Abstract
Based on a report made by the Swedish Higher Education Authority from 2017, which covered all of Sweden’s 47 higher education institutions, this paper examines the work with sustainable development at universities. The text also gives suggestions on how the area could be developed for those institutions in higher education that have not yet measured up to the criteria for successful sustainability work. The analysis bases its findings on the Swedish National Defense University as a case and a representative for a smaller university but identifies general lessons that are applicable to other universities. The text also identifies lessons from current pedagogical research in higher education and highlights success factors taken from three other higher education institutions that have received high ratings for their sustainability work. The universities that have been successful in this work show that integrating a sustainability approach initially in the daily operations does not have to include all aspects of sustainable development in business planning and education. On the other hand, the aim must be clearly set on a holistic and interdisciplinary approach, where education for sustainability initially creates a base from where issues that are more complex can be included, and generate education specifically aimed at promoting sustainable development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Anderberg E, Nordén B, Hansson B (2009) Global learning for sustainable development in higher education: recent trends and a critique. Int J Sustain High Educ 10(4):368–378. https://doi.org/10.1108/14676370910990710
Appel G, Dankelman I, Kuipers K (2005) Disciplinary explorations of sustainable development in higher education. In: Higher education and the challenge of sustainability. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 213–222. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48515-x_16
Appleton E (2017a) Next generation sustainability strategy and structure: supplementary case studies. Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC)
Appleton E (2017b) Next generation sustainability strategy and structure. Whole-institution approaches to sustainability in universities and colleges. Enviromental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC)
Ben-Eli MU (2018) Sustainability: definition and five core principles, a systems perspective. Sustain Sci 13(5):1337–1343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-018-0564-3
Bohlin H (2018) Vad är medborgerlig bildning? In: Medborgerlig bildning: Om varför man studerar påhögskola. Studentlitteratur, Lund, pp 19–34
Brooks H (1992) Science and technology. In: Science and sustainability. Selected papers on IIASA’s 20th anniversary. Novographic, Vienna, pp 29–60
Bryman A (2015) Social research methods, 5th edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Caeiro S, Azeiteiro UM, Filho WL, Jabbour C (2013) Sustainability assessment tools in higher education institutions: mapping trends and good practices around the world. Springer, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02375-5
Carleklev S, Älvgren J, Idlinge B, Tomsmark L (2020) ed kursen Lärande för hållbar utveckling – erfarenheter och lärdomar. Högre Utbildning 10(1):13–17. https://doi.org/10.23865/hu.v10.1961
Chankseliani M, McCowan T (2021) Higher education and the sustainable development goals. High Educ 81(1):1–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00652-w
Chaplin G, Wyton P (2014) Student engagement with sustainability: understanding the value–action gap. Int J Sustain High Educ 15(4):404–417. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-04-2012-0029
Corcoran PB, Wals AE (2004) The problematics of sustainability in higher education: a synthesis. In: Corcoran P, Wals A (eds) Higher education and the challenge of sustainability. Springer, Dordrecht
Corcoran PB, Walker KE, Wals AEJ (2004) Case studies, make-your-case studies, and case stories: a critique of case-study methodology in sustainability in higher education. Environ Educ Res 10(1):7–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350462032000173670
Cortese AD (1992) Education for an environmentally sustainable future. Environ Sci Technol 26(6):1108–1114.
Dempsey N, Bramley G, Power S, Brown C (2011) The social dimension of sustainable development: defining urban social sustainability. Sustain Dev 19(5):289–300. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.417
Dent EB, Goldberg SG (1999) Challenging “Resistance to Change.” The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35(1): 25–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886399351003
Disterheft A, Caeiro S, Azeiteiro UM, Leal Filho W (2013) Sustainability science and education for sustainable development in universities: a way for transition. In: Sustainability assessment tools in higher education institutions: mapping trends and good practices around the world. Springer, Cham, pp 3–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02375-5_1
Edvardsson Björnberg K, Skogh I-B, Strömberg E (2015) Integrating social sustainability in engineering education at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Int J Sustain High Educ 16(5):639–649. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-01-2014-0010
Enarsson E, Pease B (2016) The gendered terrain of dissaster. Thinking about men and masculinities. In: Enarsson E, Pease B (eds) Men, masculinities and dissaster. Routledge/Taylor and Francis, London/New York, pp 3–20
Everett J (2008) Sustainability in higher education: implications for the disciplines. Theory Res Educ 6(2):237–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477878508091115
Falk E (2019) Utmaningen med utmaningsdriven utbildning. Högre Utbildning 9(1):38–47. https://doi.org/10.23865/hu.v9.1060
FHS (2016) Universitetskanslersämbetets tematiska utvärdering av hållbar utveckling – Självvärdering Försvarshögskolan (FHS Ö 498/2016). Försvarshögskolan, Stockholm
FHS (2020) Ett världsledande lärosäte inom försvar, krishantering & säkerhet, Vision & strategi för Försvarshögskolan 2020–2030 (DNR Ö 134/2020). Försvarshögskolans styrelse
Findler F, Schönherr N, Lozano R, Reider D, Martinuzzi A (2019) The impacts of higher education institutions on sustainable development. Int J Sustain High Educ 20(1):23–38. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-07-2017-0114
Finnveden G, Friman E, Mogren A, Palmer H, Sund P, Carstedt G, Svärd L (2020) Evaluation of integration of sustainable development in higher education in Sweden. Int J Sustain High Educ 21(4):685–698. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-09-2019-0287
Fleacă E, Fleacă B, Maiduc S (2018) Aligning strategy with sustainable development goals (SDGs): process scoping diagram for entrepreneurial higher education institutions (HEIs). Sustainability 10(4):1032. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041032
Forstorp P-A, Jers CO (2019) Ledare till Högre utbildning nr 1 2019. Högre Utbildning 9(1):112. https://doi.org/10.23865/hu.v9.2023
Försvarshögskolan (2020) Åter rekordmånga sökande till Officersprogrammet. Retrieved October 20, 2003, from https://www.fhs.se/arkiv/nyheter/2020-02-17-ater-rekordmanga-sokande-till-officersprogrammet.html
Government Offices of Sweden (2000) The Swedish Enviromental Code. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.government.se/49b73c/contentassets/be5e4d4ebdb4499f8d6365720ae68724/the-swedish-environmental-code-ds-200061
Greenberg M (2013) Toward critical sustainability studies. Boom J Calif 3(4):54–66. https://doi.org/10.1525/boom.2013.3.4.54
Isenmann R, Landwehr-Zloch S, Zinn S (2020) Morphological box for ESD – landmark for universities implementing education for sustainable development (ESD). Int J Manag Educ 18(1):100360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2019.100360
Leal Filho W, Shiel C, Paço A, Mifsud M, Ávila LV, Brandli LL, Caeiro S (2019) Sustainable development goals and sustainability teaching at universities: falling behind or getting ahead of the pack? J Clean Prod 232:285–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.309
Liwång H (2020) Safety management module to create social sustainability skills. Int J Sustain High Educ 21(4)
Lozano R, Merrill MY, Sammalisto K, Ceulemans K, Lozano FJ (2017) Connecting competences and pedagogical approaches for sustainable development in higher education: a literature review and framework proposal. Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9101889
Malmqvist J, Knutson Wedel M, Lundqvist U, Edström K, Rosén A, Fruergaard Astrup T, Kamp A (2019) Towards CDIO standards 3.0. The 15th international CDIO conference, Tuesday, June 25, 2019–09:00 to Thursday, June 27, 2019–17:00, Aarhus University (AU). Retrieved from http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-257865
Martin S, Jucker R (2005) Educating earth-literate leaders. In: Education for a sustainable future. International Association of Universities, Prague, pp 1–10
McKenzie S (2004) Social sustainability: towards some definitions. Magill, Australia. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/37435106/background__about_sustainability.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B filename%3dsocial_sustainability_towards_some_defin.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIATUSBJ6BAJIIB
Meadows D (1997) Places to intervene in a system. Whole Earth 91:78–84
Merritt E, Hale A, Archambault L (2019) Changes in pre-service teachers’ values, sense of agency, motivation and consumption practices: a case study of an education for sustainability course. Sustainability 11(1):155. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010155
Moore J (2005) Barriers and pathways to creating sustainability education programs: policy, rhetoric and reality. Environ Educ Res 11(5):537–555. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620500169692
Mulder KK, Ferrer-Balas D, Segalas-Coral J, Kordas O, Nikiforovich E, Pereverza K (2013) Being scared is not enough! Motivators for education for sustainable development. In: Sustainability assessment tools in higher education institutions: mapping trends and good practices around the world. Springer, Cham, pp 29–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02375-5_2
Peet D-J, Mulder KF, Bijma A (2004) Integrating SD into engineering courses at the Delft University of Technology. Int J Sustain High Educ 5(3):278–288. https://doi.org/10.1108/14676370410546420
Redclift M (2005) Sustainable development (1987–2005): an oxymoron comes of age. Sustain Dev 13(4):212–227. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.281
Robinson J (2004) Squaring the circle? Some thoughts on the idea of sustainable development. Ecol Econ 48(4):369–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2003.10.017
Rösch C (2017) Ethics of sustainability – an analytical approach. In: Hansson SO (ed) The ethics of technology: methods and approaches. Bowman & Littlefield, London, pp 17–34
Rose J, Cachelin A (2018) Critical sustainability: incorporating critical theories into contested sustainabilities. J Environ Stud Sci 8(4):518–525. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-018-0502-9
Sammalisto K, Lindhqvist T (2008) Integration of sustainability in higher education: a study with international perspectives. Innov High Educ 32(4):221–233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-007-9052-x
Sammalisto K, Sundström A, Holm T (2015) Implementation of sustainability in universities as perceived by faculty and staff – a model from a Swedish university. J Clean Prod 106:45–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.10.015
Savelyeva T (2012) Escaping the structural trap of sustainability in academia through global learning environments. In: Bartels K, Parker K (eds) Teaching sustainability. Routledge, pp 231–241
Seay SS (2015) Sustainability is applied ethics. J Leg Ethical Regul Issues 18(2):63–70. Retrieved from https://goldcoast.idm.oclc.org:9443/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/sustainability-is-applied-ethics/docview/1750972738/se-2?accountid=5603
SFS (2005) SFS 2005:1208 Lag om ändring i högskolelagen. Svensk författningssamling
Sterling S (2004) Higher education, sustainability, and the role of systematic learning. In: Cocoran P, Wals AEJ (eds) Higher education and the challenge of sustainability. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 49–70
Strengers Y, Maller C (2014) Social practices, intervention and sustainability: beyond behaviour change. Routledge, New York, pp 1–207. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315816494
Tellis WM (1997) Application of a case study methodology. Qual Rep 3(3):1–19. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol3/iss3/1/
THE (2020) THE impact rankings 2019. Retrieved from https://www.timeshighereducation.com/rankings/impact/2019/overall#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/undefined
UKÄ (2017) Universitets och högskolors arbete med att främja en hållbar utveckling En tematisk utvärdering, del 1. Univeritetskanslersämbetet, Stockholm
UN (2019) Sustainable development goals. United Nations, New York. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
UN (2020) Sustainable development goals. Sustainable development goals knowledge platform. United Nations. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
Wals AEJ (2010) Between knowing what is right and knowing that is it wrong to tell others what is right: on relativism, uncertainty and democracy in environmental and sustainability education. Environ Educ Res 16(1):143–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620903504099
Weber EP, Khademian AM (2010) Wicked problems, knowledge challenges, and collaborative capacity builders in network settings. IEEE Eng Manag Rev 38(3):57. https://doi.org/10.1109/emr.2010.5559144
Wolrath Söderberg M (2017) Kritisk självreflektion i komplexa frågor: Att hjälpa studenterna att ta makten över sitt tänkande. Högre Utbildning 7(2):77–90. https://doi.org/10.23865/hu.v7.1024
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Malmio, I., Liwång, H. (2022). Education for Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Doni, F., Salvia, A.L. (eds) Handbook of Sustainability Science in the Future. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68074-9_126-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68074-9_126-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-68074-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-68074-9
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences