Education for sustainable development: a critical reflexive discourse on a transformative learning activity for business students

Abstract

This paper presents in detail a critical reflexive discourse on a transformative learning activity that engaged 140 students of the “Risk Management and Green Business Strategy” module at the University of Turin. During the course, students were asked to find, analyze, and propose a solution for a self-identified challenge working in close partnership with local urban companies on sustainability issues. Following a project-based learning approach, this paper compares two different group of students. The treatment group, i.e., the students following the ESD module, was then compared with a control group represented by the students from the traditional course of the previous year, in terms of their willingness to orient their future career on sustainability topics. Findings point out clear impacts on the study of sustainability-related disciplines (i.e., + 372% of thesis on sustainability) and on long-term career orientation of students on sustainability-oriented master and jobs.

Pre-University engagement and education for sustainable development in Aruba: The Academic Foundation Year

“…Specifically, the survey component of the study could form the basis for a more standardized evaluation framework which could be used to evaluate similar ESD initiatives in related settings throughout the Caribbean or beyond (Ferguson, 2020; Ferguson and Roofe, 2020). By complementing the survey approach with qualitative methods that focus on in-depth analysis of students’ and educators’ perceptions, context-specific factors determining the performance of ESD initiatives may be identified as well (Cottafava et al , 2019; Corazza et al , 2022; Günther et al , 2022).…”

“…The need to develop and implement impactful programs for ESD in SIS is broadly recognized (Crossley and Sprague, 2014;Ferguson, 2020; IJSHE 25,1 Mycoo et al, 2022;Moody-Marshall, 2023). After the implementation of such programs, there is a need to monitor experiences from the perspectives of learners (Günther et al, 2022) as well as educators (Corazza et al, 2022). The aim of this study is to reflect on the implementation of the AFY program at the University of Aruba from both these perspectives.…”

The Role of the Civic University in Facilitating Inclusive and Transformative Pedagogical Approaches to the Sustainable Development Goals: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Crucially, though, this approach adds a positive feedback element to ESD frameworks [3,53], where challenging ideas from external sources, in this case feedback from community and university stakeholders, reshape the student's ideas about their community project and help them construct a more holistic understanding of applied sustainable development [6]. This knowledge can be integrated into the student's future projects, reiterating Lin's [27] point on the regenerative cognitive nature of transformative service-learning.…”

Research in Global Learning: Methodologies for global citizenship and sustainable development education

“…ESD is defined as a transformative education (Corazza et al 2022;UNESCO 2017). Transformative education is characterised by societal challenges, and it includes 'changes in education systems, including strengthening curricula, innovative pedagogies and teacher training, but above all a model for transforming education systems' (Diemer et al 2019, 43).…”