Abstract
In 1992 the governments of the world committed themselves to pursue sustainable development at the Rio Earth Summit and education was promoted as playing a key role. The commitment was reaffirmed at subsequent summits culminating with the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 which included a specific goal on education. This paper examines how strategic changes can integrate the idea of sustainability into a range of programs at universities. A specific case study is used based on a first year course in environmental sustainability that the author convenes for a large and diverse group of undergraduate students from across all areas of the university. It is argued that in their future professional life, graduates have the potential to be agents of change by helping to transform the state, the private sector, and the community. This analysis is undertaken using the theoretical framework of ecological modernisation that underpins the idea of sustainability, offers a strategic pathway to transform public-private-community interactions, and approaches sustainability as a design challenge. The somewhat ambitious goal is to synthesise the empirical evidence, the practical experience, and theoretical framework into a coherent whole.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2015). Australian and New Zealand standard classification of occupations. Canberra: ABS.
Berger, G., Flynn, A., Hines, F., & Johns, R. (2001) Ecological modernization as a basis for environmental policy: Current environmental discourse and policy and the implications on environmental supply chain management. Innovation, 14(1), 55–72.
Christoff, P. (1996). Ecological modernisation, ecological modernities. Environmental Politics, 5(3), 476–500.
Davis, G. (2006). The rising phoenix of competition: What future for Australia’s public universities? Griffith Review, 11, 15–31.
Dedekorkut-Howes, A., Mustelin, J., Howes, M., & Byrne, J. (2010). Tempering growth: Planning for the challenges of climate change and growth management in SEQ. Australian Planner, 47(3), 203–215.
Dryzek, J. (2005). The politics of the earth: Environmental discourses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dryzek, J., Downes, D., Hunold, C., Schlosberg, D., & Hernes, H.-K. (2003). Green states and social movements: Environmentalism in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Norway. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ecologically Sustainable Development Steering Committee. (1992). National strategy for ecologically sustainable development. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
Howes, M. (2000). A brief history of commonwealth sustainable development policy discourse. Policy, Organisation & Society, 19(1), 65–85.
Howes, M. (2003). The environmental academic. Spinifex, 24(4), 6–7. (Queensland Conservation Council, December).
Howes, M. (2005). Politics and the Environment: Risk and the role of government and industry. Sydney/Earthscan, London: Allen & Unwin.
Howes, M., McKenzie, M., Gleeson, B., Gray, R., Byrne, J., & Daniels, P. (2010). Adapting the idea of ecological modernisation to the Australian context. Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences, 7(1), 5–22.
Howes, M., Wortley, L., Potts, R., Dedekorkut-Howes, A., Serrao-Neumann, S., Davidson, J., et al. (2017). Environmental sustainability: A case of policy implementation failure? Sustainability, 9(2), 165. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9020165. On-line: http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/2/165/htm.
Howlett, C., Ferreira, J., & Blomfield, J. (2016). Teaching sustainable development in higher education: Building critical, reflective thinkers through an interdisciplinary approach. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 17(3), 305–321.
Huber, J. (2000). Towards industrial ecology: Sustainable development as a concept of ecological modernization. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 2, 269–285.
Huber, J. (2008). Pioneering countries and the global diffusion of environmental innovations: These from the viewpoint of ecological modernisation theory. Global Environmental Change, 18, 360–367.
Janicke, M. (2008). Ecological modernisation: New perspectives. Journal of Cleaner Production, 16, 557–565.
Janicke, M., & Jacob, K. (2004). Lead markets for environmental innovations: A new role for the Nation State. Global Environmental Politics, 4(1), 29–46.
Lyth, A., Nichols, S., & Tilbury, D. (2007). Shifting towards sustainability: Education for climate change in the built environment sector. Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES), Macquarie University, Sydney
Markwell, D. (2007). A large and liberal education: Higher education for the 21st century. North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing.
Metcalf, W. (2000). Evolution of environmental sciences: The first 25 years. Brisbane: Griffith University.
Mol, A., & Spaargaren, G. (2000). Ecological modernisation. Environmental Politics, 9(1), 17–49.
Palmer, J. (1998). Environmental education in the 21st century: Theory, practice, progress and promise. London: Routledge.
Quirke, N. (1996). Preparing for the future: A history of Griffith University. Brisbane: Boolarong Press.
United Nations (UN). (2015). Sustainable development goals. New York: United Nations. On-line: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/#prettyPhoto.
United Nations. (2013). Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI). UN Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.
United Nations. (1972). Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. New York: United Nations.
UNCED (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development). (1992). Agenda 21. New York: United Nations.
WCED (World Commission on Environment and Development). (1987). Our common future. Final report to the United Nations, New York.
Wilensky, M. (2007). Tertiary education for sustainability: Four Australian Universities’ commitment to sustainability. St. Louis: Washington University.
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
Howes, M. (2018). Developing Undergraduate Foundation Courses in Sustainability. In: Leal Filho, W., Rogers, J., Iyer-Raniga, U. (eds) Sustainable Development Research in the Asia-Pacific Region. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73293-0_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73293-0_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73292-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73293-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)