Achieving and Monitoring Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a systematic review of literature (56 studies) related to Sustainable Development Goal 4.7. The goal of the research reported on here is to contribute to the discussion around strategies for working towards and monitoring SDG4.7 at the institutional level. Within this overarching focus, our review of the literature was designed to identify studies that have looked at both student learning and teacher education related to SDG4.7. This twin focus stems from the recognition that achieving the SDGs will be particularly difficult if policymakers are not attentive to both sides of the learning equation—that is, first, to the ways that teachers learn to teach about issues related to SDG4.7 and, then, the ways that students acquire this knowledge and are assessed. The five findings sections of this review correspond to the five areas of emphasis embedded in the language of SDG4.7, namely, education for (a) sustainable development, (b) human rights, (c) gender equality, (d) promoting of a culture of peace and non-violence, and (e) appreciation of cultural diversity. In accordance with the purpose of this review, the synthesis for each area of emphasis digs into the details of the educational interventions, monitoring and evaluation strategies, and results that are documented in the publications analyzed. Thus, this review can be useful for informing educational or pedagogical approaches related to SDG4.7, as well as for designing monitoring and evaluation tools for the SDGs.

Monitoring Progress of Change: Implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within Documents of the German Education System

“…As such, its effective diffusion requires both system-and process-specific knowledge available to all stakeholders involved. Attempts to analyze or systematically monitor the related educational processes and policy efforts have thus become a fundamental part of the (inter)national progress of ESD implementation [13,14,17,20,21]. However, the evidence created not seldomly lacks important preconditions for an independent and comprehensive, yet differentiated and supportive, assessment of ESD implementation.…”

“…Throughout the UN Decade for ESD from 2005 to 2014 [10] and the subsequent Global Action Programme (GAP, 2015(GAP, -2019 [6], ESD received widespread attention in learning processes as well as educational and sustainability-related science [7,11,12] and policy [13,14]. Integrated as an explicit target within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4.7), the implementation of ESD in national educational systems has become a high-level political task [15,16], effectively contributing to sustainable development on several levels [17]. To foster the process of ESD-implementation in Germany, a participatory multiactor policy process including a National Platform as well as Expert Forums and Partner Networks on all education areas was designed [18].…”

Transforming Turkish Universities to Entrepreneurial Universities for Sustainability: From Strategy to Practice

“…It also includes development of graduates to prepare them for more sustainable futures [42,43] and changing universities in accordance with local and national stakeholders' expectations [40]. Many previous studies explored the sustainable development of higher education institutions and they state that sustainable development of the universities can be fostered with the help of the redesign of curricula [44,45], regional and global cooperation [46], or organizational change [40].…”

Students’ Perceptions of Interdisciplinary Coursework: An Australian Case Study of the Master of Environment and Sustainability

“…For the purposes of this case study, we are using the term "highly interdisciplinary" as distinct from less integrative "multidisciplinary" or "multisubject" approaches (more common in liberal arts degrees, for example), which are not explored here. Interdisciplinary pedagogy is recognized as highly valuable in sustainability, as are the related transdisciplinary, systems thinking and knowledge weaving approaches [12][13][14]. Each of these integrative, pluridisciplinary approaches aims to synthesize disciplines to varying extents for a more holistic and complex educational experience and worldview [1,12,13,15].…”

“…These aptitudes should help equip sustainability graduates to approach issues from complex social, economic and environmental perspectives [6]. For instance, most graduates will require critical thinking skills to interpret, integrate and synthesize diverse information from many sectors, evaluate social and ecological crises using sustainability science or weaving methods [14], and form well rounded perspectives [5,24]. Sustainability graduates will often need to produce, synthesize and use different forms of evidence and arguments for effective and ethical decision making.…”