

Nick Towle

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Social Transformation ◽

Higher Education Institutions ◽

Education For Sustainability ◽

Market Opportunity ◽

Begging The Question ◽

Interdisciplinary Dialogue ◽

Barriers To Implementation ◽

Institutional Fragmentation ◽

Economic Globalisation

AbstractHigher education institutions have an unavoidable responsibility to address the looming economic, environmental and social crises imperilling humans and ecosystems by placing ‘education for sustainability’ at the heart of their concerns. Yet, for over three decades, the practice of ‘higher education for sustainability’ (HEfS) has encountered significant barriers to implementation, begging the question as to why. Drawing on a diverse, interdisciplinary literature, we identify four structural impediments to implementing HEfS: (1) disciplinary contestation, which creates confusion over what ‘sustainability’ means; (2) institutional fragmentation, which prevents the interdisciplinary dialogue that sustainability demands; (3) economic globalisation, which transforms higher education into just another market opportunity; and (4) ‘fast and frugal’ habits of reasoning, which steer time-pressed academics towards poorly integrated decisions and unsustainable positions. Our analysis highlights that wider structural change within and beyond the academy will be required if higher education institutions are to meet their responsibilities and drive the necessary social transformation.

Download Full-text

Environmental education for sustainability in higher education institutions in the Philippines

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education ◽

10.1108/14676371011031892 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 173-183 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Angelina P. Galang

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Environmental Education ◽

Higher Education Institutions ◽

The Philippines ◽

Education For Sustainability ◽

Sustainability In Higher Education

Download Full-text

Environmental Education for Sustainability in Higher Education Institutions: Design of an Instrument for Its Evaluation

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13137129 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (13) ◽

pp. 7129

Author(s):

María Delfina Luna-Krauletz ◽

Luis Gibran Juárez-Hernández ◽

Ricardo Clark-Tapia ◽

Shafía Teresa Súcar-Súccar ◽

Cecilia Alfonso-Corrado

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Environmental Education ◽

Higher Education Institutions ◽

Expert Judgment ◽

Target Population ◽

Education For Sustainability ◽

Pilot Test ◽

Institutional Identity ◽

Expert Review ◽

Optimal Value

Higher Education Institutions (HEI) play a fundamental role in the transition towards Environmental Education for Sustainability (EES). As a consequence, one of the most critical challenges is the need to know their level of incorporation into the environmental agenda. Therefore, an instrument was made and validated to determine the level of incorporation of Environmental Education for Sustainability into the environmental agenda of HEIs. For its construction, the dimensions of Institutional Identity, Teaching, Research, Extension/dissemination, and Linkage were considered, relying on a total of 17 items. Its validation was carried out through an expert review and expert judgment, and a pilot test was carried out to adapt it to the target population. The main result was an instrument that integrates the substantive and procedural functions of HEIs. Following the expert review, the instrument was improved according to their suggestions. The expert judgment showed an adequate content validity (Aiken’s V > 0.80; LL > 0.60). The pilot test also suggested that the understanding of instructions and items was adequate with an optimal value of internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.862). An instrument that determines the level of incorporation of the EES in the substantive and procedural functions of HEIs is presented, valid in content, and with adequate levels of clarity and understanding of the target population.

Download Full-text