Aiming Higher? Implications for Higher Education of Students’ Views on Education for Climate Justice
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Universities, Students and Climate Change
1.2. The Present Study
1.3. Study Contexts
2. Method
3. Results
3.1. Students’ Attitudes and Beliefs about Climate Change at Their Universities
3.2. Students’ Participation in Climate Change Activities at Their Universities
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions and Recommendations
- Enhance the quality of teaching and learning on climate change. Students place notable importance on the subject and consider universities to play a crucial role as trusted spaces and as potential centers of community activity in relation to climate change. At the same time, satisfaction with teaching and learning on climate change leaves room for improvement. Enhancing teaching and learning may require updating and developing curricula and pedagogies and in turn may depend on building capacity among academic staff in this area.
- Offer extracurricular activities and encourage participation by students in outreach activities. Students in some contexts showed high levels of participation in volunteering activities linked to climate change at their universities. Willingness to participate in climate action was found to be high even where actual participation was less so. Alternatives abound for such activities including student clubs, online platforms, community partnerships, workshops, guest lectures by experts and activists and collective action for environmental protection. Student participation can be encouraged in a variety of ways, for example, by providing students with opportunities for internships or fieldwork, by celebrating student contributions to climate change initiatives or by providing scholarships that reward outstanding student projects, research, or activism related to sustainability and climate change.
- Improve communication and transparency. Skepticism expressed by students regarding what universities are actually doing may in part be the result of limited communication and dialogue between university management, staff and students about climate change and the universities’ policies and action. Accordingly, improved communications, transparency and consultation may be required both to inform students and to improve responsiveness from students.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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University | Location, Context | Foundation | Public /Private | Students | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
University of the South Pacific * | (USPc) | Suva, capital of Fiji | 1948 | Public | 29,918 (2017) |
University of Fiji | (UoF) | Lautoka, Fiji | 2004 | Private | 2253 (2021) |
Fiji National University | (FNU) | Suva, capital of Fiji | 1885 | Public | 27,000 (2019) |
Kenyatta University | (KU) | Nairobi, capital of Kenya | 1965 College 1985 university | Public | 11,000+ (2016) |
Kisii University | (KSU) | Kisii County, agricultural high food insecurity | 1965 college 2013 university | Public | Over 10,000 |
Kenya Methodist University | (KeMU) | Meru (main campus), agricultural area | 1997 | Private | 7180 (2017) |
University of Passo Fundo | (UPF) | Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, South of Brazil | 1965 | Private | 12,000 (2023) |
University of São Paulo | (USP) | São Paulo, São Paulo, Southeast of Brazil | 1827 Law academy 1934 University | Public | 97,000 (2023) |
Federal University of Pará | (UFPA) | Belém, Para, Amazon Region, North Brazil | 1912 | Public | 58,478 (2013) |
University | USPc | UoF | FNU | KU | KMU | KSU | UFPA | UPF | USP | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sex * | Female N | 490 | 323 | 126 | 433 | 131 | 160 | 281 | 283 | 374 | 2601 |
Female % | 66 | 67 | 64 | 44 | 35 | 32 | 63 | 66 | 55 | 54 | |
Male N | 244 | 146 | 66 | 534 | 242 | 319 | 160 | 143 | 289 | 2143 | |
Male % | 33 | 30 | 34 | 54 | 65 | 63 | 36 | 33 | 42 | 45 | |
Discipline | Education | 100 | 13 | 51 | 343 | 120 | 336 | 148 | 13 | 8 | 1132 |
Humanities & Arts | 10 | 39 | 2 | 39 | 8 | 41 | 49 | 51 | 156 | 395 | |
Social Sciences, Business and Law | 350 | 109 | 36 | 272 | 15 | 49 | 68 | 103 | 145 | 1147 | |
Science | 175 | 43 | 20 | 39 | 47 | 20 | 98 | 105 | 238 | 785 | |
Engineering | 33 | 0 | 22 | 101 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 116 | 97 | 414 | |
Agriculture | 43 | 0 | 7 | 30 | 14 | 49 | 15 | 21 | 8 | 187 | |
Health & Welfare | 0 | 266 | 58 | 37 | 166 | 11 | 22 | 19 | 27 | 606 | |
Services | 30 | 0 | 0 | 85 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 124 | |
Total | 741 | 470 | 196 | 946 | 375 | 507 | 445 | 428 | 682 | 4790 |
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Rolleston, C.; Nyerere, J.; Brandli, L.; Lagi, R.; McCowan, T. Aiming Higher? Implications for Higher Education of Students’ Views on Education for Climate Justice. Sustainability 2023, 15, 14473. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914473
Rolleston C, Nyerere J, Brandli L, Lagi R, McCowan T. Aiming Higher? Implications for Higher Education of Students’ Views on Education for Climate Justice. Sustainability. 2023; 15(19):14473. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914473
Chicago/Turabian StyleRolleston, Caine, Jackline Nyerere, Luciana Brandli, Rosiana Lagi, and Tristan McCowan. 2023. "Aiming Higher? Implications for Higher Education of Students’ Views on Education for Climate Justice" Sustainability 15, no. 19: 14473. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914473