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► Journal BrowserSpecial Issue "Sustainable Development Goals in Tertiary Education for Sustainability"
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2021.
Special Issue Editor
Interests: education for sustainable development; environmental education; higher education for sustainable development; partnership for the SDGs; science education; student active learning methods
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Since Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were agreed to by the UN General Assembly in 2015, capacity-building has been recognized as one of the means of implementation for the achievement of global sustainability. Tertiary education is certainly important in this context. Higher education institutions across all subject areas are engaged, through education, research, and regional and international partnerships. Educators and researchers have taken innovative steps towards improving education regarding sustainability challenges by implementing ambitious transitions in higher education, developing pedagogical skills and experience, and gained in-depth knowledge and expertise. However, there is a need for increased knowledge sharing, exchange, and reflection.
With this Special Issue, Sustainable Development Goals in Tertiary Education for Sustainability, we aim to promote the exchange of research on education experience and insights in this important field of knowledge on a global scale. We invite theoretical and research-based contributions, case studies, and critical views on the practice competence-building in higher education regarding Agenda 2030, on a local, regional, or global scale.
This Issue, with a selection of papers focusing on Sustainable Development Goals in Tertiary Education for Sustainability, will strongly contribute to existing experience and knowledge. Therefore, I encourage you to submit articles and contribute to this Special Issue of Sustainability.
References:
Albareda-Tiana, S.; Vidal-Raméntol, S.; Mónica Fernández-Morilla, M. Implementing the sustainable development goals at University level International. Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 2018, 19(3), 473–497, doi:10.1108/IJSHE-05-2017-0069
Chaleta, E.; Saraiva, M.; Leal, F.; Fialho, I.; Borralho, A. Higher Education and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)—Potential Contribution of the Undergraduate Courses of the School of Social Sciences of the University of Évora. Sustainability 2021, 13, 1828, doi:10.3390/su13041828
Heleta, S.; Bagus, T. Sustainable development goals and higher education: leaving many behind. Higher Education 2021, 81, 163–177, doi:10.1007/s10734-020-00573-8.
Perales Franco, C.; McCowan, T. Rewiring higher education for the Sustainable Development Goals: the case of the Intercultural University of Veracruz, Mexico. Higher Education 2021, 81, 69–88, doi:10.1007/s10734-020-00525-2.
Purcell, W. M.; Henriksen, H.; Spengler, J. D. Universities as the engine of transformational sustainability toward delivering the sustainable development goals: “Living labs” for sustainability. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 2019, 20(8), 1343–1357, doi:10.1108/IJSHE-02-2019-0103.
Purushothaman, P. P.; Abhilash, C. From piecemeal to holistic: Introducing sustainability science in Indian Universities to attain UN-Sustainable Development Goals. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 247, doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119133.
Rebelatto, B. G.; Salvia, A. L.; Reginatto, G.; Daneli, R. C.; Brandli, L. L. Energy efficiency actions at a Brazilian university and their contribution to sustainable development Goal 7. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 2019, 20(5), 842-855, doi:10.1108/IJSHE-01-2019-0023.
Sáez de Cámara, E.; Fernández, I.; Castillo-Eguskitza, N. A Holistic Approach to Integrate and Evaluate Sustainable Development in Higher Education. The Case Study of the University of the Basque Country. Sustainability 2021, 13, 392, doi:10.3390/su13010392.
Dr. Kerstin Sonesson
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 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
- competencies for sustainable development
- education for sustainable development
- higher education
- sustainability
- sustainable development goals
- tertiary education
- 21st century skills
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Learning together on global sustainability challenges and the SDGs – reflections by international teacher students in the course Teaching for sustainability
Authors: Kerstin Sonesson
Affiliation: University of South-Eastern Norway
Abstract: About twenty students are participating in the interdisciplinary course Teaching for sustainability (15 credits) with focus on Education for Sustainable Development, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals at Malmø university, Sweden, every year since 2015. The course literature and learning activities are aiming for developing students’ ability to learn and teach for sustainability. A main idea is to consider local and global challenges for sustainable development, with examples from Sweden, the students’ home countries and elsewhere. The course structure is briefly described in the paper.
However, the variation on previous knowledge about sustainability issues and experience of student active learning methods among participants is wide and challenging. In order to develop a common platform of knowledge, all students taking the course in 2018 and 2019 read; The world we’ll leave behind. Grasping the sustainability challenge, by Scott & Vare (2018). Students also prepared three questions on issues they would like to discuss in a group of 4-6 students at an examining literature seminar with learning outcome: describe what effect humans have upon their environment, actively discuss the scope of environmental problems and challenges in sustainable development in the participants´ respective home countries and worldwide.
This study investigates how groups of Swedish and exchange students reflect and describe their learning on global sustainability challenging and the SDGs by reading the book and discussing selected issues at the seminar.
Focus group interviews with each seminar group were conducted directly after respectively literature seminar. Transcripts were analysed using a phenomenographic approach and contextual analysis. (The analyse is still going on).