PurposeThis paper sets out to discuss the commonalities that can be found in learning outcomes (LOs) for education for sustainable development in the context of the Tbilisi and Barcelona declarations. The commonalities include systemic or holistic thinking, the integration of different perspectives, skills such as critical thinking, change agent abilities and communication, and finally different attitudes and values.Design/methodology/approachAn analysis of LOs that are proposed in the Tbilisi and Barcelona declarations is conducted, showing specific issues for the commonalities presented. Examples of LOs from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) in Mexico, as well as various associations from the USA is shown. A brief discussion is done on the means to achieve these LOs and learning evaluation.FindingsIn the example sets of LOs shown, the commonalities presented in the paper's first section appear in the LOs proposed by the institutions. Based on current knowledge and perception, sustainability is properly addressed in the examples.Practical implicationsThe paper can be used to foster a wider discussion and analysis of LOs for sustainability education, also further work on teachers' capacity building for sustainability, as well as the assessment needed for future professionals in higher education institutions.Originality/valueThe paper presents the onset of discussing and comparing commonalities among higher education institutions regarding sustainability LOs.

Nanocellulose is a bionanomaterial with many promising applications, but high energy use in production has been described as a potential obstacle for future use. In fact, life cycle assessment studies have indicated high life cycle energy use for nanocellulose. In this study, we assess the cradle-to-gate environmental impacts of three production routes for a particular type of nanocellulose called cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) made from wood pulp. The three production routes are (1) the enzymatic production route, which includes an enzymatic pretreatment, (2) the carboxymethylation route, which includes a carboxymethylation pretreatment, and (3) one route without pretreatment, here called the no pretreatment route. The results show that CNF produced via the carboxymethylation route clearly has the highest environmental impacts due to large use of solvents made from crude oil. The enzymatic and no pretreatment routes both have lower environmental impacts, of similar magnitude. A sensitivity analysis showed that the no pretreatment route was sensitive to the electricity mix, and the carboxymethylation route to solvent recovery. When comparing the results to those of other carbon nanomaterials, it was shown that in particular CNF produced via the enzymatic and no pretreatment routes had comparatively low environmental impacts.

In a period of harmonisation of the higher education system in Europe, a question is if also learning about sustainability at the universities is converging and what advantages this may have. This paper is an effort to present and advance the work on describing desired sustainability competences for engineering Bachelor graduates in three technical universities (Chalmers in Sweden, DUT in The Netherlands and UPC-Barcelona in Spain) using the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) descriptors. The paper also sheds light on whether there is conformity or not in desired sustainability competences (or in how sustainable development (SD) competences are handled) at the three universities. For universities outside the EHEA, this paper gives hints on the type of sustainability competences that will be required from their first-cycle graduates should they want to continue with second-cycle studies within the EHEA. The results show that the three universities follow a similar pattern in the classification of the competences (Knowledge and understanding, Skills and abilities, and Attitudes) and that there are minor divergences with respect to the list of competences and the levels of learning that Bachelor students should have when graduating. Definition of competences is an area that needs development, and this paper is part of a learning process for the three universities. This study shows that there is improvement potential for all three universities when it comes to being explicit and exact in the description of the desired SD learning.

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