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Sustainable Education for the Future: Digital Innovation and Collaborative Learning

A Special Issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050) belonging to the section "Sustainable Education and Approaches".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 956

Editor


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Guest Editor
NOVA School of Science and Technology, Center of Technology and Systems (UNINOVA-CTS) and Associated Lab of Intelligent Systems (LASI), NOVA University Lisbon, Campus de Caparica, 2829-516 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: sustainable education; digital innovation; collaborative learning; education for sustainable development; technology-enhanced learning; future-oriented education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the upcoming Special Issue of Sustainability on “Sustainable Education for the Future: Digital Innovation and Collaborative Learning.” This Special Issue is motivated by the urgent need to rethink and transform educational systems in response to rapid technological advancement, pressing global sustainability challenges, and continuously evolving workforce demands. Conventional models of education are increasingly inadequate in equipping learners with the critical skills, competencies, and mindsets required to thrive in a complex, interconnected, and digitally driven world. Consequently, there is a growing imperative to integrate sustainability principles with innovative, technology-enhanced pedagogical approaches. This Special Issue aims to explore how digital innovation and collaborative learning can work synergistically to foster more inclusive, resilient, and future-oriented education systems.

The primary focus of this Special Issue is to examine the intersection between digital technologies and collaborative pedagogies in advancing sustainable education. It seeks to provide a platform for researchers, educators, and practitioners to share empirical findings, theoretical insights, and practical experiences. In particular, the issue encourages contributions that investigate how emerging technologies—such as artificial intelligence, learning analytics, virtual and augmented reality, and online and blended learning platforms—can be meaningfully integrated with collaborative learning strategies. These integrations have the potential to enhance student engagement, promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and support the development of sustainability-oriented competencies.

The scope of this Special Issue is broad and interdisciplinary. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, technology-enhanced learning for sustainability; digital tools that facilitate collaborative and participatory learning environments; innovative curriculum and instructional design that integrates sustainability and digitalization; the evolving role of educators in digitally mediated collaborative settings; and policy frameworks that support sustainable digital transformation in education. Additionally, contributions addressing key challenges—such as the digital divide, data privacy and ethical considerations, accessibility, and inclusivity—are highly encouraged. Submissions may employ qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method approaches, as well as conceptual, theoretical, or systematic review methodologies.

By bringing together diverse perspectives from across disciplines and regions, this Special Issue aims to advance scholarly understanding and practical applications of sustainable education. Ultimately, it seeks to contribute to the development of education systems that are better equipped to prepare learners for the challenges and opportunities of the future while fostering innovation, collaboration, and long-term sustainability.

Dr. Majid Zamiri
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable education
  • digital innovation
  • collaborative learning
  • education for sustainable development
  • technology-enhanced learning
  • future-oriented education

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

23 pages, 965 KB  
Article
The Impact of Digital Literacy on College Students’ Sustainable Innovation Performance: A Dual-Path Mediation by Proactive Social Behavior and Critical Thinking Dispositions
by Lei Zhao, Haoran Lin, Fan Wang and Zehai Long
Sustainability 2026, 18(13), 6406; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18136406 - 23 Jun 2026
Viewed by 468
Abstract
Cultivating talent with digital literacy and the capacity for sustainable innovation performance is a critical mission of higher education. Merely enhancing digital skills does not necessarily lead to innovation, and the mechanisms underlying this transformation remain to be clarified. This study adopts human [...] Read more.
Cultivating talent with digital literacy and the capacity for sustainable innovation performance is a critical mission of higher education. Merely enhancing digital skills does not necessarily lead to innovation, and the mechanisms underlying this transformation remain to be clarified. This study adopts human capital theory as its analytical framework and constructs a parallel mediation model, focusing on the dual mediation pathways of proactive social behavior and critical thinking dispositions as “soft skill” mediators. Using a sample of 18,534 undergraduate students from Chinese research universities, the study employed a questionnaire survey and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling and the Bootstrap method to examine the relationship between digital literacy and sustainable innovation performance, as well as the roles of the two mediation pathways. The results indicate a significant positive correlation between Chinese university students’ digital literacy and their sustainable innovation performance. Proactive social behavior and critical thinking dispositions exhibit significant mediating effects between the two variables, forming a dual-path mechanism in which the direct path effect is stronger. The findings deepen our understanding of how digital literacy relates to sustainable innovation performance and provide a reference for higher education institutions in cultivating talent for sustainable innovation. Full article
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