Special Issue "Creating Sustainable Futures: New Challenges for Higher and Adult Education"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Chrysanthi Charatsari
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Economics, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GreeceSchool of Humanities, Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece
Interests: agricultural extension and education; adult education; sustainable development; agricultural innovation; gender studies; alternative food networks; smart farming
Dr. Evagelos D. Lioutas
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Supply Chain Management, International Hellenic University, Katerini, Greece
2. School of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece
Interests: agricultural innovation; smart farming; sustainable development; community marketing; value co-creation; agricultural extension; service ecosystems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Today there is consensus among researchers and policy-makers that education has a central role in facilitating the transition to a sustainable future. Several higher education institutes have already begun to adapt their curricula in the quest for sustainable development (Venkataraman, 2009). Notably, the role of these institutes is not only to “teach” sustainability. Universities represent organizations that shape new sustainability-related values (Godemann et al., 2014). However, institutes offering higher education adopt varying views of sustainability and prioritize different aspects of sustainable development. In parallel, the teaching philosophies and techniques used have broad impacts on the ways that future professionals understand sustainable development and their roles in it.

On the other hand, adult education can facilitate the pursuit of sustainable development goals (Lovren and Popović, 2018). By bridging science and society, adult education helps individuals and social groups to understand and embrace sustainability and apply sustainability-related knowledge in real-life settings. Arguably, having the potential to promote critical reflection that transforms problematic frames of reference (Mezirow, 2003), adult education not only refers to different professional groups (e.g., farmers, engineers, teachers, social scientists) but also to parents, volunteers, citizens’ organizations, geographical or interest-based communities, and any member of the society.

This Special Issue aims to provide a space for discussing practices, presenting case studies, and developing theoretical frameworks outlining the following:

  • the roles that higher and adult education have to play in the transition to a sustainable future;
  • the factors that enhance students’ and adult learners’ sustainability-related learning outcomes;
  • the actual and potential contribution of innovative educational approaches and/or techniques (e.g., creation of hybrid learning environments, living labs, gamification) to the achievement of the desired learning outcomes;
  • the ways that the four pillars of sustainability (environmental, economic, social, cultural) are—or should be—integrated into the curricula of higher education institutes and adult education programs;
  • the extent to which higher education and adult education for sustainable development have the potential to transform learners by changing their values, attitudes, and behaviors;
  • the ways that seminal learning theories such as experiential learning theory (Kolb et al., 2001), social learning theory (Bandura, 1977), andragogy (Knowles, 1978), transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 2003), and expansive learning theory (Engeström, 2001) can inform the practice of higher and adult education for sustainable development;
  • the extent to which current adult education programs and higher education curricula address issues related to cultural and social sustainability (such as cultural capital, heritage, social justice, citizenship, and democracy).

We encourage interdisciplinary empirical and conceptual contributions that open up new lines of inquiry in the field. We also warmly welcome papers from early career researchers that discuss fresh ideas and perspectives.

Dr. Chrysanthi Charatsari
Dr. Evagelos D. Lioutas
Guest Editors

References

  1. Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
  2. Engeström, Y. (2001). Expansive learning at work: Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work,14(1), 133–156.
  3. Godemann, J., Bebbington, J., Herzig, C., and Moon, J. (2014). Higher education and sustainable development.Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 27(2), 218–233.
  4. Knowles, M. S. (1978). Andragogy: Adult learning theory in perspective.Community College Review, 5(3), 9–20.
  5. Kolb, D. A., Boyatzis, R. E., and Mainemelis, C. (2001). Experiential learning theory: Previous research and new directions. In SternbergR. J., and Zhang L. (eds.): Perspectives on Thinking, Learning, and Cognitive Styles. The Educational Psychology Series (pp. 227–247). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  6. Lovren, V. O., and Popović, K. (2018). Lifelong learning for sustainable development—Is adult education left behind? In Leal Filho W., Mifsud M., and Pace P. (eds): Handbook of Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development:World Sustainability Series (pp. 1–17). Cham: Springer.
  7. Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse.Journal of Transformative Education, 1(1), 58–63.
  8. Venkataraman, B. (2009). Education for sustainable development. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 51(2), 8–10.

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 papers will be 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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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-blind 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 1900 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

  • adult education
  • higher education
  • sustainability
  • sustainable development goals
  • education for sustainable development
  • learning
  • sustainable futures
  • learning outcomes
  • knowledge
  • skills
  • competencies
  • learning theories

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
The Role of Education in the Transition towards Sustainable Agriculture: A Family Farm Learning Perspective
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 8099; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13148099 - 20 Jul 2021
Viewed by 386
Abstract
This paper deals with the analysis of decision-making processes at the family-farm level with reference to the transition towards sustainable agriculture. Despite literature that has underlined the relevance of education in strategic decision making, less attention has been devoted to the (family) collective [...] Read more.
This paper deals with the analysis of decision-making processes at the family-farm level with reference to the transition towards sustainable agriculture. Despite literature that has underlined the relevance of education in strategic decision making, less attention has been devoted to the (family) collective decision-making process by taking into account the maximum level of education of the family members regardless of the position and whether they are the manager of the family farm or not. Therefore, this paper tries to fill a gap in literature by emphasizing the family farm’s collective decision-making process. In order to empirically measure this relevance, an econometric model was carried out that allowed us to evidence clear differences in the transition paths among various typologies of family farms on the basis of the level of education. Our results confirm the impact of education at the collective family level on transition towards more sustainable agricultural practices. This is particularly true in remote rural areas, where the transition is realized with higher intensity with respect to other territorial contexts. This brings about policy implications on enskilling farmers and upgrading their level of human capital. Full article
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