Education of sustainable development goals through students’ active engagement

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss and present new teaching techniques to advance the concept and the practice of education for sustainable development (SD). Due to the recently introduced 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and owing their interlinkages and targets, an evolution of the traditional teaching techniques is needed. Design/methodology/approach With the use of a single revelatory case study, this paper presents an example of education for SD goals activity carried out at the University of Torino, focussed on merging SD with the active engagement of students. Findings The empowerment of students happens through a transformative learning experience grounded in the acquisition of managerial soft skills useful in co-creating and co-designing projects to contribute towards SDGs effectively. Practical implications The ultimate goal is to support students to become active citizens in their communities (e.g. starting within the University). Social implications Students learnt about SDGs and the complexities of sustainability, and, at the same time, they learnt valuable tools to contribute to their transformation to develop projects for the benefit of local territories and organizations. Originality/value The paper showcases how transformative learning could be applied to SDGs. Awarded as one of the best practices regarding SD by the Italian Network of Universities for Sustainable Development, the case involves students in a transdisciplinary, creative and open learning environment.

Perceptions of Multistakeholder Partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals: A Case Study of Irish Non-State Actors

“…Several authors have identified the critical importance of aligning the work done in different sectors to achieve the SDGs [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]. For example, Rosati and Faria [44] studied how different companies aligned their corporate social responsibility-related activities with the SDGs and found that companies operating in countries with a high level of climate vulnerability are more SDG-aligned.…”

“…SIBs are a hybrid arrangement between social and financial institutions that creates a unique platform to support public-private partnerships between different sectoral actors working collaboratively to achieve the SDGs [45]. Several other studies take a similar sectoral focus making cases for the SDGs in education [42,43,48], in addressing the needs of women [46], for rehabilitating vulnerable communities [47], across value chains [49,50], and in the banking sector [51].…”

Struggles and Successes in the Pursuit of Sustainable Development

“…The workshop was designed to teach the basic knowledge of the 17 SDGs and to highlight their interlinkages, two essential features of ESDGs (Weitz et al, 2014). The empowerment of the learners through the development of leadership skills is one of the main planned outcomes of such a workshop (Cottafava et al, 2019).…”

“…This section provides a discussion of the modules of the case study, while the theoretical underpinning of this new transformative learning approach has been described in detail in Cottafava et al (2019). The ESD Leadership Training methodology included two main components, each based on a different teaching approach.…”

The Status of Inclusive Education in Baluchistan: A Qualitative Investigation

“…This paradigm shift got its peak point after the passing of United Nations Convention on the Right of persons with disabilities (Lang, Kett, Groce, & Trani, 2011), Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs), and recently the United Nations presentation of the Sustainable Developmental Goals (Sachs, 2012). All these conventions address the provision of inclusive and quality education for children and youth including those who are with disabilities (Cottafava, Cavaglià, & Corazza, 2019). In case of persons with disabilities, addressing the individual needs is a front line goal of all these global conventions.…”