Process framework for identifying sustainability aspects in university curricula and integrating education for sustainable development
2015 (English)In: Journal of Cleaner Production, ISSN 0959-6526, E-ISSN 1879-1786, Vol. 106, p. 164-174Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Sustainability aspects in higher education must be enhanced with more concrete actions. Universities are globally required to have quality assurance to secure and improve teaching and learning, and they use management systems to this aim. Integrating education for sustainable development and management systems are alike in that they are based on continuous improvement and systematic thinking; for both processes all stakeholders need to be involved. Although quality assurance is compulsory for higher education, education for sustainable development has barely been examined or integrated in this context.This article examines how voluntary integration of education for sustainable development into management systems at universities could facilitate a scheme to overcome the challenges to integrating education for sustainable development that were identified in previous research. For this, a process framework for integrating education for sustainable development with management systems was developed in a network of 11 universities in the Nordic countries. The framework included planning, assessment, monitoring, and implementation of education for sustainable development. It was piloted and applied to identify relevant sustainability aspects in different disciplines, examples of which are provided in the article. The framework can be applied to visualize the implementation of education for sustainable development.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2015. Vol. 106, p. 164-174
Keywords [en]
Education for sustainable development, Higher education, Management systems, Nordic countries, Quality assurance, Visualizing, Curricula, Planning, Research and development management, Societies and institutions, Sustainable development, Education
National Category
Other Social Sciences Other Mechanical Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-19484DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.04.059ISI: 000359955900017Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84938204505OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hig-19484DiVA, id: diva2:817912
Conference
Bridges for a more sustainable future: Joining Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU) and the European Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production (ERSCP) conferences
Funder
Nordic Council of Ministers2015-06-072015-06-072022-11-02Bibliographically approved