Skip to main content

Active Learning to Foster Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability Awareness

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Educating the Sustainability Leaders of the Future

Part of the book series: World Sustainability Series ((WSUSE))

  • 438 Accesses

Abstract

There is a widely recognized need to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and higher education institutions must play a leading role to accomplish this objective. In this context, the leaders of the future must develop a set of sustainability-oriented capabilities and leadership skills in order to contribute to society’s transition toward economic, social, and environmental sustainability. The educational strategy presented in this article is based on the combination of two simulations and three serious games used to recreate three different spheres of economic, social, and environmental sustainability. These activities were applied in two different settings to represent three levels of analysis and management concerning sustainability-related issues: local, national, and international. The frameworks addressed sustainability from two perspectives based on two different approaches to the issue of distance: political and geographical. Content analysis was implemented to analyze the effect of active learning to raise awareness among undergraduate Business Management majors and help them understand the potential of this methodology to develop leadership skills. 203 students participated in the activities, and the results suggest that this innovative active learning strategy contributed to fostering key cognitive, skill-based, and affective learning outcomes related to sustainability.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.riograndegames.com/Game/5-Power-Grid.

  2. 2.

    https://educationaltoolsportal.eu/en/tools/ethica-ethical-finance-game.

References

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the alumni who shared their time and responses with us in the essays.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Javier Sierra .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Sierra, J., Suárez-Collado, Á. (2023). Active Learning to Foster Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability Awareness. In: Leal Filho, W., Lange Salvia, A., Pallant, E., Choate, B., Pearce, K. (eds) Educating the Sustainability Leaders of the Future. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22856-8_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics