Closed loop or ‘circular’ production systems known as Circular Economy and Cradle to Cradle represent a unique opportunity to radically revise the currently wasteful system of production. One of the ...challenges of such systems is that circular products need to be both produced locally with minimum environmental footprint and simultaneously satisfy demand of global consumers. This article presents a literature review that describes the application of circular methodologies to education for sustainability, which has been slow to adopt circular systems to the curriculum. This article discusses how Bachelor and Master-level students apply their understanding of these frameworks to corporate case studies. Two assignment-related case studies are summarized, both of which analyze products that claim to be ‘circular’. The students' research shows that the first case, which describes the impact of a hybrid material soda bottle, does not meet circularity criteria. The second case study, which describes products and applications of a mushroom-based material, is more sustainable. However, the students' research shows that the manufacturers have omitted transport from the environmental impact assessment and therefore the mushroom materials may not be as sustainable as the manufacturers claim. As these particular examples showed students how green advertising can be misleading, applying “ideal” circularity principles as part of experiential learning could strengthen the curriculum. Additionally, this article recommends that sustainable business curriculum should also focus on de-growth and steady-state economy, with these radical alternatives to production becoming a central focus of education of responsible citizens.
In recent years knowledge and capabilities to manage corporate sustainability have become a significant component of different career paths in companies, consultancies, and even in non-profit and ...public institutions. As an answer to this worldwide trend of a new profession ever more universities and business schools have taken the initiative to increase their teaching activities in corporate social responsibility and sustainability management. As most courses do not have a long track record and as only a limited number of management-oriented continuous education studies exists so far we still know little about how managers could be educated most effectively to become change agents for corporate sustainability. This paper examines a case study and provides insight into ten years of MBA education for sustainability management at the Centre for Sustainability Management, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany. Based on data from a recent alumni survey we analyze the corporate practice experiences of the first 85 successful MBA students and the medium term effects of the first master program in sustainability management. Based on the analysis we propose a competence matrix to structure basic components of postgraduate education in sustainability management. The paper unveils that extant research is needed to consider the practical experiences MBA graduates make when applying acquired knowledge and to link these insights to curriculum development.
Developing sustainability competences is an important endeavor for education, as competence development can be complex and requires appropriate approaches. In the case of preparing future educators, ...this becomes even more important, because of their multiplier role. The current study presents how a project, based on the living-lab methodology, helped preservice preschool teachers attending a course on sustainability issues develop sustainability-specific professional action competence. Students collaborated with an organization and a school and were trained to deliver, to 6-year-old pupils, activities concerning the protection of sea turtles. The process included reflection based on a given template. After the intervention, the preservice preschool teachers reflected upon their role and professional performance and discussed how they benefited from this project. They further analyzed, through a group interview, how the living-lab methodology raised their professional confidence and self-efficacy and helped them develop content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and a sense of purpose and motivation for teaching about sustainability. Outcomes indicate that participants felt confident and efficacious to teach about sustainability and developed their content knowledge, pedagogy content knowledge, motivation, and volition due to a strong sense of purpose and responsibility. The overall process facilitated the development of critical thinking, systemic thinking, reflection, and collaboration.
In recent years, the interest in research concerning Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has grown considerably. Therefore, a thorough (re)evaluation of this field and its challenges is ...highly necessary and can help us better understand the diversity of ESD approaches and the ways in which various scholars, countries, institutions, or universities reacted through research and scientific publications to the study of ESD. Using a bibliometric approach, we analyzed 1813 papers on the subject, indexed by the Web of Science, between 1992 and 2018. The main findings increased our understanding of the ESD domain: we identified vital research, landmark studies in the development of the field, critical past contributions, emerging trends, and potentially transformative ideas. The number of publications, authors, and journals has increased, proving that ESD has gained momentum over the period examined in the study. Similarly, there are more and more works written in collaboration by people (scholars, researchers, etc.) from different parts and cultures of the world, indicating that publishing on ESD is like a legacy to international efforts to bring this area of inquiry into the mainstream. Finally, the study illustrates two main research directions for the entire timespan: integration of education into sustainable development and of sustainable development into education.
Case-based learning is a long-standing pedagogic practice involving students undertaking a single dimensional, independent analysis of a text case study which feeds forward into a class discussion. ...However, this poses several challenges for education for sustainability within the current culture of Higher Education; learners are required to analyze interlinked, multi-faceted aspects of sustainability whereas a traditional text case study generally presents a single situation for consideration; students are reluctant to prepare for classes; a text case study promotes backward reasoning rather than the forward thinking that education for sustainability requires to develop work ready graduates who are change agents for sustainable futures; case-based learning cannot substitute for the active, experiential learning that students find engaging.
This paper presents the findings of a three-year research study into enhancing case-based learning within education for sustainability. It proposes utilizing an extensive mixed media case and facilitating multi-dimensional analysis through the completion of a sustainability audit in an active learning environment to overcome the challenges of traditional case-based learning. The inclusion of an audit to frame the case study analysis may enhance case-based learning as it provides a more immersive experience that guides students through the collection, collation, synthesis, and communication of case study information.
The study's findings suggest students are more engaged and develop the knowledge skills and values required for work readiness and to become sustainability change agents through their immersion in an audit. Consequently, this paper may be of interest to educators seeking an innovative approach to education for sustainability that may overcome the challenges of traditional case-based learning and promote active, experiential learning of the multi-faceted aspects of sustainability.
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•Audit-based learning facilitates analysis of interlinked, multifaceted sustainability practices.•Auditing promotes employment skills - sustainability knowledge, capabilities, cognitive skills, and forward reasoning.•Auditing a case study provides immersive experiential learning.•Audit-based learning promotes student engagement.
Consumption habits imply responsibility. Progressive awareness of the scale of materials, energy, goods and services consumed on a daily basis and knowledge of the implications of consumption choices ...are prerequisites for designing steps towards sustainable behavior. This article explores, for the first time, the educational value of personal Footprint calculators and their contribution in terms of enhancing awareness of the environmental consequences of consumption behaviors. Our study involved the application of Global Footprint Networks’ personal Ecological Footprint (EF) calculator in teaching aimed at High School and postgraduate University students in two geographical areas (Italy and UK). Students calculated their individual EF, and used the results to explore the environmental consequences of their current consumption behaviors and the effects associated with selected changes in daily consumption activities. Our analysis shows that students were able to appreciate the difference between their individual Footprints and national and global averages. The calculator also enabled them to debate sustainable consumption in the context of their everyday life, inducing them to personally experience the multidimensional character of sustainability. Students finally demonstrated an ability to quantitatively capture how knowledge and awareness of the environmental consequences associated with certain consumption behaviors may facilitate better choices, and encourage greater commitment to sustainable resource use.
•Ecological Footprint (EF) has gained a prominent position in the sustainability debate since its introduction.•We used a personal Footprint calculator to teach environmental aspects of sustainability.•Students experienced at firsthand the multidimensional character of sustainability.•They gained insight on how daily activities affect the global sustainability discourse.•Our experiment is an effective way to initiate participative discussions on environmental sustainability.
The concept of sustainability can be controversial and difficult to define. As a result, it has been suggested that there should be specific pedagogies and teaching methods for education for ...sustainability (EfS). How well these methods are used within universities can inform the future of EfS pedagogy. One quarter of the teaching academics in every discipline of every Australian university (except one) (n = 38) was sent an online questionnaire asking for their recollections of their teaching practices and EfS. Data were obtained from 1819 respondents (26% response rate) and analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics (χ
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tests of independence and one-way between-groups analysis of variance). This study presents the views of approximately 6% of the entire university teaching workforce of Australia. It presents the findings that academics prefer, and utilise, lectures, tutorials, critical thinking and discussions in their teaching. Although the adoption of the pedagogies and teaching methods advocated for EfS is low, there is evidence that academics are actively seeking to make their lessons more interactive. Although EfS is largely not practiced within classrooms, when EfS is taught, teaching methods remain the same as when it is not taught - suggesting EfS is not currently associated with pedagogical innovation.
In 2015, more than 190 countries pledged to meet by 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030 that aim to ensure sustainable global social and economic development, and to strengthen universal ...peace. Public institutions, businesses, organizations and individuals are all called upon to contribute to this challenge. Focusing on business schools (BSs), and the potential impact they have on graduates, we ask what they are doing for the deployment of these objectives. To this end, we conducted a systematic review of the literature related to SDGs and business schools in the WOS, SCOPUS and ERIC databases. A multi-stage exclusion process resulted in 16 documents for review. The findings of this study provide key information on the role that business schools have to play in achieving SDGs and the ways in which they can be incorporated into their activity: from more in-depth actions linked to creating awareness, questioning current paradigms, fostering cooperation and interdisciplinarity with stakeholders, and working on coherence; to more specific interventions such as creating student associations, incorporating new teaching methodologies or increasing students’ participation in extracurricular activities. In addition, this study also allows us to identify gaps in the literature, giving ideas on necessary future lines of research.
In recent years, much discussion has taken place regarding the social role of firms and their responsibilities to society. In this context, the role of universities is crucial, as it may shape ...management students' attitudes and provide them with the necessary knowledge, skills and critical analysis to make decisions as consumers and future professionals. We emphasise that universities are multilevel learning environments, so there is a need to look beyond formal curricular content and pay more attention to implicit dimensions of the learning process in order to create significant learning. With this in mind, we propose an integrative and holistic approach to guide the integration of ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability in management education that aims to improve students' knowledge and attitudes. In this model, we consider three interdependent levels of analysis–the institutional level, the curricular level and the instrumental level–which together produce a leverage effect on student learning. For each level, we identify the main issues and aspects that need to be considered, based on an extensive literature review in this field.
The origins of the Linear Economy – the ‘take-make-use-dispose’ model of consumption – date from the Industrial Revolution and the global economy developed around this model. Various social, economic ...and environmental factors mean that it is no longer sustainable. A radical new model – the Circular Economy – is being advocated but as yet it is not widely practiced. This paper proposes that designers are crucial to the development of this new economic model; furthermore, this model facilitates education for sustainability and enhances employability.
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