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Universities can play a key role in contributing to a sustainable future for our planet and its inhabitants. In times of constant changes, there is a growing urgency to reflect on the vision of universities as well as their respective practices and projects that can promote the creation of sustainable societies. As is evident in scholarly literature, there is a need to empower universities and enhance their ability to prepare individuals who can confront global sustainability challenges and pursue sustainable development. The United Nations' adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015 recognised that societal problems were territorially blind, meaning that no country has sufficient knowledge or research capacity to solve all challenges on its own. To that end, this qualitative, comparative research study represents the unified effort of two very different countries to explore the topic of education for sustainable development (SD) at universities. The study employed a document analysis of selected publicly funded universities in Canada and South Africa. Gathered documents are from the past seven years and include the universities' mission and vision statements, annual reports, and strategic plans. The three main questions addressed in this work are: (a) What is the status and role of higher education for SD in Canada and South Africa? (b) What areas of SD are on the agenda of universities under investigation in Canada and South Africa? (c) What are the main similarities and differences between the two contexts under investigation? Findings indicate that universities focus on several aspects of SD, namely sustainable education, sustainable relationships, and sustainable initiatives. The paper discusses these areas for each country in connection to their contextual setting. Although the study's findings cannot be generalised, they can be informative for other universities and contexts and thus contribute to the body of knowledge about education for SD in higher education.

This research article discusses the theme of the infusion of sustainability in school economics. It stems from the researcher's study that explores teaching and learning in secondary school economics in Malta. The underlying conceptual framework for this study is critical realism, which offers an understanding of the world that is real, but which may be differently experienced and interpreted by different observers (Alderson, 2021; Bhaskar, 1979; Fletcher, 2017). This paper draws upon observation sessions and interviews with fourteen economics teachers. The researcher used thematic analysis to analyze data (Braun & Clarke, 2006) with the help of Nvivo software. The participants regarded education for sustainable development as a prominent theme. Furthermore, they educated their students to reflect on how their choices affected not only themselves but also others and cultivated an awareness of social justice in them. The considerations raised by this paper can assist teachers, teacher educators, and researchers in their reflections and efforts relating to enhancing the sustainability dimension in school economics education and other subjects.

English education in Japan has traditionally focused on grammar over communication, and the country has struggled to compete internationally in terms of English proficiency scores. As the country works toward the internationalization of higher education, improving English education is an important issue. One potential solution is the use of topics that elicit students' interest and make them feel like part of the international community. This paper explored the use of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a topic due to their global importance and position, along with English, as a key to furthering the global citizenship of Japan's youth. Because of the substantial number of SDGs, not all goals can be realistically addressed in a single course. Therefore, to find topics tailored to students' interests in sustainability, this study examined the relationship between student interest in sustainability, International Posture (IP), and personal connection to SDGs. A survey was given to 266 first-year university students in general education English classes. A separate multiple regression analysis was conducted for the target variable, "Topic Interest" within English class for each goal, to determine how the effects and significance of variables differed for each SDG. Results showed that the IP subscale, "Intergroup Approach Tendency," was significant for 14 and "Personal Value" was significant for 16 of the goals. For internationally minded students engaged in the study of English as a foreign language, the SDGs could be a useful motivational tool.

Embedding sustainability into pedagogical approaches is a key priority in higher education. Equipping students with knowledge, understanding, and skills, and developing the next generation of innovators and leaders, can potentially provide the change needed and create a real impact in the journey to a sustainable future. Advancement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and corresponding industries can be seen as vital for the success of meeting a majority of the sustainable development goals, and hence the approaches taken to embed sustainability in learning and teaching in STEM higher education programmes can be considered significant in many ways. This paper is based on published literature over the last two decades and a semi-structured interview with 12 university academics from a developing country. Hence, the paper reviews approaches taken to embed sustainability in learning, teaching and assessments in STEM programmes. It also aims to investigate the actions taken by universities to integrate sustainability in STEM education and the remedies taken to minimise the impact of the pandemic on the effectiveness of the learning pedagogies used to integrate sustainability concepts.

Climate change as a matter had little attention of public debate, especially in developing countries, until the recent floods caused by the dragon storms in the Middle East and the forest fires in the Mediterranean. Egypt, being strategically crucial in Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Arab world, with strong connections to other countries, aimed to go from promises to action and to discover real answers to climate change by building on past COPs. The administration assumed a more prominent role by coordinating the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27). People started to realize that this is not something only happening elsewhere in the world. Egypt took the initiative; Challenges have been assessed to reach suitable mitigation approaches, and Egypt's first NDC has been issued to meet the global agenda. Egypt's vision was to accelerate global climate action at the UNFCCC 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27) through emissions reduction, advanced adaptation, and enhanced flow of appropriate finance, prioritizing developing countries worldwide.

Sustainable leadership is a necessity to achieve the goals of sustainable development, such as addressing complex global issues, preserving environmental and social balance, ensuring the well-being of future generations, and promoting innovation. Sustainable leadership in education is important to contribute to sustainable development goals by equipping future generations with environmental, social, and economic responsibilities and integrating sustainability principles into the education system. This study aims to determine the current state of research containing the term "sustainable leadership" by conducting a bibliometric analysis using the Web of Science (WoS) database. The VOSviewer software is employed to visually represent the data obtained from the WoS database. According to the comprehensive bibliometric analysis results, research related to the theme of "sustainable leadership" began to emerge in 2002, with a total of 390 publications identified in the period from 2002 to 2023. The majority of these publications are in the form of articles, reflecting the interest and curiosity within academic circles in this field. However, considering the lower presence of other document types such as conference papers, book chapters, and review articles, there appears to be a growing need for these types of sources. The bibliometric analysis reveals that research on sustainable leadership is predominantly published in the form of articles, with a significant increase observed, particularly in publications from 2019. The VOSviewer analysis of the "sustainable leadership" field categorizes the most commonly used terms into three clusters: "sustainability", "sustainable leadership", and "leadership". In terms of the distribution of articles in the field of sustainable leadership by citing countries, the countries with the highest number of citations are Thailand, South Africa, the United States, and China, respectively. The findings of the analysis are believed to contribute as a resource for future research and benefit researchers in exploring potential topics related to the theme of sustainable leadership in the near future. Additionally, it is noted that there is limited research on sustainable leadership in Turkey, and recommendations are provided for its further development.

In the era of digital transformation, the intersection of adult learning, digital competence, global progress, and sustainable development emerges as a pivotal focus. This article dives into the complex interaction of these factors centering on the pivotal role of digital competence in advancing sustainable development goals through adult education. By exploring the dynamic landscape of technology and education, the paper investigates how enhancing digital competence among adult learners facilitates global understanding and fosters sustainable behaviors. The accessibility afforded by digital education empowers individuals at any life stage or circumstance to actively participate in lifelong learning, upskilling, and reskilling. The research systematically examines literature to capture the essence of the study, emphasizing the vital importance of digital competency for global understanding and sustainable development. It elucidates key concepts, unraveling the intricate relationship between digital transition, adult education, and the overarching pursuit of sustainability. This study posits hypotheses that underscore the critical role of digital competence in sparking global knowledge and catalyzing sustainable development within the dynamic realm of digital change. It contends that digital technologies, through personalized education, contribute significantly to the achievement of global sustainability goals. The findings accentuate how the digital revolution in adult education transcends conventional boundaries, leveraging technology to democratize knowledge and foster global collaboration. Empowered as change agents, learners equipped with both global awareness and sustainable skills have the potential to propel society towards a more interconnected and sustainable future. The study concludes with insights underscoring the profound link between digital competency, global awareness, adult education, and sustainable development, offering valuable guidance for educators, policymakers, and academics.

The focus on early childhood education for sustainability within children's literature is part of a mindful shift towards a more critical praxis with young children, families, communities and students in higher education. This paper reports on qualitative pedagogic research undertaken as part of a first-year module in an undergraduate Early Childhood Studies degree programme at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), United Kingdom (UK). The research involved the creation of children's literature (e-books) by students using "Book Creator," focussed on one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The overarching aim of the project was to explore how the process of creating children's literature to facilitate early childhood education for sustainability supports students to engage in cultural production. In this paper, we present an analysis of the students' e-books and supporting rationales for their storybook creation. The study findings were that student-authors demonstrated different constructions of children, cognisance of the pedagogical purpose and different ways of knowing through the storybook creation. These findings contribute to existing debates concerned with early childhood literature and sustainability, and students as authors.

Qualitative education is one of the key contributors in achieving the goal of sustainability. Several studies mention that the sustainability curriculum and educators can play an immense role in developing awareness in practicing the concept of sustainability. Relatively there is no comprehensive study to typify the recent contributions of teacher education for sustainability. In this light, the aim of the study is to understand the progress of the research on teacher education for sustainability (TES) in terms of growth, evolution, influence and significant research themes. To achieve the aim of the study, 1782 documents indexed in the Scopus database over three decades starting from 1991 to 2020 were analyzed by using bibliometric analysis. The data are visualized in the paper by using VOSviewer and Tableau. Results show that there has been a significant increase in yearly publications and citations over the years, trending research papers, productive authors, institutions and countries and thematic areas of research. Most frequently published journal has a considerable cite score and quartile. Universities from Australia published the most. The most commonly published themes are education for sustainability, Agenda 21, sustainable development education, environmental education, and later the focus is shifted to teacher training, teachers, education, values, teaching and education policy, sustainability competencies. Future research should focus on blended learning, digital learning, other modern tools and techniques to achieve the goal of sustainable development as well as to address the issue of teaching sustainability during uncertainty conditions.

This paper explores Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) knowledge and behavioural differences of university students in the United Kingdom and Malaysia. The researchers also explore gender as an indicator of students' SDG awareness and behaviours as few studies to date have explored this area. This study employed a sustainability consciousness questionnaire (SCQ) that was developed to measure SDG knowledge based on the UNESCO framework for sustainability behaviour. Questionnaires were distributed to 156 university students in the UK and Malaysia. Malaysian university students reported higher scores for understanding SDG content and scope and the specific SDGs of their country compared to British students, although British students have been receiving formal education on SDGs. University students in the UK were also unable to transform their SDG knowledge into sustainability behaviours, although they had a certain level of understanding of the topic covered by the SDGs. Malaysian university students exhibited a closer relationship between SDG knowledge and sustainable behaviours given the sufficient institutional and policy support and customised university programs. SDG knowledge and sustainability behaviours were the same for male and female students in both countries. In conclusion, integrating SDG knowledge into university education will inevitably lead students to work towards SDG goals in the future. This can be achieved with proper planning of the university curriculum and the enforcement of educational policies.

In recent years we have seen increasing youth activism on climate and other sustainability issues. This paper presents a theoretical framework for further research on young sustainability activists as public educators. The point of departure is taken in Latour's argumentation concerning the need to create new attachments to the Earth. In line with this, we highlight the importance of aesthetics and experiences conceived as integrated sense-perceptional, emotional and intellectual faculties. The second part of the paper moves into social movement theory, to explore what role the Youth for Sustainability movement may have in creating new attachments to the Earth. Drawing on Melucci, emphasis is put on the movement's collective identity making. Furthermore, following Rancière, the ability to interrupt the distribution of the senses is stressed. Examples of youth activism for sustainability are presented and interpreted, which points to the potential of children and young people to act successfully. The last part of the paper moves into pedagogical theories to explore how this kind of youth activism fostering new attachments to the Earth can be conceived as public pedagogy. We thereby refer to Biesta's distinction between pedagogy for the public, pedagogy of the public and pedagogy for publicness.

Universities are undertaking transformation projects that align their work with the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper describes how Ocean I3, an educational innovation project that aims to reduce plastic in the sea, has made an impact on its community over its three editions (2018/19 to 2020/21). Methodologically, it has been approached by the people who make up the technical team and academic coordination as an exploratory study using discrete, non-reactive techniques, mainly from the public domain (websites, blogs, press releases, etc.), and instruments, such as field notes and work material to manage, organize, and train within the project. The analytical procedure has represented a dynamic and systematic process of categorisation. The results highlight the repercussion of the project in terms of capstone projects, master's thesis, coursework, etc., produced by the students involved; association with employability; collaborative work from the teaching teams; monitoring experience for research purposes, and social dissemination of the project. It concludes by suggesting lines for Ocean I3 to work on in the future to make its footprint sustainable in institutions over time.

Professional development for sustainability in early childhood care and education (ECCE) has been perceived by experts as education that supports the workforce to acquire the right skills, attitudes, and knowledge that resonate through their practices to the benefit of the sector. Professional development for sustainability is aimed at providing quality and continuing development to the ECCE workforce to equip them with the relevant skills to perform their duties for the benefit of the children and society. This paper discusses practitioners' (n=211) professional development needs from a sustainability perspective and the impacts of some demographic features. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and questionnaire. The study found that practitioners' professional development was germane to the sustainability of the ECCE sector. The study further found that practitioners' perceptions of their professional development needs were independent of their marital status and age. Practitioners suggested that the transformation of communities depended on the sustainable provisioning of ECCE by a highly trained workforce.

The article investigates sustainable development from the holistic perspective, taking into account the complex nature of the world and the dynamism of the socio-economic systems. The study is interdisciplinary, as it addresses the issues of economics, mathematics and physics with the main focus on the modern perspective of sustainable development offered in the field of education. The article focuses on key questions concerning the expansion of the educational processes and deepening of ideas and knowledge about the dynamism and diversity of the planetary system. The holistic approach implies the interaction of various nonlinear features that have been used in the paper to build a mental model and a causal relationship schema. The understanding of the interaction of energy flows in socio-economic systems has been used by the authors to explain the underlying connection of various processes. The authors of the article propose a systemic dynamic model of sustainability, which can open up an understanding of some of the reasons for changes in the potential of the industrial sector. Modeling results have been obtained and interpreted using historical USA statistical data from 1949 to 2019. In the article, the authors reveal the relationship between nature, society and human from the point of view of promising and methodological approaches of the "new" and "old" world. The diversity of experiences makes it possible to question the dominant approaches of traditional teaching in education. This creates the need to look for new foundations that can promote the development of more sustainable learning for the future.

Aim/Purpose: This study aimed to develop a model for using social media content to promote 3D thinking of sustainability among students in integrated Mathematics, Language, Arts, and Technology (MLAT) classrooms. Background: Social media is one of the most relevant platforms among students of the 21st century to the extent that connecting it to classroom learning becomes interesting to the learners. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) requires teachers to implement an interdisciplinary teaching approach while promoting skills for dealing with sustainability issues. ESD enables students to think about three aspects (economics, environment, and society) of sustainability. In this paper, the ability to think about the environment, society, and economics simultaneously was termed "3D thinking of sustainability." Social media content can be a catalyst for promoting students' application of 3D thinking of sustainability if integrated into the classroom. However, teachers fail to use social media content in their classrooms because they lack the know-how to integrate them. Therefore, providing teachers with a model for using social media content in their teaching can help them integrate it into their classes. Methodology: Design-based research was adopted by the researchers (two mathematics teachers and one curriculum expert) who were selected through purposive sampling, and twenty students who were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected from the teachers' interviews with twenty students through observation and reflective journals and from students' assignments through document analysis. Contribution: The major contribution of the study is the development of the model for facilitating students' application of skills from the domains of mathematics, language, arts, and technology to understand sustainability issues. Furthermore, the study shows the value of social media in learning from the point of view of using them as context for applying interdisciplinary skills rather than media for teacher-student interaction. Findings: The model with eight interactive phases was developed. The proposed model requires the teachers to be knowledgeable content-wise in various disciplines or to collaborate with teachers from other disciplines. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners are encouraged to adopt this model in the implementation of ESD. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers may test the application of this model in other integrated subjects and levels of education. Impact on Society: The standard of living of any society is related to people's awareness of threats to sustainability. Therefore, the more education promotes 3D thinking of sustainability, the more the standard of living is guaranteed in our societies. Future Research: To evaluate the applicability of the model in various educational contexts.

The Earth Charter has become a dated guiding document for the field of environmental education. When the document debuted in 2000 as the global "framework to guide the transition to a sustainable future" (Earth Charter Initiative, n.d.-a, para. 2), the writers promoted it as a solution to environmental problems that incorporated voices of a wide spectrum of diverse communities from across the globe. The Earth Charter is a broad and ambitious document, designed to encourage action at local, national, and international levels (Earth Charter Initiative, 2009). Using critical discourse analysis methodology and social justice lenses, this paper examines the value of the Earth Charter as an educational tool as we enter the Anthropocene, a new geologic period in which our species is the largest force influencing and changing the planet (Olvitt, 2017). We argue that the Earth Charter reinforces dominant oppressive myths of sustainable development and excludes concerns voiced by marginalized populations. In perpetuating problematic narratives, we question the Earth Charter in its current form as a relevant and useful framework for informing environmental education 20 years after its publication. We suggest a method for updating the Earth Charter with social justice framing, using democratic, co-creative tools that are accessible to communities around the world, in their own languages.

The multiple crises of the 21st century once again highlight the significant role of sustainable education in all educational institutions. Particularly in higher education, the inclusion of nature and animals in the curricula is underrepresented. Using the method of Multispecies Ethnography, which recognizes the interconnectedness and inseparability of humans and other life forms of the more-than-human world, such as plants or animals, this paper discusses the presence of nature in online-based nature and outdoor learning in higher education. This study examines nature-based learning in higher education. It analyses the role of nature in the learning process in general and in sustainable education in particular. The results of the study show that a relationship with nature leads to a change in one's worldview, which is evidence of the methodological importance of introducing nature in the learning process. The results also illustrate that -- despite digitalization -- direct interaction with nature is essential for a paradigm shift in education.

The aim of the article is to explain holistically the main provisions of sustainable development in the nature-society-human system based on the methodology for analyzing changes in energy flows and the power of socio-economic systems. The authors consider the development of society as a creative process aimed at changing the direction and speed of free energy flows (useful power) in "Space" and "Time." They also consider sustainable development in the nature-society-human system to be consistent with the laws of the global evolution of living nature and the laws of the historical development of humankind. The paper focuses on key questions concerning the new concepts of sustainable development; the methodology for designing the sustainable development using the concept of energy flows in open, non-equilibrium stable systems and power change analysis approach. The results of the main positions of the models and their interpretation are presented based on the statistical data of United States of America (USA) in the period of 1960-2021. One of the most important primary things in order to bring about changes in people's thinking, understanding and attitude towards sustainability issues is their education in different forms -- formal education and non-formal education opportunities. Creating an interdisciplinary approach and explaining sustainability as a set of economic, social and ecological factors also play a crucial role in raising public awareness of sustainability issues.

This study aims to highlight the current trends in the literature on sustainability by applying a bibliometric review of papers on sustainability published in Environment, Development and Sustainability. Bibliometric analysis is a quantitative approach to bibliographic materials that highlights the core theoretical and empirical research on a specific field. In addition, it allows the classification of previous studies. Previous bibliometric reviewers were limited to sustainability papers in specific industries, while this study considers all papers on sustainability to provide further insights on overall sustainability topics. The analysis was based on keyword cartography analysis, bibliometric authors' citation analysis, bibliometric papers' citation analysis, bibliometric references' co-citation analysis, journals' co-citation cartography, and qualitative content analysis. A total of 997 articles on sustainability were reviewed. Bibliometric analysis was performed using VOSviewer and content analysis was performed using WordStat. Six major clusters were identified: environmental sustainability, sustainable development, urban sustainability, ecological footprint, environment, and climate change. In addition, the results reveal that Environment, Development and Sustainability has increasingly experienced important growth in research papers and citations, reflecting its significant contribution to the sustainability research field. In addition, this study presents recommendations for future research opportunities in the field of sustainability. The findings of this study have implications for sustainability research, such as the assessment of environmental and social sustainability in multinational institutional contexts and across industries as well as the examination of the impact of environmental and social sustainability on different corporate aspects and decisions. This study is the only one to review the key topics on which papers published in Environment, Development and Sustainability are focused and can be largely used for sustainability practices. This study provides an overview of how the literature on sustainability has developed, as well as a summary of the most productive authors, along with countries, organizations, and journal sources. This offers an opportunity for future research to focus on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Society qualitatively participates in the implementation of corresponding tasks only when it is informed. An analysis of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Lithuania expresses concern regarding shortage of information: information receivers are scantily informed, whilst information providers themselves are scantily informed about actual information needs. In Lithuania, informing of society is carried out in both centralised and decentralised ways, when the state makes certain commitments regarding informing of residents because this information enhances attention to educational institutions, including pre-school educational institutions (as a link of education, social support, support to the family and the child), and encourages the interest of interested groups in the quality of children's education. Seeking to ensure sustainable development, in the name of possibilities of more extensive participation of society in pre-school education management processes, freedom in decision-making, and in the name of the formation of society consisting of active and responsible citizens, it is necessary to analyse the experiences of informing the society. Therefore, the research is orientated towards generalisation of the experiences of informing the society in the European Union countries in the context of sustainable development.

This research objective is to highlight an innovative, holistic, inclusive, integrated approach to a sustainable future promoted by the "Earth Charter" and describe the structure of its ethical framework. The main conclusion of the research is that the ethical framework of the "Earth Charter" is based on a limited number of core concepts: planetary human identity, feasible utopianism, co-responsibility and committed compassion. Planetary human identity is based on the capacity to incorporate nature into the process of identity building and integrate three complementary feelings: singularity, belonging to groups and belonging to the planetary community of life. The "Earth Charter" stresses the necessity to give a new life to utopianism by working out a critical-radical-alternative, but a feasible idea of future and our responsibility towards it. Moreover, the "Earth Charter" rethinks responsibility as co-responsibility and assigns it four different qualities: universal, synchronic, diachronic and differentiated and appeals to an innovative politically connoted notion of compassion.

The goal of the research was to get an overview on the possibilities of sustainable development in relation to information and communication technologies in primary and secondary schools in Slovenia from the perspective of media ecology. The study analyses the reasons for a reorientation of the educational system and new programmes towards sustainability and relates these developments to the activities of Eco-schools in Slovenia. The findings show that the guidelines of sustainable development are included in the programmes, yet they do not encompass the possibilities opening up by new technologies. Contemporary teaching methods are not widespread due to the inadequate education and training of teachers. At the same time, numerous problems arising from the introduction of new technologies and equipment into schools are neither anticipated nor tackled in the renewed curricula, thus failing to integrate a contemporary media-ecological perspective. Judging from the roadmap documents, even after the renewal process will have been finished, the situation will hardly change unless major changes are introduced into the planned concept of renovation and additional investments of funds for equipment, the preparation of materials and, above all, teacher education are secured.

The current paper presents the assessment of the infusion of sustainability principles into university curricula at two Jordanian universities. The peer review process of revising the curricula infusing sustainability principles is also discussed. The research methodology involved quantitative methods to assess the revised courses. The results revealed the following: the most relevant ESD themes in the revised curricula were "human connections to the physical and natural world", and "ethics/values". The most relevant ESD topics were: "sustainable production/consumption" and "health promotion". The most infused ESD pillars (competencies) were: "learning to know" and "learning to do". The most relevant ESD principles were: "practiced locally" and "responds through applied learning". The findings offered a rich scenario of the strategies applied by the university professors in revising the curricula, providing evidence of a mental attitude to adopt ESD strategies, as well as a goal-oriented approach in curriculum planning. The paper also discusses the implications of the study results for syllabus revision and development, as well as the refinement of the teaching methods that focus on infusing sustainability into university curricula.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is an important issue for the education of students worldwide because it offers knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to ensure a sustainable future for humanity at local and global levels, which is nowadays becoming critical. The decade 2005-2014 called 'Decade of ESD' was an initiative by the United Nations to promote ESD worldwide, followed currently by the Agenda 2030. ESD should be an ongoing subject for students in formal and informal education, at all educational levels, and in life-long learning programs, starting with early childhood education. This paper reports on the knowledge, perceptions and attitudes of pre-service early childhood teachers of the University of Ioannina, Greece, on ESD using a quantitative approach utilizing a questionnaire. Our findings showed that most pre-service teachers had knowledge on environmental aspects but did not consider societal and financial matters to be aspects of ESD. Furthermore, most students had never ESD lessons during their formal education. Our findings depict that pre-service teachers believe that ESD is an important issue, that it should be included in the curricula and that lessons on EDS during their studies would develop their ability to teach ESD to their students.

While it is well understood there is an urgent need to address global environmental problems, there is less understanding around how these problems can be addressed. At each level of government, policy is initiated as a response to a perceived problem. However, research has shown governmental policies are overly generalised which creates a universal approach, with little regard for contextual difference. This paper seeks to push back against unspoken assumptions surrounding Education for Sustainability (EfS) policy processes from development to implementation, showing that context is important in the interpretation of policy. Through a mixed method survey, the findings illustrate how EfS policies are often overloaded with infrastructure rather than educational benefits, minimising the policy objectives for sustainability as a cross-curricular priority. Three key points are raised to advocate for a new 'systems thinking' approach to policy implementation, with ramifications proposed to enable a more effective enactment of Education for Sustainability into curriculum.

In this paper, we report on an investigation into initial teacher education students' (ITES) understandings of sustainability and the Australian National Curriculum Sustainability Cross Curricular Priority (CCP). We also explore their willingness and capacities to embed the CCP into their own teaching practices. The ITES (N = 392) completed a quantitative survey with a series of Likert Scale questions and were asked to list "5 words" when they think of sustainability. Analysis reveals that ITES have generally limited to moderate understandings of sustainability and education for sustainability, but lesser understandings of the Sustainability CCP and the 9 organising ideas. Understandings of sustainability were dominated by an environmental focus. We conclude this paper with a discussion of the implications of narrow environmental understandings of sustainability. We explore factors that limit and enable teacher educators to embed sustainability education more explicitly. We note the importance role teacher educators play in supporting ITES to better understand sustainability.

According to SDG 4.7, by 2030 all learners will "acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture's contribution to sustainable development". Since 2009, with the establishment of the Working Group on Good Practices for Sustainable Development at the University of Siena has worked to raise awareness and promote good practices for the sustainable development: the campus became carbon neutral, it encouraged sustainable mobility, it tried to put the 2030 Agenda goals into practice, and it expanded the educational activities on sustainability themes. This paper will focus on the educational proposals of the University of Siena with specific reference to the promotion of inclusive societies and development of skills in sustainable development (SD) and global citizenship. In this context the University of Siena has activated courses and participates into projects to promote dialogue on the above-mentioned issues, to ensure a more sustainable future. Along this pattern, for example, the University of Siena has organized two multidisciplinary courses on sustainability and gender discrimination and violence. In order to increase sustainable development competencies for students and staff, it promotes practices on sustainability internally as well as in its relationship with other stakeholders. The University, through its project EDU4SD, addressed to schools, aims at disseminating Agenda 2030 SDGs to promote EU values and fundamental rights through educational tools based on empathy and emotional intelligence. All these experiences demonstrate the potential of a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to SD education, based on non-formal and transformative learning methodologies to enhance inclusive societies.

Transforming our educational systems to support sustainable development is a challenge that involves all levels of education--policy, curriculum and pedagogical practice. One critical dimension to look at is a teacher's identity as it influences a teacher's decision-making, behaviour, and action. The ecological self is the concept that is used in the context of sustainability. This paper discusses the emerging ecological self of one student teacher during her initial teacher education programme. The concepts of the teacher's self and the ecological self form a lens through which the story of this student teacher is examined. The paper focuses on one part of a broader, longitudinal study of student teachers and their understanding of pedagogy and connectedness with nature in the context of the need for reorienting teacher education towards sustainability. Sterling's (2001) conceptual framework of ecological view on education is taken as a tool to analyse the collected data. The results indicate that deep connectedness to nature and empathy are framing the holistic view on learning, teaching, and a teacher's self.

This paper highlights the importance of integrating indigenous perspectives on environmental sustainability into mainstream education as a way of bridging the gap in the understanding of indigenous knowledge systems into Western science explanations of sustainable development (SD) in education, at the same time ensuring traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) continuity for future generations as well as taking a steady stand in the global debates on SD. The first part of the paper will attempt to explore the issue of SD through Western and indigenous perspectives and will emphasise on the model of strong sustainability (in theory). Secondly, the importance of TEK will be examined and justified through case studies on Aboriginal peoples of British Colombia and Roviana people of Solomon Islands in achieving goals of sustainability. Thirdly, challenges for TEK will be investigated and some possibilities of protecting the rapid disappearance of indigenous knowledge will be dealt with. Lastly, a pedagogical approach to sustainability will be provided that postulates the relevance of indigenous pedagogy to formal and informal education, attempting to integrate Tilbury's (1995) characteristics of environmental education for sustainability.

This study aims to explore the research orientation of the papers published in the "Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability" (JTES) immediately after the UN Decade of ESD (2015-2018). Through following the guidelines of bibliometric study and literature review, and by grounding on the deductive qualitative and quantitative content analysis, the paper presents the analysis of the main bibliometric indicators and research paradigms in the papers published in JTES. Moreover, the changes in these indicators and paradigms in comparison with those encountered in JTES from 2005 to 2014 were recorded and critically inspected. In general, the study shows the gradual improvement and development of main bibliometric indicators and research paradigms in last four years of JTES. The main recommendations and suggestions provided in the previous study have been implemented and considered in the Journal's general features and published papers, though, the current exploration indicates also some unrealized potential for improvement. At the end of paper the author states the main conclusions, limitations, suggestions for the further research and prospective development of the Journal, as well as some implications for the potential authors of JTES.

Plastic, plastic waste and marine litter indisputably is one of the key environmental issues of the 21st century. The already existing amount of accumulated marine litter, the high quantity of plastic waste escaping from waste management streams every year in combination with the low recycling rates for plastic and the missing awareness of the consumer for sustainable consumption pose a permanent threat to the ecosystem, biodiversity and human health. What is more, as economic and ecological interests strongly deviate from each other, the transformation of this status quo towards a more sustainable future will take place very slowly. Against this background, this paper will shortly outline the multitude of problems connected to plastic products throughout a product's lifecycle and introduce the idea of a circular economy. On this basis, the paper will critically analyze the strategy papers and the ongoing legislation of the EU introduced to solve these problems and to realize the transformation process of the EU-economy towards a circular economy from a sustainable development point of view. On the one hand, awareness raising is one main strategy of the EU to achieve this transformation, on the other hand, educational institutions are not specifically mentioned by the EU. In order to address this shortcoming, the paper will constitute the teaching principle "global development politics/education for sustainable development" as one measure to increase consumers' awareness and sustainable consumption. In general, this paper will proof that the topical area plastics can fruitfully be implemented at German schools for primary and secondary education in order to strengthen the education for sustainable development.

Due to the high density of users hosted everyday, public buildings are important producers of waste and emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Public restrooms play an underrated role in waste generation and GHG emissions, especially if paper towels are used as the hand-drying method. The choice of the hand-drying method (i.e., paper towels vs. electrical hand dryers) also affects the economic balance of a public institution, involving costs for the purchase of hand-drying materials/apparatuses, energy and waste disposal. The present paper aims at evaluating the economic and environmental impact of the introduction of electrical hand dryers (alternative scenario) in place of paper towels (reference scenario) in a public building. The paper presents a solid methodology, based on a numerical experiment approach, to identify a decision criterion for establishing the economical convenience of adopting the alternative scenario in public restrooms. Key factors affecting the choice between the proposed alternatives are presented and discussed in a dedicated sensitivity analysis. From the environmental point of view, this study evaluates the impact of each scenario in terms of GHG emissions, related to multiple waste treatment options and different electric grid mixes. Based on the experimental assumptions, the method allowed concluding that the alternative scenario becomes economically convenient when the number of daily usages (N) is > 57 ± 4. The environmental convenience of the alternative scenario is visible even at N < 10. The method here described can be successfully used to support strategic decisions for cost optimization and environmental mitigation in institutional buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recent years have seen increasing demand for wider application of strategic environmental assessment (SEA), especially SEA of major policies, as a powerful instrument to safeguard the environment during the rapid industrialization and urbanization in China. Debates on SEA are concentrated on its feasibility and effective implementation in practice. This study applies Emergy analysis within the framework of social–economic–natural complex eco-system theory to overcome the limitations of methods used for assessing regional sustainability so far. This established model is tested in the case of Chinese paper industry to assess the sustainability of 5 policy scenarios. The results show that Emergy-based Indices (EbI) are more effective to measure the sustainability of industry complex ecosystem, thus EbI approach is very useful in SEAs on policy scenarios of a given complex ecosystem. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Worldwide, innovation in education is highly perceived as an effectual approach to promote awareness for sustainability. International organizations interested in education, research and training support projects seeking modernization of Higher Education (HE) and put much emphasis on developing new curricula, teaching methods or materials to respond to current needs. Building ties and promoting cooperation between institutions around the world through Universities and academic arenas are central in innovative educational approaches. This paper reflects on one of such projects; the Center for Natural Resources and Development (CNRD) which aims at supporting achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7. Eleven University faculties in Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Jordan, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, and Vietnam form part of the CNRD, covering natural, engineering, and social sciences disciplines. To develop solutions for one of the most pressing problems of today; creating sustainable cities, students, teachers and researchers work together in a trans-disciplinary approach. The paper principally deals with the question of how international research and education networks can narrow the distance between countries and promote awareness of sustainability. It discusses approaches in joint education, using modern media and e-learning activities and their contribution to raise awareness of sustainability among young researchers. (Contains 3 tables, 1 figure, and 4 notes.)

The development of a literate society is a pre-requisite for the emergence of a knowledge economy. The thesis advanced in this paper is that, without massive investment and promotion of literacy education, development that is targeted at the 17-point sustainable development goals (SDGs) will be bereft of citizen's empowerment, engagement, experiential values and evidential consequences in social change. Therefore, using a qualitative approach conceptual), this study explored the causal correlation that subsists between literacy education, emergence of knowledge economy and sustainable development. The study established that, literacy is basic in andragogical context for facilitating citizens' values re-orientation attitudinal change for the acquisition of vocational or functional skills and operational knowledge that is beneficial to individual as well as the collective drive for a literate society for the reduction of vulnerability and increase in sustainability in development respectively as expected in the SDGs. Consequently, the resultant outcomes will be a knowledge driven economy which is essential for the attainment of the sustainable development goals as envisaged by the United Nations declaration of 25th of September, 2015.