Sustainability in higher education in the Asia‐Pacific: developments, challenges, and prospects

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the contributions of the Asia-Pacific region to leading practice in sustainability in higher education (HE), as prelude and orientation to this special issue collection from different countries and regions. Design/methodology/approach-This is a critical review that includes international and regional policy contexts in sustainability and "education for sustainable development" (ESD), whilst exploring the trajectories of key initiatives across the region and considering the broader context of sustainability innovation within the HE sector. Findings-The Asia-Pacific region offers many creative initiatives and shows considerable progress in ESD and in understanding the learning dimensions of sustainability. At the same time, it mirrors global trends in that further work is needed to promote systemic change in educational arenas, particularly in terms of strategic integration within HE institutions. The Asia-Pacific contributions to this collection demonstrate the need to harness national policy, to develop local and regional initiatives and to work effectively towards more profound change in HE curricula and through collaboration with external communities and stakeholders. Originality/value-This is a distinctive collection of new initiatives from the Asia-Pacific, which compensates for the comparative lack of dissemination in this area. There is considerable sustainability innovation emerging in this region which shows leading-edge responses from within the HE sector on a number of key challenges and issues.

Greening the Ivory Tower: A Review of Educational Research on Sustainability in Post-Secondary Education

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Competencies in Education for Sustainable Development: Exploring the Student Teachers’ Views

“…The declaration of the United Nations Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) 2005-2014 represented a lever for the integration of sustainability in all sectors of education across the globe. Several papers and publications have reviewed the policy context and contributions that different countries and regions are making to the UNDESD [4][5][6]. The UNDESD has encouraged and offered leadership, recommendations and guidelines to embed the principles of education for sustainable development (ESD) within educational policy and programs.…”

Systems Structure of Education for Sustainable Development in Higher Education Institution

“…At the global level, over one thousand university presidents and vice-chancellors have signed the sustainability-related declaration, committing their institutions to change towards sustainability. A detailed description and chronology of the sustainability declarations signed by the university presidents is provided in Chapter 2. International declarations may provide useful publicity to encourage progress of ESD (Ryan et al, 2010). According to L4, University A's endeavour to compete at the global level and to internationalise its program and contribution has driven the ESD initiative in University A, as sustainability is becoming increasingly pertinent to global higher education (Levy, 2012;Sterling, 2004;Tilbury, 2004).…”