The book "Developing Sustainability Competences Through Pedagogical Approaches. Experiences from International Case Studies" edited by Prof. Rodrigo Lozano and Dr. Maria Barreiro-Gen (both University of Gävle) integrates practice-based original research on how sustainability is incorporated in curricula, the competences being developed, and the pedagogical approaches being used to develop the competences.
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been major agents of social change. In this context, they have been major drivers of sustainable development and sustainability. There has been considerable progress in the incorporation of sustainability into HEIs curricula, where educators are at the center of curriculum renewal and making curricula more sustainability oriented, and they need to ensure that they develop their students’ sustainability competences. Several tools have been developed, or modified, to assess sustainability in universities. One of the few tools focusing specifically on curricula is the “Sustainability Tool for Assessing UNiversities’ Curricula Holistically” (STAUNCH®). In parallel, one of the most recent developments in Higher Education for Sustainable Development discourses has been on developing competences and linking them to the use of pedagogical approaches (e.g. through the “Framework connecting sustainable development pedagogical approaches to competences”). But there has been limited evidence on how to connect the pedagogical approaches and competences. The book fills this gap through a survey sent to 15 Higher Education Institutions from 12 countries in 4 continents (Africa, America, Australia, and Europe).
Educators need to be made aware of the range of pedagogical approaches available, so that they can better combine them and develop the ‘Full Monty’ of sustainability competences for the future decision-makers, leaders, academics, and professionals around the world.
The book provides unique insights into what sustainability issues are being taught, what competences are being developed, what pedagogical approaches are used, and how the latter two relate to each other.