Purpose -An online questionnaire survey was conducted to explore University of Plymouth students' perceptions and understandings of, and attitudes towards, sustainable development and related concepts and issues. In general, student perceptions of sustainable development have been under-researched. This research sought to go some way towards filling the gap by providing insights for those working in the field of education for sustainable development (ESD) in higher education. Design/methodology/approach -The survey was administrated in autumn 2005 by the Centre for Sustainable Futures at the University of Plymouth. The closed-category statements were analyzed in terms of frequencies and percentages. A comprehensive set of cross tabulations and x 2 tests were also conducted using SPSS. Responses to open-ended questions were coded and categorized according to emerging themes. Findings -Key findings include, first, that a majority of student respondents think sustainability is "a good thing" their positive response not particularly correlating with their degree of familiarity with either of the concepts of sustainable development or sustainability. Second, students strongly associate the concepts of sustainable development and sustainability with their environmental as against economic and social aspects. Third, in terms of personal change for a sustainable lifestyle, "light green" actions addressing responsibility as consumers such as changing purchasing habits, recycling, and saving energy and/or water were most frequently articulated. Fourth, respondents harbour mixed feelings regarding the future of society in the face of sustainability-oriented challenges. Originality/value -The paper highlights the importance of ESD curriculum development that more explicitly addresses the interconnectedness of different aspects of sustainable development and which also employs pedagogies that help students to take action towards realizing their preferred futures. It also suggests future study directed towards identifying various means of facilitating students' pro-sustainability behaviours.
Incidences of disaster and climate change impacts are rising globally. Disaster risk reduction and climate change education are two educational responses to present and anticipated increases in the severity and frequency of hazards. They share significant complementarities and potential synergies, the latter as yet largely unexploited. Three dimensions of climate change education-understanding and attentiveness, mitigation and adaptationare identified and explored as corresponding to key elements in disaster risk reduction education. While international bodies advocate the alignment of the two focuses, we are still only on the threshold of their alignment in practice within curriculum. Both focuses also align in their embrace of an interactive, experiential and participatory pedagogy. An educational contribution to a sustainable future must necessarily address disaster risk reduction and climate change.
Education for sustainable development (ESD) is the latest and thickest manifestation of the 'closing circle' of policy-driven environmental education. Characterised by defi nitional haziness, a tendency to blur rather than lay bare inconsistencies and incompatibilities, and a cozy but illconsidered association with the globalisation agenda, the fi eld has allowed the neoliberal marketplace worldview into the circle so that mainstream education for sustainable development tacitly embraces economic growth and an instrumentalist and managerial view of nature that goes hand in glove with an emphasis on the technical and the tangible rather than the axiological and intangible. Runaway climate change is imminent but there is widespread climate change denial, including within mainstream ESD. A transformative educational agenda in response to climate change is offered here. Recent calls for the integration of climate change education (CCE) within mainstream education for sustainable development should be resisted unless the fi eld breaks free of the 'closing circle'.David Selby is director of Sustainability Frontiers, an international alliance of global and sustainability educators. He is also an adjunct professor at
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