Abstract
Education for sustainable development (ESD) is defined as the knowledge and skills ‘needed to work and live in a way that safeguards environmental, social and economic wellbeing, both in the present and for future generations’. Skills for sustainable development include critical thinking, creative thinking, systems thinking and leadership. Over the last decades, there has been efforts across the world to embed ESD into the curriculum. In European Union (EU) countries, some higher education have made efforts to align education strategies with international and national ESD frameworks. A cursory review of the literature seems to indicate that dissemination and implementation of the international ESD frameworks in Latin America has been slow and sporadic. Although there are some signs to implement ESD into curricula of countries such as Brazil and Colombia, these practices have not been substantial or have not permeated higher education sustainable development strategies. This paper aims to explore the developments of ESD in Latin America. As a first step to explore these developments, it intends to survey and map the current ESD processes in eight higher education institutions of four Latin American Countries: Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The paper also aims to compare ESD developments with some leading EU higher education institutions in ESD with the view to develop a dialogue between the two regions. These will lead to strategies in which ESD processes can be adopted/adapted with benefits in both directions; it will also create, foster and develop mechanisms that will ensure a sustainable culture of ESD in higher education in both regions. Results of the exploratory survey of a sample of higher education institutions in Latin America are reported.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Notes
- 1.
The concept of education for sustainable development has several meanings and interpretations. UNESCO defines its pillars, but the authors found the concept of QAA clearer for the purposes of this paper.
References
Alonso MB (2010) Historia de la Educación Ambiental. La educacion ambiental en Siglo XX. Asociación Española de Educación Ambiental, España
Barber NA, Wilson F, Venkatachalam V (2014) Integrating sustainability into business curricula: University of New Hampshire case study. Int J Sustain High Educ 15(4):473–493
Bekessy SA, Samson K, Clarkson RE (2007) The failure of non-binding declarations to achieve university sustainability: a need for accountability. Int J Sustain High Educ 8(3):301–316
Ceulemans K, Molderez I, Van Liedekerke L (2015) Sustainability reporting in higher education: a comprehensive review of the recent literature and paths for further research. Journal of Cleaner Production Bridges for a more sustainable future: Joining Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU) and the European Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production (ERSCP) conferences, vol 106, pp 127–143. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.09.052
Disterheft A, Caeiro SS, Ramos MR, Azeiteiro U (2012) Environmental Management Systems (EMS) implementation processes and practices in European higher education institutions—top-down versus participatory approaches. J Cleaner Prod 31:80–90. doi:ezproxy.eafit.edu.co:2079/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.02.034
Gale F, Davison A, Wood G, Williams S, Towle N (2015) Four impediments to embedding education for sustainability in higher education. Aust J Environ Educ 31(2):248–263. doi:10.1017/aee.2015.36
Geli de Ciurana AM, Leal Filho W (2006) Education for sustainability in university studies: experiences from a project involving European and Latin American universities. Int J Sustain High Educ 7(1):81–89. doi:10.1108/14676370610639263
HEA (2015) Education for sustainable development. Retrieved 23 Mar 2015, from The Higher Education Academy: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/workstreams-research/themes/education-sustainable-development
Lauder A, Sari RF, Suwartha N, Tjahjono G (2015) Critical review of a global campus sustainability ranking: GreenMetric. J Cleaner Prod 108:852–863. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.080
Leal Filho W, Manolas E, Pace P (2009) Education for sustainable development: current discourses and practices and their relevance to technology education. Int J Technol Des Educ 19(2):149–165
Leal Filo W (2015) Campus greening: why it is worth it. In Leal Filo W, Golda E, Sima M (eds) Implementing campus greening initiatives. Springer, Berlin, pp 359–362
Lozano R (2006) Incorporation and institutionalization of SD into universities: breaking through barriers to change. J Cleaner Prod 14(9–11):787–796
Lozano R, Lukman R, Lozano F, Huisingh D, Lambrechts W (2013) Declarations for sustainability in higher education: becoming better leaders, through addressing the university system. J Cleaner Prod 48:10–19. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.10.006
Lozano R, Ceulemans K, Alonso-Almeida M, Huisingh D, Lozano F, Waas T, Hugé J (2015) A review of commitment and implementation of sustainable development in higher education: results from a worldwide survey. J Cleaner Prod 108:1–18. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.09.048
Matten D, Moon JJ (2004) Bus Ethics 54:323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-004-1822-0
Mora PW (2012) Ambientalización curricular en la educación superior: un estudio cualitativo de las ideas del profesorado. Profesorado. Revista de Curriculum y Formación del Profesorado, 16(2), 77–103. Retrieved: 25 Feb 2017, de https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280083228_ambientalizacion_curricular_en_la_educacion_superior_un_estudio_cualitativo_de_las_ideas_del_profesorado
QAA (2014) Education for sustainable development. In Academy TH (ed). Retrieved 20 Feb 2017, from Guidance for UK higher education providers: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Education-sustainable-development-Guidance-June-14.pdf
QS (2016) QS Top Universities. (QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited 1994–2016). Retrieved 25 Dec 2016, from QS World University Ranking: http://www.topuniversities.com/qs-world-university-rankings/methodology
Ryan A, Tilbury D (2016) Learning for sustainable futures: ESD professional development at University of Gloucestershire. Retrieved from University of Gloucestershire: http://www.ue4sd.eu/images/2015/UE4SD-Leading-Practice-PublicationBG.pdf
Sáenz O (2014) Panorama de la Sustentabilidad en las Universidades de America Latina y el Caribe. In Ruscheinsky A, Guerra A, Figueiredo M, Silva Leme P, Lima Ranieri V, Carvalho Delitti W (eds) Ambientalização nas instituições de educação superior no Brasil: caminhos trilhados, desafios e possibilidades. EESC/USP, São Carlos, pp 23–38
Sáenz O (2015) Diagnosticos nacionales sobre la inclusión de consideraciones ambientales en las universidades de America Latina y el Caribe. AMBIENS. Revista Iberoamericana Universitaria en Ambiente, Sociedad y Sustentabilidad, vol 1, issue no. 1
Sáenz O, Benayas J (2015) Global University Network for Innovation. Retrieved 25 Feb 2017, from Higher Education, Environment and Sustainability in Latin America and The Caribbean. http://www.guninetwork.org/articles/higher-education-environment-and-sustainability-latin-america-and-caribbean
Soto ADE (2004) La reforma del Plan de Estudios del fiscal Moreno y Escandón. 1774–1779. Centro Editorial Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá
Soto ADE, Forero RA (2016) La Universidad Latinoamericana y del Caribe en los desafíos del Siglo XXI. Rev Hist Edu Latinoam 18(26):279–309. http://dx.doi.org/10.19053/01227238.4375
Tilbury D (2011) Higher education for sustainability: a global overview of commitment and progress. High Educ World 4:18–28
Tünnermann C (2003) La Universidad Latinoamericana ante los retos del siglo XXI. México D.F, Coleccion UDUAL
UI GreenMetric (2017) UI GreenMetric. Retrivied 26 Feb 2017, de Paticipants 2016: http://greenmetric.ui.ac.id/participant-2016/
UN (1987) Report of the world commission on environment and development: our common future. Retrieved 24 Feb 2017. http://www.un-documents.net/our-common-future.pdf
UN (1992) Agenda 21-Chapter 36. Promoting education, public awareness and training. United Nations Conference on Environment & Development (pp 320–328). Rio de Janerio, Brazil, 3 to 14 June 1992: United Nations. Retrieved 15 May 2016. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf
UN (1997) United nations educational, scientific and cultural organization educating for a sustainable future. Retrieved 25 Feb 2017, from a transdisciplinary vision for concerted action: http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_a/popups/mod01t05s01.html
UNAM (2016) Ecopuma Universidad Sustentable. Retrieved 12 Dec 2016; Universidad NAcional Autóma de México: http://ecopuma.unam.mx/
UNESCO (2012) Exploring Sustainable development: a multiple-perspective approach. Education for Sustainable Development Section (ED/PSD/ESD), Paris
UNESCO (2016a) Educación. Retrieved 24 Apr 2016, from Educación para el Desarrollo Sostenible: http://www.unesco.org/new/es/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-sustainable-development/education-for-sustainable-develo
UNESCO (2016b) Education. Retrieved 2 Apr 2016, from Education for Sustainable Development: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-sustainable-development/
UNESCO (s.f.) Education for sustainable development. Retrived 20 Feb 2017. http://en.unesco.org/themes/education-sustainable-development
UNESCO-IESLAC (2008) Conferencia Regional de la Educación Superior en América Latina y el Caribe (CRES). Declaraciones y plan de acción. Retrieved 25 Feb 2017, from www.unesco.org.ve/documents/DeclaracionCartagenaCres.pdf
UNIANDES (2016) Sostenibilidad. Retrieved 3 Jan 2017, de Universidad de Los Andes: https://campusinfo.uniandes.edu.co/es/sostenibilidad
UNMSM (2016) Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Retrieved 27 Dec 2016, de Mision: http://www.unmsm.edu.pe/home/inicio/mision
Wals A (2014) Sustainability in higher education in the context of the UN DESD: a review of learning and institutionalization processes. J Cleaner Prod 62(1):8–15. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.06.007
Wood BE, Wood BE, Cornforth S, Cornforth S, Beals F, Beals F, Tallon R (2016) Sustainability champions? Academic identities and sustainability curricula in higher education. Int J Sustain High Educ 17(3):342–360
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hernandez, P.M., Vargas, V., Paucar-Cáceres, A. (2018). Education for Sustainable Development: An Exploratory Survey of a Sample of Latin American Higher Education Institutions. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Implementing Sustainability in the Curriculum of Universities. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70281-0_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70281-0_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-70280-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-70281-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)