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Tejedor, Papell Gemma. "Transdisciplinarity for sustainability in engineering education." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/668425.
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This research aims to improve engineering education in sustainability (EESD) through transdisciplinarity (td) learning approaches. The research comprised 3 phases. The first consisted of the analysis of how sustainability is approached in EE through a co-word analysis and characterization of the keywords networks of three relevant journals in the field of EESD over two decades. The journal networks evolution analysis suggested that the concern was growing to move to society. Td and related keywords constantly dripped along the ten years in all the journals and gained relevance, especially in International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (IJSHE) and Journal of Cleaner Production (JCLP). Additionally the IJSHE showed a will of reinforcing relationships beyond the university; the International Journal of Engineering Education (IJEE) gave relevance to real case studies with a North-South component and to students’ representativeness; and the JCLP contributed aspects on competences and educational strategies. The characterisation brought as relevant categories towards sustainability those related to cross-boundary schemes (i.e. td, ethics, networking), institutional aspects, faculty professional development training and learning strategies. Finally, keywords related to td and collaborative networking spread throughout all the areas of knowledge addressed by the journals, indicating a widening interest.
The second phase studied how emergent EESD initiatives were approached from td as valued competence for sustainability. The research indicated that most of the initiatives fitted in the problem solving discourse, where co-production of knowledge and method-driven aspects are relevant. Deepening this discourse, most initiatives corresponded to the real-world argument promoting science-society collaboration to solve societal problems (EU contexts); others looked for convergence of all sciences (life, human, physical and engineering) in pursuit of human well-being (innovation argument, US contexts); and some initiatives brought together students and entities in a team-based learning process with social purpose (transcendent interdisciplinary research “tir” argument). It is noteworthy that none of the initiatives mirrored the transgression discourse, which attempts to reformulate the establishment, no longer for society but with society.
The last phase consisted in the implementation of a td learning environment experience in the course Action Research Workshop on Science and Technology (Sci&Tech) for Sustainability (5 ETCS) of the UPC Master degree in Sustainability Sci&Tech. Civil organisations, public administration, students and educators undertook collaborative research on real-life sustainability case studies, following two cycles of action-reflection. While the course mainly fitted in the real-world argument of problem solving, service learning (SL) or CampusLab schemes also reproduced a team-based learning with societal purpose (“tir” argument). We addressed the transgression discourse by means of SL focusing on social justice, which enhanced the development of complex thinking. Afterwards, some students engaged as professional researchers-activists in the participant organisations. Challenges of their learning process were: problem formulation, process uncertainty, stakeholder’s interests and roles integration, and interpersonal skills. Additionally, a well-valued Emotional Intelligence module was developed by the author to help students face some process paralyzing uncertainties.
Finally this work proposes a set of fundamental features to be considered for an effective scheme for a td approach in EESD, methodically framing the science-society discourse on the issue at stake: work in real-world complex problems; involve diverse disciplines and fields cooperation; involve science-society cooperation and mutual learning processes; integrate types of knowledge; rely on disciplinary and cross-disciplinary practice.Aquesta investigació té com a objectiu la millora de l'educació en enginyeria en sostenibilitat (EESD) a través d'un enfocament d'aprenentatge transdisciplinari, en 3 fases. La primera va consistir en l'anàlisi de com s'aborda la sostenibilitat a EE, mitjançant l'anàlisi de co-ocurrència i la caracterització dels mots clau d’articles de tres revistes rellevants en l’EESD, al llarg de 10 anys. L'anàlisi de l'evolució de les xarxes de revistes va suggerir una preocupació creixent per a traslladar el focus a la societat. La transdisciplinarietat (td) i els mots clau relacionats van degotar constantment al llarg del període a totes les revistes, guanyant rellevància, especialment a la International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (IJSHE) i la Journal of Cleaner Production (JCLP) A més, mostrà la rellevància de: la voluntat de reforçar relacions més enllà de la universitat, a la IJSHE; els estudis de casos reals amb component Nord-Sud, i la representativitat dels estudiants, a la International Journal of Engineering Education; i els aspectes sobre competències i estratègies educatives, a la JCLP. La caracterització va aportar com a categories rellevants per la sostenibilitat les relacionades amb esquemes “cross-boundary” (td, ètica, treball en xarxa), aspectes institucionals, desenvolupament professional del professorat i estratègies d'aprenentatge. Finalment, els mots clau relacionats amb td i xarxes de col·laboració s’identificaren al llarg de totes les àrees de coneixement empreses a les revistes, indicant un interès creixent. La segona fase va estudiar com les iniciatives de EESD, eren abordades des de la td. Indicà que la majoria encaixaven en el discurs de resolució de problemes, que emfatitza la coproducció de coneixement i els aspectes metodològics. Aprofundint aquest discurs, la majoria de les iniciatives s’esqueien a l'argument del món real que promou la col·laboració ciència-societat sobre problemes socials (context UE); altres buscaven la convergència de les ciències (vida, salut, física i enginyeria) en la recerca del benestar humà (argument d'innovació, context USA); i algunes reunien a estudiants i entitats en un procés grupal d'aprenentatge, amb propòsit social (argument d'investigació interdisciplinària transcendent "tir"). És rellevant que cap de les iniciatives es va vincular al discurs de transgressió, que persegueix la reformulació de l'”establishment” ja no per a la societat, sinó amb la societat. L'última fase va consistir en la implementació d'un entorn d'aprenentatge td al curs Taller d'Investigació-Acció (5 ETCS) del Màster UPC en Ciència i Tecnologia de Sostenibilitat. Organitzacions civils i de govern, estudiants i educadors van investigar col·laborativament en casos reals de sostenibilitat, a partir de dos cicles d'acció-reflexió. Si bé el curs encaixa principalment en l'argument del món real del discurs de resolució de problemes, els esquemes d'aprenentatge servei (ApS) o CampusLab poden reproduir l'argument "tir" d'aprenentatge basat en equips amb propòsit social. El discurs de la transgressió s'abordà mitjançant l’ApS per a la justícia social i va resultar en la implicació professional d'alguns estudiants en les organitzacions civils participants. Els reptes del procés d'aprenentatge foren: formulació de problemes; gestió d'incerteses; integració de diferents interessos i rols; i habilitats interpersonals. Per això, l'autora desenvolupà un valorat mòdul d'Intel·ligència Emocional, animat a encarar punts paralitzants del procés. Finalment, aquest treball proposa un conjunt d'elements fonamentals a considerar en un esquema eficaç per a aplicar l'enfocament td a l’EESD, que emmarqui de forma metòdica el discurs sobre la qüestió social en joc: treballar sobre problemes complexos del món real; involucrar diverses disciplines i àrees; facilitar la cooperació ciència-societat i els processos. Finalment, aquest treball proposa un conjunt d’elements fonamentals a considerar en un esquema eficaç per a aplicar l'enfocament transdisciplinarietat a l’EESD, que emmarqui de forma metòdica el discurs sobre la qüestió social en joc: treballar sobre problemes complexos del món real; involucrar diverses disciplines i àrees; facilitar la cooperació ciència-societat i els processos d'aprenentatge mutu; integrar tipus de coneixement; recolzar-se en pràctiques disciplinàries i interdisciplinàries
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Wisener, Katherine Marie. "Aboriginal health education programs : examining sustainability." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/33830.
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Despite evidence supporting the ongoing provision of health education interventions in First Nations communities, there is a paucity of research that specifically addresses how these programs should be designed to ensure sustainability and long-term effects. Using a Community-Based Research approach, constructivist theories, and Indigenous methods, a collective case study was completed with three Canadian First Nations communities to address the following research question: What factors are related to sustainable health education programs, and how do they contribute to and/or inhibit program success in an Aboriginal context? A university-community partnership titled the Community Learning Centres (CLC) provided the context for the collective cases. CLC involved the development of three learning centres (CLCs), each of which provided community members with a physical space and online resources pertaining to culturally relevant health education. Semi-structured interviews and a sharing circle were completed with 19 participants, including members of community leadership, external partners, and program staff and users. Document review served to verify information described by participants. Analysis included a description of each case (within-case analysis) and a thematic analysis across cases (cross-case analysis). Seven factors were identified to either promote or inhibit CLC sustainability, including: 1) community uptake (if and how users access the CLC); 2) environmental factors (conditions within the CLC and the community); 3) stakeholder awareness and support (presence and extent of support exhibited by stakeholder groups); 4) presence of a champion (passionate leaders dedicated to CLC success); 5) availability of funding (ability to identify and allocate program funding); 6) fit and flexibility (CLCs’ ability to address user needs and community priorities), and; 7) capacity and capacity building (capacity to sustain the CLC and use learned skills to address other health education issues). These findings were integrated into practical sustainability tools where each factor was provided a working definition, influential moderators, key evaluation questions, and their relationship to other factors. These tools represent the development of a sustainability framework that is grounded in, and builds on existing research, and can be used by First Nations communities and universities to support effective sustainability planning for community-based health education intervention.
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Heilmayr, Robert. "Sustainability Reporting At Higher Education Institutions." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2006. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/979.
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Multiple declarations, governmental and non-profit organizations and universities have issued a call for proper reporting of social and environmental impacts and initiatives within academia. Such reporting can increase awareness of environmental and social impacts, encourage development of sustainable policy and build a campus culture more committed to sustainability. Sustainability reporting at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has the added benefit of being a powerful teaching aid. This paper follows multiple lines of inquiry in order to determine whether HEIs are taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by sustainability reporting. The analysis evaluates the history of sustainability reporting at HEIs and compares the practices of HEIs to those in other sectors. We use the Pacific Sustainability Index to methodically evaluate and rank the social and environmental reporting of 20 HEIs. We find that sustainability reporting is generally less rigorous in academia than other industries. The analysis emphasizes the need for greater institutional support for sustainability reporting at HEIs.
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Kronenberg, Johannes, Anastasia Laukkanen, and Théodore Fischer. "The neglected child of sustainability education." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-16945.
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Since 1970s neoclassical economics has been identified as a major obstacle for reaching sustainability. Despite the world's growing attention to sustainability education, there has been just few attempts to assess the content and the competency building of sustainable development (SD) postgraduate programs. None has been evaluating if and how economics is integrated in such curricula. This study fills this gap in the empirical research by conducting a novel assessment of six leading SD transdisciplinary master programs in Sweden. Our study uses a qualitative approach to inquire how these programs teach students to understand, challenge and reorient dominant neoclassical economics and the reasoning behind it. Results revealed that the absence of an agreed-upon definition of both the economy and sustainability lead to the wide range of approaches on how to introduce the place and the role of the economy. Every program relies on their own understanding, perspectives and resourcefulness, while agreeing that their teaching should challenge neoclassical economics and engage their students in the various scales of system change. Yet, the time allocated to economics teaching does not exceed 8% of the programs ECTS. We argue that economics should take a much bigger place in postgraduate SD education. A proposed “transdisciplinary economics” calls for more collaboration with students, academia and outside of academia in a joint search for economic alternatives.
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Miller, VirgÃnia Moura. "Environmental education for sustainability sustainability environmental education: the paths of Nursery School Teacher Izaldino in Maceià - AL." Universidade Federal do CearÃ, 2013. http://www.teses.ufc.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=10948.
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This work entitled "From Environmental Education for Sustainability to the Sustainability of Environmental Education: the paths of the Nursery School Teacher Izaldino in Maceià - AL" aims to: a) analyze how the EE is being deployed in the Nursery School Teacher Izaldino â CEMI, and what guarantees that it be implemented with Sustainability b) register the actions of ongoing training in EE developed by the Municipal Education Office of Maceià â SEMED, and the Environmental Education Program Lagoa Viva - PEALV also in MaceiÃ, and propose suggestions that contribute to the realization of EE in municipal schools. The methodology is qualitative in nature, characterized by a case study. In order to construct the theoretical framework, we reviewed the literature which discussed the Environmental Crisis, the prospect of Sustainability, Sustainability and Education, the ideological character of EE, the process of institutionalization of EE in Brazil, the Absences and Emergencies in Education and in Educators Development. Following, we present the Environmental in Childhood Education. Subsequently, we introduce some of the history, goals and actions developed by PEALV as well as the story of CEMI, analyzing how it has educated for Sustainability, and with sustainability in its pedagogical project for promotion of EE with insertion and integration in the community where the school is located. We also reflect on the conceptions of EE and environment school community (administrators, teachers, auxiliary staff and studentâs parents), and noticed some contradictions, part of the respondents feature a naturalistic view of the Environment and a behaviorist conception of EE. However, this fact has not compromised the sustainability of EE implementation in school. We could verify that the basic principles of ecological literacy (partnership, interdependence, the cyclical nature which in education, can also be understood as the cyclical exchange of information, flexibility, and diversity) proposed by Capra (1996), are present in school community of CEMI, showing by this, that the school is on the right way for the construction of Sustainability, and also, for the construction of Sustainable Educational SpacesO presente trabalho intitulado ―Da EducaÃÃo Ambiental para a Sustentabilidade à Sustentabilidade da EducaÃÃo Ambiental: os caminhos da Creche Escola Mestre Izaldino em Maceià â AL‖ teve como objetivo: a) analisar como a EA està sendo implantada na Creche Escola Mestre Izaldino - CEMI e o que garante que ela seja implantada com Sustentabilidade; b) registrar as aÃÃes de formaÃÃo continuada em EA desenvolvidas pela Secretaria Municipal de EducaÃÃo de Maceià â SEMED e pelo Programa de EducaÃÃo Ambiental Lagoa Viva â PEALV em Maceià e c) propor sugestÃes que contribuam para a efetivaÃÃo da EducaÃÃo Ambiental na rede municipal de ensino. A metodologia utilizada caracteriza-se como qualitativa, por um Estudo de Caso. Para a construÃÃo do referencial teÃrico fez-se uma revisÃo da literatura onde discutiu-se a crise ambiental, a perspectiva da Sustentabilidade, Sustentabilidade e EducaÃÃo, o carÃter ideolÃgico da EA, o processo de InstitucionalizaÃÃo da EA no Brasil, as AusÃncias e EmergÃncias em EducaÃÃo e FormaÃÃo de Educadores, e o Ambiental na EducaÃÃo Infantil. Seguiu-se apresentando um pouco da histÃria e objetivos e aÃÃes desenvolvidas pelo Programa de EducaÃÃo Ambiental Lagoa Viva - PEALV. Contou-se a histÃria da CEMI, analisando como ela tem educado para a Sustentabilidade e com Sustentabilidade no seu projeto pedagÃgico de promoÃÃo da EA com inserÃÃo e integraÃÃo com a comunidade onde a escola està inserida. Fez-se tambÃm uma reflexÃo sobre as concepÃÃes de EA e de Meio Ambiente da comunidade escolar (gestoras, professoras, auxiliares de serviÃos gerais e pais/mÃes de alunos/as) e percebeu-se algumas contradiÃÃes, em que certa parte dos(as) entrevistados(as) apresentam uma visÃo naturalista de Meio Ambiente e outra uma concepÃÃo de EA comportamentalista, mas isto nÃo tem comprometido a sustentabilidade da implementaÃÃo da EA na escola. Pode-se verificar que os PrincÃpios BÃsicos da AlfabetizaÃÃo EcolÃgica (a parceria, a interdependÃncia, a natureza cÃclica â que na educaÃÃo pode ser entendido como o intercÃmbio cÃclico de informaÃÃo, a flexibilidade, e a diversidade) propostos por Capra (1996), estÃo presentes na comunidade escolar da CEMI, mostrando com isto que a escola està no caminho correto para a construÃÃo da Sustentabilidade, para a construÃÃo de um EspaÃo de Educadores SustentÃveis.
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Vosburg-Bluem, Bethany Ann. "Civic Sustainability Thinking: The Synergy Between Social Studies and Educating for Sustainability." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1354673663.
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Irwin, David Brian. "Weaving the threads of education for sustainability and outdoor education." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Educational Studies and Human Development, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/3637.
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Sustainability has become a buzz word of our time, although our developed world community is still coming to terms with what the word really means. Universities and polytechnics in Aotearoa New Zealand will have to change in many ways before sustainability can be considered to occupy a meaningful place in the tertiary education sector. However the change process that sees an organisation moving towards sustainability is complex, and agency for change can be considered on many different levels including the individual identities of staff and students, the identity of managers, and the programme and wider organisational identities constructed by the communities that comprise them.
This qualitative research explores education for sustainability within the context of outdoor education using the Bachelor of Adventure Recreation and Outdoor Education (BRecEd) at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) (the programme into which the author teaches) as a case study. Participatory action research forms the overarching methodology for a multiple method approach to data collection. The research leans heavily on the lived experiences of staff and students within the programme, is woven with my own reflections, and incorporates many examples of students’ work. The weaving together of these experiences grounds the research and helps bring theory to life.
The research reveals the complexity of change towards more sustainable ways of practising outdoor education in an organisational setting. It explores the tensions that are encountered and mechanisms that have allowed for staff and students to engage in education for sustainability in a more meaningful way. The key themes of the research explore the intersection of identity construction processes and change agency, and it is argued these processes are inseparable for those concerned with organisational change towards sustainability.
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Birdsall, Sally. "The pedagogical realisation of education for sustainability." Thesis, University of Auckland, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/10326.
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The aim of this research was to investigate teachers' understandings of sustainability and ways in which they could be developed. How teachers translate these understandings into their pedagogy and its effects on children's understandings were explored. The impacts of learning about sustainability on teachers' identities were also investigated. This research used a qualitative-interpretivist mode of inquiry with a case study approach that utilised a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to answer the research questions that explored teacher participants' initial and developing understandings of sustainability during professional development. Two case studies describing and analysing practising teachers' translation of their understandings of sustainability into their pedagogy were constructed using interviews and documentary data that included planning and children's work. The final research focus explored the relationship between their understanding of sustainability and their sense of identity as education for sustainability (EfS) teachers. A definition of sustainability comprised of five components was developed. Three tools were constructed to measure the complexity and levels of teachers' understandings and identities. The first tool measured the complexity of their understandings using the five-component definition. Initially these understandings were simplistic and environmentally focused. The second tool measured their metacognitive awareness of sustainability which showed that about half of the participants were unaware of the complexity of this concept. The findings established that this tool could be used metacognitively by teachers to monitor their developing awareness. The third tool provided a mechanism by which teachers' understanding and awareness of sustainability, personal practices and professional beliefs could be analysed to place the teachers in categories of identity that provided information about their outlook on sustainability. All of these tools provided evidence that the pedagogical realisation of education for sustainability is a complex process. The professional development programme was thematically analysed and evaluated using a research-based generic model. Data from children's learning provided a further evaluation and demonstrated that a pedagogy that developed a deep understanding of sustainability is complex and is easily influenced by a teacher's identity and perception of sustainability. Consequently these teachers demonstrated their environmentally-scientific focus and these young children's understandings of sustainability did not reflect such a focus but they did develop a temporal awareness of sustainability. This research has highlighted the significance of identity that influences ontological change in teaching and learning about sustainability and recognises that changes in behaviour and values of teachers are the lynch-pin of any significant change in classroom pedagogy for sustainability.Whole document restricted until Jan. 2014, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.
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Bauer, Eric Douglas. "Ecoliteracy: Foundation of Vocationally Specific Sustainability Education." Thesis, Griffith University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367154.
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There is ample evidence that human actions are continuously and progressively straining planetary processes and systems vital for the wellbeing of the planet, as well as people themselves (WWF, 2012, 2014). Education has a key role to play in addressing these challenges. The role of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in addressing these challenges has also been recognized. However, little is understood about the preparedness of TVET educators, specialists in their vocational areas, to address environmental and sustainability issues. This action research study examines the relationship between educator ecoliteracy and educator ability to develop and deliver vocationally specific sustainability education, in a single TVET college in Canada.
The research study was undertaken over a 3-year period and involved 43 participants in total. Findings indicate that educators’ ecological knowledge, their collegial relationships and institutional processes are all significant in supporting attempts to revise vocational curriculum. Professional learning to improve vocational educators’ ecoliteracy requires more than deepening ecological knowledge, however. Also required is an understanding of the science of contemporary ecological issues and the relationship of those issues to broader socio-cultural and economic activities. In order to consider curriculum revision, educators thus need to personally value and prioritize such education as essential to the development of vocational competency amongst their students. Improving the ecoliteracy of the educator community, therefore, requires more than simply developing knowledge and skill in the scientific language of ecology; it also requires opportunities for educators to participate in institutional sustainability policies and practicesThesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith School of Environment
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
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Reese, Angela D. "Strategies for Organizational Sustainability in Higher Education." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/2578.
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The defunding of higher education at the state and national level following the 2008 recession created the need for administrators of public higher education institutions to develop and implement funding strategies to maintain organizational sustainability. State government administrators reduced spending approximately 26% per student across the nation, leaving higher education administrators challenged with adjusting organizational budgets to compensate for the reduction in state monetary support. A multiple case study design was used to explore funding strategies that community college business leaders used to support budget decisions that maintain organizational sustainability. Four leaders from 3 community colleges in Central Texas participated in semistructured interviews. Interviews were triangulated with reviews of historical school board documents. Data analysis included documents review, member checking, coding data by participant, and electronic data analysis software to determine the most frequent responses. The theory of organizational change was used as the conceptual framework for exploring strategies community college business leaders use for sustainable futures. Two themes that emerged from the analysis were business-focused planning and student success identifying that community college business leaders need to focus on offering affordable education that meets stakeholders' needs while implementing funding strategies to support budget decisions for organizational sustainability. The findings may impact social change when budget decisions are made with a focus on affordable and quality education that improves the lives of individuals, meets local workforce needs, and promotes economic development within communities.
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Akeel, Usman. "Engineering sustainability : devising a suitable sustainability education intervention for the Nigerian engineering curriculum." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2018. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10055656/.
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Despite its commitment to global sustainability pacts, Nigeria does not currently have a framework for sustainability in engineering education. This study aims to formulate a sustainability education intervention for the Nigerian engineering curriculum. Using the mixed-method approach, the study assessed the level of sustainability knowledge of the Nigerian engineering community, examined the sustainability content of the Nigerian engineering curriculum, and proposed a context-relevant sustainability education intervention. Data for the study were sourced variously from publications of regulatory bodies, engineering handbooks, surveys and workshops with stakeholders. The Nigerian engineering community was discovered to have low sustainability literacy based on a sustainability literacy test, level of stakeholder awareness of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, and self-assessment of sustainability knowledge. Both content analysis and stakeholder survey converged on the low sustainability content of the Nigerian engineering curriculum. With insights gained from the findings, a bipartite intervention consisting of a guideline and an introductory sustainable engineering course is proposed. Whilst the guideline specifies roles for government, regulators, university leaders and faculty, the designed course features 15-weekly topics for adoption in the engineering handbooks. Aspects of the proposed course trialled in a sustainable engineering workshop indicated favourable prospects for the introduction of the course. Workshop participants were unanimous in declaring the usefulness and expediency of sustainability education in the Nigerian engineering curriculum. Although the research findings are particularly relevant to the Nigerian engineering curriculum, the study confirms the slow uptake of sustainability education in the developing world. By closely examining the feasibility of sustainability education intervention in the engineering curriculum in a different cultural and social setting, the research contributes to the global efforts towards the reorientation of engineering education to sustainability.
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Lynam, Abigail. "Embracing Developmental Diversity| Developmentally Aware Teaching, Mentoring, and Sustainability Education." Thesis, Prescott College, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3629433.
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This research examined the personal, professional, and developmental impact of introducing a constructive developmental perspective to faculty and students in a post-secondary program in sustainability education and leadership development. It also explored the relationship between adult development and sustainability education, teaching, and mentorship. There is increasing emphasis on integrating human interiors (values, beliefs, worldviews) in sustainability work. However, little research has examined the relationship between adult development and sustainability education. The purpose of this research was to explore deepening the transformative nature of learning and leadership development in graduate education through the use of a developmental framework and assessment, and to contribute to advancing the application of adult developmental research to adult learning and sustainability education. The site of study was Prescott College, and the sample of 11 included four Ph.D. faculty and seven students. This mixed-methods study included semi-structured interviews, a five-month action inquiry process, and a pre and post developmental assessment. The findings demonstrate that sustainability is significantly different for individuals assessed at different developmental stages; learning about adult development is transformative developmentally, personally, and professionally; a developmental awareness may deepen the transformative impact of graduate sustainability education and leadership development; and teaching about adult development is more effective when it is developmentally responsive. Integrating a developmental awareness into graduate and sustainability education is recommended to support learning and growth at all stages of development, support the development of the educators themselves, and support skill development for working well with diverse groups.
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Burns, Heather L. "Education as Sustainability : an Action Research Study of the Burns Model of Sustainability Pedagogy." PDXScholar, 2009. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/942.
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Postsecondary teaching and learning must be reoriented to equip learners with the knowledge, skills, and values they will need for creating a more sustainable world. This action research study examined the effects of implementing the Bums model of sustainability pedagogy in university courses taught by the researcher. This model is comprised of five key dimensions: (1 )Content; (2)Perspectives; (3)Process; (4)Context; and (5)Design. The Burns model of sustainability pedagogy seeks to: (1) increase learners' systemic understanding of complex sustainability issues (Content); (2) provide learners with opportunities to think critically about dominant paradigms, practices and power relationships and consider complex ecological and social issues from diverse perspectives (Perspectives); (3) enhance learners' civic responsibility and intentions to work toward sustainability through active participation and experience (Process); (4) increase learners' understanding of and connection with the geographical place and the community in which they live (Context); and (5) utilize an ecological course design to create transformative learning (Design). This pedagogical model reflects education as sustainability, a transformative learning process through which learners' values and perspectives change so that they are able to embrace sustainability and take action for change.
Findings revealed that through the use of sustainability themes, students came to understand sustainability Content concretely, personally, and multidimensionally. Students understood multiple Perspectives and power relationships through experiential learning, through relationships with one another, by hopeful examples, and by learning to think critically. Due to a participatory and experiential learning Process, students expressed intentions to buy locally and to act directly for sustainable change. Through a focus on Context, students experienced stronger connections to their local community. A self-reflective teaching process and relational learning was important to the Design of a transformational learning process. The results show that the Burns model of sustainability pedagogy can be adapted to university courses in various disciplines.
This study contributes to the field of sustainability education by providing an example ofan effective model for teaching sustainability at the university level. In order to prepare diverse learners for leadership roles in a sustainable world, attention must be focused on integrating transformative sustainability pedagogy throughout postsecondary education.
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Law, Man-suet Michelle, and 羅文雪. "Achieving corporate sustainability through environmental education and training." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/206704.
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Education and training are recognized as the crux of developing green organizational cultures in the achievement of corporate sustainability. Should ecology training be linked with the practical work of corporate members? Should they “learn by doing” or “do by learning”? The present study covered the links between environmental education and training and its success in greening the employees and corporate cultures. It investigated the effectiveness of environmental training and models a suitable training approach in developing environmentally aware corporate cultures. The study first revealed the drivers and challenges of implementing environmental education and training in managerial perception. 13 environmental managers of sustainability leading corporations and governmental departments in Hong Kong were surveyed by either face-to-face interviews or mailed questionnaires survey.
The role of environmental education and training in raising employees’ awareness toward a more sustainable manner has been fully recognized by the surveyed mangers. However, engaging employees in environmental learning was found to be the single biggest challenge among the managers. Managers have faced a dilemma when designing training content and training approaches. A wide range of rationales and determining factors were identified in the study. They were employee interests and motivation, training practicability and applicability, justification of resources and continuity of training impacts.
A series of environmental education and awareness training programmes of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) were used as a case study. Evaluation of the training outcomes, in terms of changes in participants’ environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviour, was surveyed by using self-completion questionnaires with retrospective post- and then-test design. Across the 47 responses, the results show that employees gained knowledge and changed their values and behaviour towards the environment significantly. The acquisition of knowledge and attitude change leads to the development of green behaviour both in the workplace and at home.
Training design and approach, relevance and applicability of training content were found to have the greatest impact on the training outcomes. A combination of direct- and indirect- experiences in the training is also essential as the employees have direct contact with nature for affective-based attitudes while a proportion of indirect experience training is responsible for intellectual development. Training should be available for employees from each stratum in the company rather than only focusing on pinpointed management staff since it could promote a workable interface between employees and the corporation. Furthermore, organizational support including supervisory and peer support is vital to the training outcomes by encouraging employees to perform pro-environmental behaviour at work, in turn, greening the corporate culture. This study brings to the conclusion that, even though transition of sustainable corporate culture is a long process, it could be achievable in real-life businesses through utilizing an effective environmental education and training with properly designed strategies.published_or_final_version
Kadoorie Institute
Master
Master of Philosophy
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Agatha, Rachelle. "The Community College Funding Model| Changes for Success and Sustainability." Thesis, Fielding Graduate University, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10599139.
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The California Community Colleges funding model has rich historical, political, and cultural ties embedded in the model foundation. The general funding of the California Community Colleges is enrollment-based and shaped by a long history of legislation based on the K-12 education model. The funding is not tied to performance or outcomes and is driven by how many students are enrolled. Although there has been increased categorical funding in the California Community Colleges over the past 3 years to improve student success and equity, the overall persistence or completion rates of students remains low. Research has demonstrated that many other states are implementing an outcome-based or performance-based funding model to reduce the gaps and improve student success and fiscal sustainability. The purpose of the study was to explore the gaps in the current California Community Colleges funding model and the effect of these gaps on student success and fiscal sustainability for the California Community Colleges. The study additionally investigates effective models in order to design and develop a funding model that will support the mission and outcomes of the California Community Colleges system while planning for fiscal strength.
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Morris, Nicholas A. "Relocating Education for Sustainability: From the campus to the community." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1477287211778195.
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Nolan, Kathryn. "Biodiversity Education and Sustainability Consciousness : A study on the effect of biodiversity education on the sustainability consciousness of Irish Primary School Students." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för beteendevetenskap och lärande, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-166398.
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As we come to the end of the decade declared as United Nations Decade for Biodiversity 2011-2020, the impact humans are having our planet is clear. The current primary school children are the future decision makers, consumers and electors; therefore, they must be exposed to approaches that can assist development that is sustainable and that will prevent further degradation of our planet. A key way to achieve this is to transform the education current and future generations of children will receive. Education must address sustainable development to support the formation of responsible citizens, eager to actively engage in decision-making processes, environmental issues and societal matters. This can be assisted through a focus on a specific approach to Education for Sustainable Development, Biodiversity Education. To add to current research about this approach to ESD, I investigated the effect biodiversity education had on the sustainability consciousness of primary school children. I chose a qualitative method of data collection and analysis through focus group, semi-structured interviews with 5th class students. The results showed that the participants' sustainability awareness, regarding two of the three dimensions of sustainable development, was highly developed; the environmental dimension and the social dimension. There was less evidence of a consciousness for the economic dimension of SD. Therefore, biodiversity education had a positive influence on the participants' sustainability consciousness, making them more aware of sustainability issues and action-oriented to address these issues. However, they lacked one dimension of sustainability; therefore, their sustainability consciousness was not fully developed. Further research is needed to analysis and interpret the rationale as to why the economic dimension was less developed in these participants who attended a school that promotes biodiversity education.
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Mishina, Christy Lokelani. "Hawaiian Culture-Based Education| Reclamation of Native Hawaiian Education." Thesis, Prescott College, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10275900.
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American colonization of the Hawaiian Islands has brought about generations of Native Hawaiian learners being subjected to educational practices that are incompatible with core Indigenous beliefs. Consequently, Native Hawaiian learners have lower academic achievement than other ethnic groups in the islands. The lack of success is not confined to academics since Native Hawaiians are also underrepresented in material-economic, social-emotional, and physical wellbeing. Hawaiian culture-based education (HCBE) can be used to decolonize educational practices by increasing cultural relevancy and compatibility within schools. This study was conducted within a school founded explicitly for the education of Native Hawaiian children. The selected campus has approximately 80 teachers and 650 Native Hawaiian learners (age eleven to fifteen). The purpose of the study was to better understand implementation of the HCBE framework components and data was collected through surveys and semi-structured follow-up interviews. The findings showed that although there was a range of the extent the teachers at the school understood and implemented the various HCBE components, there was commitment to using Hawaiian language, knowledge, and practices as the content and context for student learning. The data also showed though teachers have a high level of understanding of the importance of relationship building, that building family and community relationships remains an area of challenge. Additionally, teachers pride themselves on delivering meaningful personalized learning experiences and assessments to their students, and would like their own professional development to be grounded in the same educational practices. This study provides baseline data to inform further growth.
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Fitzgerald, Laurel Jean. "Sustainability Education in Aotearoa New Zealand:theory, practice and possibility." Thesis, University of Canterbury. School of Teacher Education, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/9044.
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Sustainability education is a contested field in Aotearoa New Zealand, as it is in other countries. A variety of philosophical and theoretical interpretations and possibilities for practice therefore co-exist within this emerging field. This thesis develops a ‘complex perspective’ of sustainability education by exploring the way it is conceptualised in literature and the New Zealand curriculum, and interpreted in practice in the context of a New Zealand secondary school. Guided by the key contributing theories and a qualitative methodology, the thesis maps the complexity of the field from the macro- or global and international level to the micro- or local level using the reference points of theory, practice, and possibility.
Developed during and in response to an intense period of social and environmental change that shows no signs of abating, the thesis comprises two interrelated components. The first and more substantial component is the literature review. This takes account of situational factors that are giving rise to different conceptions and approaches to sustainability education and to contrasting views presented in literature and curriculum. Used as an umbrella term for all forms of education with environmental and sustainability foci, ‘sustainability education’ (in whatever form it takes) stands as an admission of broad social failure and the need for substantial change. Conceptions of sustainability education range from ‘education for sustainable development’ (ESD), which is advanced by the United Nations and other influential international organisations, to ‘education for sustainability’ (EfS), which has taken precedence over ‘environmental education’ (EE) in the New Zealand curriculum. The literature shows that this complex, contested, contextualised and emerging field is as much hopeful as it is critical.
The qualitative case study comprises the second interrelated component of the thesis. Grounded in the real-life context of a secondary school with a distinctive approach to teaching and learning, it involves an empirical investigation of the ways in which two teachers and a diverse group of Year 9 to Year 14 students understand and practice sustainability education. This component draws on the interpretive methods of interviewing and observation to afford an empathetic and multi-perspectival view of sustainability education in practice. The case does not strive to establish ‘truth’ but rather to be open to multiple truths, realities and meanings - in a manner that is consistent with the theories of social constructionism and interpretivism in particular.
It is suggested, through this study, that sustainability education cannot be confined to a stable conception or consistent framework, or approached through a programme of standardised levels and assessments. Representing a complex, multi-dimensional, dynamic and emergent concept, sustainability education may best be approached and sustained in a corresponding fashion, through multiple, critically-informed, and dialogically-linked points of entry.
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O'Sullivan, Ciaran Francis. "Sustainability in secondary education in England : an ethnographic study." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/3140.
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This research sets out to establish both the extent to which and the ways in which English Secondary schools have a school culture focusing upon sustainability. I visited three case study schools for six weeks each: these were carefully selected to represent a range of progress towards becoming sustainable schools. I visited two other ‘benchmark’ schools for two days each: these were chosen on the recommendations of school sustainability experts, and visiting them helped me judge the progress my case-study schools had made. I took an ethnographic approach to the research, conducting about 80 interviews with various members of my three case study schools, also consulting school documents and undertaking observations of lessons and other aspects of school life. I discovered that the case-study schools had generally made little progress on sustainability, with most school members unaware or uncertain of the basic principles of sustainability. The schools focused much more on students’ examination results and behaviour than sustainability. Leadership structures and formal student involvement in leadership at the case study schools were not conducive to sustainability. Links between campus operations and the taught curriculum were mostly absent, and where sustainability was included in lessons, it tended to be largely theoretical, with few references to its impact on the students and daily life. In the light of the case-study findings and a wide-ranging literature review, a series of recommendations are made, both for secondary schools and for national education policy. These relate, for example, to patterns of school leadership, to the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of school leaders and teachers, to strengthening the role of sustainability in both the formal and informal curriculum, and to ensuring that students emerge better equipped for a world in which sustainability agendas will be of increasing importance.
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Allison, Georgiana Gillian. "Perceptions of sustainability within the English Further Education sector." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2016. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/17271/.
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This study investigates the relationship between college leader’s perceptions of sustainability and sustainable development in the English Further Education (FE) sector, and the nature of its practice within individual colleges and the sector as a whole. Previous research investigating perceptions and practice of sustainability within education has almost exclusively focussed on Higher Education (HE) institutions, with much research also focussing on describing institutional progress without investigating the facilitating leadership conditions. This study makes a unique contribution to knowledge by investigating a previously unexplored sector through the use of the Transition Management Framework as the study’s conceptual framework. A key outcome of this study is the adaptation of the Transition Management Framework that could be used by the sector and its leadership structure to facilitate a reassessment and reinvigoration of sustainability leadership within the sector. The research design is based on a Grounded Theory methodology that used semi-structured interviews and focus groups as the primary method of data collection, with content analysis of significant sector stakeholders’ websites and publications forming a secondary method of data collection. The first key finding of this research was that the relationship between how sustainability is conceptualised and how it is practised is weak, with perceptions often referring to two different interpretations, neither of which fully addresses the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainable development. Indeed, whilst perceptions focus on the environment, it is to this that the sector appears least accountable. This power pointing and a lack of accountability held by all levels of management within FE toward the environment was the study’s second key finding. Both of these findings are intrinsically linked to the third, which is that the Transition Management Framework’s focus on incremental change may sufficiently be able to change practices at a niche level, but unless operating within a more sustainable economic paradigm, the reach of incremental action may always be limited.
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Huang, Tao. "Reforming Industrial Design Education in Mainland China for Sustainability." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/27012.
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Industrial Design in China seldom addresses the issue of sustainability in mass production. Failure to incorporate sustainable design as a core principle will result in long term environmental and economic loss for both business and society. This research studies the current Industrial Design educational system in Mainland China and proposes a new educational framework to engage sustainability as a design objective.
This study adopts the philosophical perspectives of constructivism, sustainable design theory, critical pedagogy, and systems thinking. Literature related to sustainability is collected and organized and overlaid with educational constraints identified through the interviews with educators, students, and practitioners of Industrial Design in four major cities of Mainland China. Using the grounded theory approach, from these two sources a new educational framework is proposed. The educational framework categorizes courses in a four year undergraduate Industrial Design educational program into four domains: ecological literacy, artistic, technological, and professional. Suggestions for the appropriate timeline, content, and pedagogical approaches for curriculum are also provided. The proposed framework was then critically reviewed Chinese educators that served as feedback for the final proposition.Ph. D.
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Gardner, Ambar Alexis, and Ambar Alexis Gardner. "Sustainability Toolkit: An Education Tool for Behavioral Change Strategies." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625288.
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Purpose: There is a worldwide movement towards sustainability. A stepping-stone towards a sustainability conscience population starts in the education of the younger generation. Focusing on improving sustainability education will shift and shape youths' interests and lifestyles into an educated community that will work sustainably. A sustainability conscience community will continue to make moral sustainable decisions in their future endeavors.
The gap between theory and practice of sustainability is substantial. Educational institutions must be the leaders in this subject to mold future generations’ incoming leaders into sustainability conscious critical thinkers. Current environmental issues such as climate change, CO2 Emissions, poverty and so on must impact these educational institutions to make sustainability education a priority in its curriculum. Addressing this problem requires a holistic approach which integrates sustainability education earlier on to grasp further understanding of sustainability actions in higher education and in society.
Sustainability education exists in all levels. Although, sustainability education is much more prominent in higher education institutions as opposed to Elementary, Middle, and High Schools. Consequently, less students are prepared with the desired sustainability knowledge needed in higher education and students' future careers to instill in their disciplines since behavior is achieved through repetitive actions that were not set as a foundation earlier in their education.
Approach: There were two approaches in this research. The first research approach was conducting a survey in 120 students, half of them in secondary education and the other half in higher education. The survey was formatted to analyze three different questions: 1) whether students in high school and higher education knew about sustainability 2) whether students' lifestyle consisted of pro-environmental actions, 3) and whether they learned to perform these actions in secondary education or higher education. The second approach was to create an educational tool to implement sustainability behavioral change strategies in their everyday lifestyles.
Findings: Study found that most students are aware about sustainability. However, most students engage in pro-environmental actions in higher education because they started learning about them in higher education. Therefore, although most secondary education students are aware about sustainability, they aren't engaging in pro-environmental actions. In conclusion, a sustainability toolkit was created based on behavioral change strategies to reduce water usage, CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and waste output in their school and everyday lifestyles.
Value: The efforts of sustainability in Higher Education have been clear in most recent years, although, there is still much resistance to change, transform and reimagine society and education for sustainability. The future of life and social world on Earth is in jeopardy since poverty, climate change, and lack of peace is occurring worldwide. Sustainability education must respond and act on this challenge subsequently to respect all forms of life and future generations. The mission of the sustainability toolkit is to create a pedagogy to assist educational institutions and communities to develop the skills and knowledge to work sustainably.
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LaFleur, W. (William). "Education for sustainability: a sensory ethnography in biodynamic agriculture." Master's thesis, University of Oulu, 2019. http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfioulu-201906252630.
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Abstract. Since the inception of compulsory education in the Western world, learning in school has privileged our senses of sight, hearing and touch. The senses of smell and taste have been undeveloped or even neglected in formal education based on the assumption that they are not senses of knowledge (Classen, 1999). In the twenty-first century, environmentally injurious phenomena related to climate change and biodiversity loss have profound impacts on our total environments and our whole bodies—especially beyond what is perceptible by vision, hearing, video and text. This thesis uses sensory ethnographic material collected in a biodynamic farm in northern Italy and in the international Slow Food movement to explore how the senses are engaged in generating and redefining values concerning sustainability and sustainable practice. The sensory ethnographic material is buttressed by a history of the senses in Western thought and culture and explores why dominant ways of understanding the senses in the West are out of step with how humans actually learn. Through this discussion it is argued that theoretically, methodologically and practically dissolving Cartesian ontology is a precondition for sustainability of any kind. This sets up the sensory ethnographic material where I draw from cultural and phenomenological theories of the senses, perception and a theory of place to situate the biodynamic farm and Slow Food movement as place-events of sustainable practice, activism, and education. I then explore how sustainable values are learned through one’s multisensory emplacement within such contexts. The thesis is meant to contribute to discussions about how humans learn in the world and provide an opening from which to explore the possibilities of holistically and explicitly educating the senses in non/formal education. Such considerations are aimed at better preparing learners to actively perceive their world beyond the means of pen, paper, video, debate and discussion. The value of this thesis lies in its interdisciplinarity and the possibilities it raises for reappraising the education of the human sensorium in the Anthropocene.
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Payne, Cara. "Education for sustainability: An ethnographic study of 15 year-2/3 rural Western Australian children’s attitudes on sustainability." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2015. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1630.
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The study occurred in rural Western Australia in 2011, during UNESCO‟s Decade of Education for Sustainability Development, when sustainability became one of three cross-curriculum priorities of the Australian Curriculum. The study involved the development and implementation of a sustainability focused science program embedded in a class of 15 Year-2/3primary participants. The study emphasised a qualitative approach, but also included embedded quantitative data analysis. The aim of the science program focussed on the enhancement of the children‟s attitudes towards sustainability, to equip them with the skills needed to change their behaviours in relation to practicing the principles of sustainability. The children‟s attitudes towards sustainability were assessed before and after engaging in the program. A range of observation techniques identified changes in attitudes and behaviours, including children‟s work samples, teacher reflections, interviews and vignettes constructed from the synthesis of this data. In addition, both pre and post program questionnaires were administered to further assess attitudinal changes. The research offers an insight into children‟s attitudes to sustainability, as well as junior primary science learning and teaching practices that encourage decision making for sustainable development.
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Hagglund, Hans. "A Sustainability "Green" Certification Audit of Food Service Operations and the Development of a Restaurant Sustainability Instrument." Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2013. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/5639.
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This study investigates current green restaurants certifications as well as developing a new more user friendly certification. First, a fact finding investigation to find the most established and commonly utilized green restaurant certifications. Second, a new green certification was developed. Third, chosen green restaruant certifications were compared. Last, the new green certification analyzed wether restaurants in the central Florida area utilized green practices.Ph.D.
Doctorate
Dean's Office, Education
Education and Human Performance
Education; Hospitality Education
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Little, David L. II. "MEASURING POST-SECONDARY STEM MAJORS' ENGAGEMENT IN SUSTAINABILITY: THE CREATION, ASSESSMENT, AND VALIDATION OF AN INSTRUMENT FOR SUSTAINABILITY CURRICULA EVALUATION." UKnowledge, 2014. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/stem_etds/3.
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Ongoing changes in values, pedagogy, and curriculum concerning sustainability education necessitate that strong curricular elements are identified in sustainability education. However, quantitative research in sustainability education is largely undeveloped or relies on outdated instruments. In part, this is because no widespread quantitative instrument for measuring related educational outcomes has been developed for the field, though their development is pivotal for future efforts in sustainability education related to STEM majors.
This research study details the creation, evaluation, and validation of an instrument – the STEM Sustainability Engagement Instrument (STEMSEI) – designed to measure sustainability engagement in post-secondary STEM majors. The study was conducted in three phases, using qualitative methods in phase 1, a concurrent mixed methods design in phase 2, and a sequential mixed methods design in phase 3. The STEMSEI was able to successfully predict statistically significant differences in the sample (n= 1017) that were predicted by prior research in environmental education. The STEMSEI also revealed statistically significant differences between STEM majors’ sustainability engagement with a large effect size (.203 ≤ η2 ≤ .211). As hypothesized, statistically significant differences were found on the environmental scales across gender and present religion. With respect to gender, self-perceived measures of emotional engagement with environmental sustainability was higher with females while males had higher measures in cognitive engagement with respect to knowing information related to environmental sustainability. With respect to present religion, self-perceived measures of general engagement and emotional engagement in environmental sustainability were higher for non-Christians as compared to Christians. On the economic scales, statistically significant differences were found across gender. Specifically, measures of males’ self-perceived cognitive engagement in knowing information related to economic sustainability were greater than those of females. Future research should establish the generalizability of these results and further test the validity of the STEMSEI.
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Bamford, Kathleen. "The Role Of Motivation And Curriculum In Shaping Pro-Sustainable Attitudes And Behaviors In Students." ScholarWorks @ UVM, 2015. http://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/326.
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Sustainability is an area of growing pertinence as our future and the future of our planet depends on its acceptance and application. Determining patterns in pro-sustainable attitudes and behaviors, and revealing motivations behind these behaviors have important implications for the future of sustainability education. The primary objective of this study is to discover the relationships between educational experience and sustainability attitudes and behaviors in elementary school students. A secondary objective is to determine the motivation behind pro-sustainability behaviors and to establish the role this plays in educational programs. The study utilizes mixed methodology through two modes of data collection: 1. Student surveys, and 2. Teacher questionnaires. The surveys are self-report and were analyzed quantitatively to determine patterns. Ninety seven students (63 from a school with sustainability based curriculum, Sustainability Academy at Barnes (SAB), and 34 from a general curriculum school without a specific sustainability focus, CP Smith) in grades 3-5 completed a 20 question survey which measured sustainability attitudes and behaviors. Students involved in a sustainability education program scored higher on every indicator, and highest and lowest indicators for attitude and behavior were the same for both schools, showing distinct areas of strengths and needs. The average mean scores for attitudes were higher than the average mean scores for behavior for both schools. SAB students had a significantly higher amount of correlations between attitudes and behaviors than C.P Smith students did. The questionnaires are qualitative and are structured, with open ended responses. The questionnaires were completed by the five teachers of the SAB students who completed the survey. The eighteen questionnaire questions are focused on what sustainability means to the teachers, how it is used in their curriculum, and perceived student sustainability attitudes/behavior. Social justice was the most mentioned concept relating to sustainability. Other important factors were: community, opportunity, adult role models, and socio-economic barriers to sustainable attitudes and behaviors. Students from the sustainability focused program seemingly hold both sustainability based attitudes and behaviors as a higher priority; however, the schools had the same areas of needs. Future sustainability education curriculum would benefit from focusing on transportation and alternatives to consumption. Also, attitudes towards recycling/reusing and borrowing have shown to be closely tied to attitudes in other areas of sustainability; therefore, strengthening attitudes in these areas will likely affect attitudes across sustainability. A cross curricular sustainability program with a focus on social justice issues and experiential learning, experienced with strong role models, appears to develop students with more advanced sustainability attitudes and behaviors than programs with no sustainability curriculum.
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Giddings, Jeffrey Michael. "Influential Factors in the Sustainability of Clinical Legal Education Programs." Thesis, Griffith University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367752.
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This thesis considers how to best recognise and realise the contributions that clinical methodologies can make to legal education. The use of experiential learning methods and the combining of community service with student learning distinguish clinical teaching from other forms of legal education. The thesis focuses on making the most of this distinctiveness by deepening the understanding of the factors that influence the establishment and sustainability of clinical programs. It will be argued that sustainability can be promoted through the constructive integration of clinical methods and insights across the various activities of a law school.
Clinical legal education programs often face a tenuous existence unless they are recognised as an integral part of the legal education project. A series of factors need to work together in order for a program to be established and then sustained. While no single factor can be taken to ensure the establishment and sustainability of a clinic program, the commitment and understanding of key staff to the clinic (both clinic supervisors and, beyond the clinic, law school leaders) is central to both establishment and sustainability. It appears that establishment is influenced more by contextual factors beyond the law school, whereas sustainability and continuing development are closely linked to factors more specific to each individual law school.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Law School
Arts, Education and Law
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Woodward, Amanda S. "Sustainability and architectural education transforming the culture of architectural education in the United States /." online access from Digital Dissertation Consortium access full-text, 2007. http://libweb.cityu.edu.hk/cgi-bin/er/db/ddcdiss.pl?3267896.
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Packard, Jill M. E. "Environmental education and the dimensions of sustainability: An analysis of the curriculum of the Cuahoga Valley Education Center." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1181072399.
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Loving, Virginia. "The Sustainability of a Coaching Model for Beginning Principals." VCU Scholars Compass, 2011. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2382.
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Abstract THE SUSTAINABILIY OF A COACHING MODEL FOR BEGINNING PRINCIPALS By Virginia F. Loving A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2011 Director: R. Martin Reardon, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Education This phenomenological study sought to determine what coaching-induced practices are acquired during novice principals first year as principal, and the sustainability of coaching-induced practices once the coach has been removed. This study identified skills learned while novice principals participated in a coaching program, and the extent to which these practices continued into the second, third, and fourth year of their principalship (as appropriate) once the coaching had concluded. Face-to-face interviews were recorded, transcribed, and reviewed to provide insight into common themes from the participants. Direct quotations about the experience were then placed in a narrative to describe the phenomenon of the coaching experience as seen through the eyes of the participants. After a careful review of the information, the findings reveal, that indeed, components of the coaching experience are sustainable once the coach has been removed. The common elements were data collection and analysis, confidence, feedback, finding a focus, and self-reflection.
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Bosire, Samuel Mobisa. "A sustainability reporting framework for South African Higher Education Institutions." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1016126.
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Sustainability has gained prominence globally among nations, regions and organisations as a result of factors such as the effects of climate change on the environment, diminishing natural resources and rising population growth with their concomitant impact on economies and social systems. South Africa is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) that promotes international principles and best practices on sustainable development. Sustainability Reporting is one such best practice. Sustainability Reporting is imperative for good governance and organisations are now expected to support sustainability issues, risks and performance in a balanced and reasonable way. The United Nations and other global bodies have been in the vanguard in promoting guidelines for sustainability reporting with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) being the most Prominent Sustainability reporting guideline. The South African Higher Education Institutions generate a number of reports in the course of any given academic year. As has been the case in the global corporate world, failures in governance in some South African universities point to weaknesses in their governance, especially when it comes to oversight of the operations of institutions. Considering this, it is important to critically examine strategic planning processes to understand the aspects that are important for the survival of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and therefore they should be regularly and closely monitored. The study begins by exploring literature relating to strategic planning, governance, sustainability reporting practices and Business Intelligence (BI) technologies in Higher Education. The primary objective of the investigation is to propose a sustainability reporting framework for Higher Education Institutions in South Africa. It is argued that with the aid of appropriate BI tools, the proposed Sustainability Reporting framework would be useful in tracking progress in the implementation of strategic plans and at the same time strengthen governance in institutions. The study identified elements of Sustainability Reporting that are important for strategic planning. To develop the proposed framework, an empirical investigation was undertaken. Four online questionnaires were completed and returned by 108 participants comprising of Registrars and Information Managers at 23 South African Higher Education Institutions as well as to Information Managers in selected International Higher Education Institutions and Managers at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU). The online questionnaires were developed to elicit information to include in the proposed framework. To analyse results, both descriptive and inferential statistics such as Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used. Results from the surveys revealed that Higher Education Institutions globally and in South Africa are grappling with the same issues. When it comes to Sustainability Reporting, factors such as information culture and Business Intelligence maturity levels were not found to be very different among the various institutions. In the case study at NMMU, correlational analysis confirmed that variables such as Management buying and the availability of BI reports were positively related to effective strategic planning and vice versa. Similarly, a strong correlation was observed between reporting guidelines and strategic planning. Moreover, the study highlighted the critical role of management and leadership in a university in creating an environment that supports Sustainability Reporting. In conclusion, it was recommended that efforts should be directed at creating awareness and at training staff on aspects that promote sustainability. It is incumbent upon the institution to take advantage of and promote technological tools and techniques to enable the easy flow of data and information in understandable and usable formats to all its stakeholders. Finally, a Framework for Sustainability Reporting for Higher Education Institutions (FSRHEI) and guidelines for implementing Sustainability Reports are proposed.
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au, sheehy@essun1 murdoch edu, and Lucy Ann Sheehy. "Goal Setting for Sustainability: A New Method of Environmental Education." Murdoch University, 2006. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20061101.85105.
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If current environmental problems are to be addressed and future environmental problems are to be prevented, significant changes are needed in the way people live. Environmental education has been identified as an important tool for encouraging people to make the changes needed for sustainability. However, environmental education has been largely ineffective in doing this. Education about the environment is being achieved, but education that creates the skills and motivation for action is not.
The purpose of this research was to investigate the potential of goal setting to be used in environmental education programs to develop the skills and motivation required to change environmental behaviour and create positive environmental outcomes. Goal setting is one of the most replicable and reliable of psychology theories, with extensive evidence of its benefits for increasing performance and changing behaviour. The premise of this research was to take an already proven and well-established behaviour change theory and apply it within environmental education programs.
The first step was to develop a framework, which enabled goal setting to be incorporated into a program. To do this the environmental behaviour change literature was reviewed and the components of successful environmental education were identified and incorporated into the framework. The goal setting literature was also reviewed to determine the characteristics of an effective goal and how goal setting could be facilitated to create greater goal achievement. As there has been little research on the communitys attitudes towards goal setting a questionnaire was developed to determine if the Perth community uses goals, the characteristics of those goals and how those goals may be linked to behaviour. The survey indicated that most people were already using goals in their daily lives and the majority of people would respond positively to the use of goal setting in an environmental education program. Thus, a new environmental education framework was developed which included providing action knowledge, teaching goal setting skills, setting goals and providing continued feedback and support. The proposed environmental education framework was then implemented and evaluated through two environmental education programs, Green Houses and Living Smart.
The Green Houses program assessed the effectiveness of the framework for reducing household energy consumption and the effectiveness of different communication methods for delivering the framework. Personal communication through the workshop was the most effective method for changing behaviour, with workshop participants reducing their energy consumption by 17%. The website and booklet approach also had reductions in energy consumption (7% & 8%, respectively). The schools group was the only group not to achieve a reduction, suggesting that what the students learnt about energy saving was not being transferred to the home environment or impacting on their parents behaviour. The groups that set goals reduced their energy consumption by an additional 5% compared to the corresponding control groups and maintained those savings for a significantly longer period of time.
The Living Smart program then assessed the effectiveness of the framework for creating behaviour change across a range of sustainability topics. As a result of the program, participants significantly increased both their environmental knowledge and sustainable behaviours. A control group that received the same environmental information as the Living Smart group, but no goal setting skills, only increased their environmental knowledge. This demonstrated that environmental information alone is not sufficient for changing behaviour. The qualitative evaluation identified that goal setting facilitated behaviour change in participants because it gave them direction and strategy and increased their motivation and commitment to changing their behaviour. Importantly, the goal setting process worked equally well across all the sustainability topics, suggesting that the tool works for a variety of behaviours, not just energy conservation.
In conclusion, the goal setting process and framework created effective behaviour change that was maintained longer than when goal setting is not used. The goal setting process and framework can be delivered effectively through a range of communication strategies and can be applied effectively to a range of environmental behaviours. Therefore, goal setting is an effective and valuable behaviour change tool that has great potential across a range of environmental education programs to create positive environmental outcomes in, for and about the environment.
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Sheehy, Lucy Ann. "Goal setting for sustainability: a new method of environmental education." Sheehy, Lucy Ann (2006) Goal setting for sustainability: a new method of environmental education. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2006. http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/307/.
Full textAbstract:
If current environmental problems are to be addressed and future environmental problems are to be prevented, significant changes are needed in the way people live. Environmental education has been identified as an important tool for encouraging people to make the changes needed for sustainability. However, environmental education has been largely ineffective in doing this. Education about the environment is being achieved, but education that creates the skills and motivation for action is not.
The purpose of this research was to investigate the potential of goal setting to be used in environmental education programs to develop the skills and motivation required to change environmental behaviour and create positive environmental outcomes. Goal setting is one of the most replicable and reliable of psychology theories, with extensive evidence of its benefits for increasing performance and changing behaviour. The premise of this research was to take an already proven and well-established behaviour change theory and apply it within environmental education programs.
The first step was to develop a framework, which enabled goal setting to be incorporated into a program. To do this the environmental behaviour change literature was reviewed and the components of successful environmental education were identified and incorporated into the framework. The goal setting literature was also reviewed to determine the characteristics of an effective goal and how goal setting could be facilitated to create greater goal achievement. As there has been little research on the community's attitudes towards goal setting a questionnaire was developed to determine if the Perth community uses goals, the characteristics of those goals and how those goals may be linked to behaviour. The survey indicated that most people were already using goals in their daily lives and the majority of people would respond positively to the use of goal setting in an environmental education program. Thus, a new environmental education framework was developed which included providing action knowledge, teaching goal setting skills, setting goals and providing continued feedback and support. The proposed environmental education framework was then implemented and evaluated through two environmental education programs, Green Houses and Living Smart.
The Green Houses program assessed the effectiveness of the framework for reducing household energy consumption and the effectiveness of different communication methods for delivering the framework. Personal communication through the workshop was the most effective method for changing behaviour, with workshop participants reducing their energy consumption by 17%. The website and booklet approach also had reductions in energy consumption (7% and 8%, respectively). The schools group was the only group not to achieve a reduction, suggesting that what the students learnt about energy saving was not being transferred to the home environment or impacting on their parent's behaviour. The groups that set goals reduced their energy consumption by an additional 5% compared to the corresponding control groups and maintained those savings for a significantly longer period of time.
The Living Smart program then assessed the effectiveness of the framework for creating behaviour change across a range of sustainability topics. As a result of the program, participants significantly increased both their environmental knowledge and sustainable behaviours. A control group that received the same environmental information as the Living Smart group, but no goal setting skills, only increased their environmental knowledge. This demonstrated that environmental information alone is not sufficient for changing behaviour. The qualitative evaluation identified that goal setting facilitated behaviour change in participants because it gave them direction and strategy and increased their motivation and commitment to changing their behaviour. Importantly, the goal setting process worked equally well across all the sustainability topics, suggesting that the tool works for a variety of behaviours, not just energy conservation.
In conclusion, the goal setting process and framework created effective behaviour change that was maintained longer than when goal setting is not used. The goal setting process and framework can be delivered effectively through a range of communication strategies and can be applied effectively to a range of environmental behaviours. Therefore, goal setting is an effective and valuable behaviour change tool that has great potential across a range of environmental education programs to create positive environmental outcomes in, for and about the environment.
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Jürgensen, Anna. "Education for sustainability developing a sustainable strategy for Zákolany School." Lund, Sweden : International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics, 2003. http://www.iiiee.lu.se/Publication.nsf/$webAll/E0FD748605E2FB40C1256DFF0031250B/$FILE/Anna_Jurgensen_HP.pdf.
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Brussow, Marcel W. "Transformation in higher education and financial sustainability : the IFIE-concept." Journal for New Generation Sciences, Vol 3, Issue 1: Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/465.
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Published ArticleThe world today is in a period of transition. Traditional higher education institutions also seem to have lost whatever stability they may once have possessed. A failure to respond to exponential change in society affects the economic growth and the development of any enterprise. Higher educational institutions have had to make a paradigm shift; no longer can they merely systematize value (using, measuring, controlling and managing knowledge), they must now create value by formulating and producing market-driven niche products (economic value of knowledge) congruent with the existing or desired mission, vision, strategic imperatives and intrinsic nature of the institution. It is argued that the adaptive responsiveness towards the implementation of the forces arising from the synergistic effects embedded within the integration of financial and intellectual capital (entrepreneurial skills and creative ideas in the minds of people that do not form part and parcel of a service contract/job description) shaped by entrepreneurial activity (IFIE-concept) could revitalize processes and attitudes and prevent educational institutions from becoming poverty stricken academic communities - i.e., transform the institution into robust and independent academic bodies with identity, integrity and self esteem.
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Michel, Caroline, Anmar Kamalaldin, and Kelly Sweet. "Cultivating the Future: Sustainability Education and the International Baccalaureate Programme." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för strategisk hållbar utveckling, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-12812.
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With an introduction to the Sustainability Challenge and Sustainable Development this paper discusses the role of education as an important strategy in the transition towards sustainability. It argues that Sustainability Education (SE) should be infused into the curricula, especially at the adolescence stage. The research uses the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development as an approach for backcasting from the envisioned future: the ideal secondary school graduate equipped to meet the Sustainability Challenge.By conducting a meta-analysis of literature, the research develops the Criteria for Analysing Sustainability Education (CASE). In terms of Knowledge, it advises developing awareness of Sustainable Development, Economy, Environment and Society. With regard to Skills, it includes Cognitive Thinking Skills, Practical and Functional Skills, and Interpersonal Skills. In relation to Attitudes, it comprises Attitudes about Self and Attitudes about People and Planet.The paper then evaluates the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme, using the CASE and interviews with practitioners, with focus on curriculum design of the Middle Years Programme, Diploma Programme, and Learner Profile. It concludes that the IB generally aligns with the criteria for quality SE, but some gaps exist. The paper suggests recommendations that can further improve the IB with regard to SE.
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Andersson, Pernilla. "The Responsible Business Person : Studies of business education for sustainability." Doctoral thesis, Södertörns högskola, Miljövetenskap, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-29400.
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Calls for the inclusion of sustainable development in the business curriculum have increased significantly in the wake of the financial crisis and increased concerns around climate change. This has led to the appearance of new initiatives and the development of new teaching approaches. This thesis explores business education at the upper secondary school level in Sweden following the inclusion of the concept of sustainable development in the curriculum. Drawing on poststructuralist discourse theory, the overarching purpose is to identify the roles of a responsible business person that are articulated in business education and to discuss how these roles could enable students to address sustainability issues. The thesis consists of four studies, based on textbook analyses, teacher interviews and classroom observations. Three categories of roles have been identified, implying that a business person is expected to either adapt to, add or create ethical values. These three categories are compared with the roles indicated in the environmental discourses constructed by Dryzek and the responsibility regimes developed by Pellizzoni. Drawing on Dryzek’s and Pellizzoni’s reasoning about which qualities are important for addressing sustainability issues, it is concluded that the roles identified in the studies could mean that students are unequipped (the adapting role), ill-equipped (the adding role) or better equipped (the creating role) to address uncertain and complex sustainability issues. The articles include empirical examples that illustrate how and in which situations specific roles are articulated, privileged or taken up. The examples also indicate how the scope for business students’ subjectivities are facilitated or hampered. It is suggested that the illustrative empirical examples could be used for critical reflection in order to enhance students’capabilities of addressing uncertain and complex sustainability issues and to improve educational quality in terms of scope for subjectivity.I kölvattnet av den finanskris som kulminerade 2008 och växande uppmärksamhet för olika miljö- och hållbarhetsutmaningar, som exempelvis klimatförändringar, har uppmaningar till integrering av ’hållbar utveckling’ i ekonomiutbildningar ökat internationellt. Miljö och hållbarhetsfrågor har sedan tidigare varit framskrivna i gymnasieskolans styrdokument men i samband med den senaste gymnasiereformen 2011 skrevs begreppet hållbar utveckling tydligare in i Företagsekonomiämnets ämnesplan. Denna avhandling undersöker integrering av hållbarhetsfrågor inom ramen för undervisning i företagsekonomi och närliggande ekonomiämnen på gymnasienivå. Utifrån ett poststrukturalistiskt perspektiv är det övergripande syftet att identifiera vilka företagarroller som artikuleras i läromedeloch undervisning, och även att diskutera i vilken utsträckning dessa roller förbereder de studerande, som framtida företagare, att hantera hållbarhetsfrågor. Avhandlingen består av fyra delstudier som baseras på analyser av läroböcker, lärarintervjuer och klassrumsobservationer. Tre kategorier av företagarroller, som rymmer olika förväntningar på en ansvarstagande företagare har identifierats. Dessa olika roller innebär att en företagare förväntas antingen: anpassa sig till etiska värden som uttrycks i lagar och regler, addera etiska värden som efterfrågas av andra, eller skapa etiska värden. Rollerna skiljer sig åt huruvida en företagare: skall hålla egna känslor för hållbarhetsfrågor åt sidan (anpassande rollen), har utrymme för egna känslor (adderande rollen) eller måste involvera egna känslor (skapande rollen), vid fattande av affärsbeslut. Dessa roller jämförs med de företagarroller som impliceras i Dryzeks miljödiskurser och Pellizzonis ansvarsregimer. Utifrån Dryzeks och Pellizzonis argument om vilka kvaliteter som är viktiga för att hantera hållbarhetsfrågor dras slutsatsen att de studerande kan bli: icke rustade (den anpassande rollen), illa rustade (den adderande rollen) eller bättre rustade (den skapande rollen), att hantera osäkra och komplexa hållbarhetsfrågor, beroende på hur hållbarhetsfrågor integreras i företagsekonomiundervisningen. De fyra artiklarna innehåller detaljerade exempel på hur och i vilka situationer specifika företagarroller artikuleras eller privilegieras. Exemplen visar också i vilka situationer utbildningen tilltalar de studerande och potentiellt blivande företagarna som moraliska subjekt och ger utrymme för de studerandes subjektivitet (som inbegriper förnuft och egna känslor).Dessa exempel kan användas av (bl a) lärare som utgångspunkt för kritisk reflektion i syfte att förstärka de studerandes förmågor att som framtida företagare hantera osäkra och komplexa hållbarhetsfrågor, samt för att utveckla utbildningens kvalitet avseende dess subjektifierande funktion.
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Stokes, Kristian. "Computing laboratory sustainability & utilization : initiatives for a greener education /." Online version of thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1850/10628.
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Sheehy, Lucy Ann. "Goal setting for sustainability: a new method of environmental education." Thesis, Sheehy, Lucy Ann (2005) Goal setting for sustainability: a new method of environmental education. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2005. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/307/.
Full textAbstract:
If current environmental problems are to be addressed and future environmental problems are to be prevented, significant changes are needed in the way people live. Environmental education has been identified as an important tool for encouraging people to make the changes needed for sustainability. However, environmental education has been largely ineffective in doing this. Education about the environment is being achieved, but education that creates the skills and motivation for action is not.
The purpose of this research was to investigate the potential of goal setting to be used in environmental education programs to develop the skills and motivation required to change environmental behaviour and create positive environmental outcomes. Goal setting is one of the most replicable and reliable of psychology theories, with extensive evidence of its benefits for increasing performance and changing behaviour. The premise of this research was to take an already proven and well-established behaviour change theory and apply it within environmental education programs.
The first step was to develop a framework, which enabled goal setting to be incorporated into a program. To do this the environmental behaviour change literature was reviewed and the components of successful environmental education were identified and incorporated into the framework. The goal setting literature was also reviewed to determine the characteristics of an effective goal and how goal setting could be facilitated to create greater goal achievement. As there has been little research on the community's attitudes towards goal setting a questionnaire was developed to determine if the Perth community uses goals, the characteristics of those goals and how those goals may be linked to behaviour. The survey indicated that most people were already using goals in their daily lives and the majority of people would respond positively to the use of goal setting in an environmental education program. Thus, a new environmental education framework was developed which included providing action knowledge, teaching goal setting skills, setting goals and providing continued feedback and support. The proposed environmental education framework was then implemented and evaluated through two environmental education programs, Green Houses and Living Smart.
The Green Houses program assessed the effectiveness of the framework for reducing household energy consumption and the effectiveness of different communication methods for delivering the framework. Personal communication through the workshop was the most effective method for changing behaviour, with workshop participants reducing their energy consumption by 17%. The website and booklet approach also had reductions in energy consumption (7% and 8%, respectively). The schools group was the only group not to achieve a reduction, suggesting that what the students learnt about energy saving was not being transferred to the home environment or impacting on their parent's behaviour. The groups that set goals reduced their energy consumption by an additional 5% compared to the corresponding control groups and maintained those savings for a significantly longer period of time.
The Living Smart program then assessed the effectiveness of the framework for creating behaviour change across a range of sustainability topics. As a result of the program, participants significantly increased both their environmental knowledge and sustainable behaviours. A control group that received the same environmental information as the Living Smart group, but no goal setting skills, only increased their environmental knowledge. This demonstrated that environmental information alone is not sufficient for changing behaviour. The qualitative evaluation identified that goal setting facilitated behaviour change in participants because it gave them direction and strategy and increased their motivation and commitment to changing their behaviour. Importantly, the goal setting process worked equally well across all the sustainability topics, suggesting that the tool works for a variety of behaviours, not just energy conservation.
In conclusion, the goal setting process and framework created effective behaviour change that was maintained longer than when goal setting is not used. The goal setting process and framework can be delivered effectively through a range of communication strategies and can be applied effectively to a range of environmental behaviours. Therefore, goal setting is an effective and valuable behaviour change tool that has great potential across a range of environmental education programs to create positive environmental outcomes in, for and about the environment.
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Mohadeb, Praveen. "Higher education in Mauritius : an analysis of future financial sustainability." Thesis, Edinburgh Napier University, 2003. http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/3863.
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Klein, Sydney Kristen. "The Role of University Food Gardens in Higher Education Sustainability." OpenSIUC, 2014. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/1395.
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Higher Education has the resources available to serve as a leader in sustainability, specifically by preparing graduates to address issues associated with global climate change through the use of interdisciplinary and hands-on learning. However, institutional barriers may limit large-scale restructuring of curriculum and institutional structures. Small initiatives and broad networking may help to provide sustainability education while also paving the way for broader curriculum and institutional adaptations. The potential of community gardens to serve as sustainability and community interventions make them a desirable study site to gain insight into the power of small initiatives, yet very few studies have assessed the role of community garden projects in campus settings. Through the use of an email survey sent to campus garden managers across the United States and Canada, the power of these initiatives to advance higher education sustainability can be better understood. The study sought to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the demographic characteristics of university food gardens?, (2) Do university gardens serve as sites for formal and informal education, (3) What obstacles and benefits occur within university food gardens, and (4) What factors affect the long-term resilience of university food garden initiatives? It was found that when institutional support, strong networking, and consistent participation are present, university food gardens enhance the overall sustainability of higher education institutions while also providing valuable sources of interdisciplinary and hands-on learning. Gardens receiving the greatest support from their institution exhibit strong resilience and provide numerous benefits that aid increase the overall sustainability of their institution. This study asserts the power of small sustainability initiatives within higher education institutions, while also addressing key factors which ensure the long-term resilience of these valuable sites.
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au, S. Wooltorton@ecu edu, and Sandra Joyce Wooltorton. "School-As-Community: Bridging the Gap to Sustainability." Murdoch University, 2003. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20040803.113536.
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In this research I explore ways in which teachers and parents can enhance the sustainability agenda to bridge the gap towards sustainability through the creation of caring, democratic, just, ecologically regenerative schools-as-communities. I learned that we can only transform ourselves and not others, therefore to transform the model of experience of schooling and society, we need to transform ourselves, the whole community of the school, towards sustainability. This follows the work of Sterling (2001, 2002a and 2002b) which illustrates that education and society will need to change together in a mutually affirming way, since there is no linear cause-effect relationship.
This dissertation focuses on one aspect of the developing field of education for sustainability (EfS). I use radical ecology as the philosophy which supports the vision of community transformation towards sustainability (Orr 2002; Fien 2001; and Sterling 2001). I use the emancipatory research paradigm and detail a participatory epistemology fused with a holistic, constructivist notion of reality, to situate a participative approach which enables important interdisciplinary connections to be made. The research comprises ethnographic research and cooperative inquiry projects that were implemented at two small community schools, as well as reflective practice to develop personal and professional practices of sustainability. Contemporary work in the field of EfS has a cultural understanding of sustainability, which uses four pillars: the biophysical, the social-cultural, the economic and the political. The political pillar is the key organising principle for this research.
The research is significant because I develop and build upon Sterlings (2001) notion of transformative learning for sustainability. I show that participatory structures, procedures and processes are necessary, but not sufficient for a socially transformative school-as-community culture and that socio-ecologically contextualised knowing is transformative knowledge about community sustainability. For people to behave in cooperative ways, they need to develop a practical, reconnective knowledge of cooperation. Likewise, for people to behave in ecologically regenerative ways, they need to develop a practical, reconnective knowledge of ecological reconnection. The research methods of reflective practice and cooperative inquiry are discussed and evaluated as vehicles for transformation towards sustainability. The dissertation thereby assesses their effectiveness in enabling the development of practical knowledge about sustainability.
In Australia, over the last decade our federal government has shown little interest in fulfilling its own narrowly defined ecological sustainability policy commitments. In Western Australia, our government has recently launched a comprehensive State Sustainability Strategy however its major weakness is that it has afforded very low significance to education at a time when major international organisations such as UNESCO (2002b) see education as an integral part of sustainability and learning as a key to a sustainable future. Sadly, the State Sustainability Strategy does not recommend a reorientation of the education system towards sustainability, does not incorporate a socially critical view of education, and almost completely overlooks the role of learning in the social task of change towards sustainability. In Western Australia, we urgently need policies and political action for commitment through structural reorientation towards EfS. Even in the face of this, a multi-perspectival, inclusive approach to the development of civil society through devolved, locally-based decision making and action within a school community can facilitate the emergence of learning for sustainability in that community. Even within a context of contradiction, tension and paradox, it is possible for school communities to contribute to sustainability through reconnective transformative learning.
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Brodie, Carol Ann. "Environmental sustainability programs in higher education: Policies, practices and curriculum strategies." Scholarly Commons, 2006. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/2505.
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The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to describe and analyze the policies and practices at selected universities in response to the environmental sustainability movement, as defined by the Talloires Declaration. A survey was conducted of sustainability coordinators at 26 institutions of higher education. Interviews were then conducted at three selected schools in the Western United States. From the data many themes emerged, including the region where the schools reside, culture, people that help or hinder, factors about the sustainability movement, regulations and mandates, financial considerations, physical characteristics of the schools, school atmosphere and politics, tactics used to implement environmental sustainability, and personality characteristics. The importance of leadership was a key finding in this study, as was the commitment of resources, regional culture, and communications.
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deChambeau, Aimee Lynn. "Supported Student Success| Communities of Practice in Higher Education." Thesis, Prescott College, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3629604.
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This research tells a story about how students form communities of practice that help them succeed in graduate school. Told within the context of individual and collective experiences, it holds valuable lessons for how student success can be supported across the higher education landscape. Communities of practice can develop spontaneously when individuals involved in a common activity or with a sense of shared identity come together to deal with organizational complexities or establish a forum for continued learning. The practice of becoming an accomplished and successful student who is able to develop scholarly abilities and deepen disciplinary understanding, experience personal growth and achievement, while at the same time maintaining a healthy school-work-life balance is a non-trivial exercise. Membership in a community of practice can help students achieve success as part of the process of navigating this complex journey. Generously informed by the experiences of Prescott College sustainability education doctoral students, this research used survey responses, anecdote circles, interviews, and grounded theory methods to determine how communities of practice develop among graduate students in support of their success. This presentation asks and answers questions about what communities of practice are, how and why they develop, and what value they can bring to higher education.
Keywords: student success, community of practice, graduate education, sustainability education, sustainable education, higher education
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Tommasini, Margherita. "Researching sustainability education through the lens of anti-oppressive pedagogy : a critical discourse analysis of the educational policies of three international high schools with sustainability foci." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-445655.
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As the notion of sustainability has gained prominence in the past decade, so have different disciplines that have addressed sustainability issues from an educational standpoint, for example Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development. Both fields have been called out for shortcomings such as omitting social considerations to sustainability issues and reproducing neoliberal framings that go hand in hand with oppressive power structures and systemic inequality. To better grasp how sustainability education is framed in relation to anti-oppressive pedagogy, this research conducted a Critical Discourse Analysis on selected materials that were publicly available on the websites of three international high schools with sustainability-oriented curricula—Green School, United World Colleges, and Amala Education. From the analysis of the selected documents, the three educational organizations’ discourses of sustainability align with the narrative of Education for Sustainable Development and lack critical considerations on the embeddedness of their sustainability education, and the larger sustainability challenge, in neoliberal framings and systems of oppression that reproduce inequality and marginalization and that constrain processes of transformation. While language that relates to the framings of anti-oppressive pedagogy was present, to different extents, in the texts of the three organizations, it was not framed in relation to sustainability, but as a separate layer of educational practice, lacking problematization on the role of sustainability education discourses in the making of anti-oppressive sustainability education, and on the critical significance of considering anti-oppressive pedagogy for the making of sustainability education.
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Christov, Ellie. "Sustainability in higher education through the perspective of CSU campus presidents." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10118906.
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Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) play a central role in global efforts toward environmental sustainability. With 23 campuses, the California State University (CSU) is the largest higher education system in the world. The CSU graduates over 100,000 students annually and significantly contributes to developing the workforce of the state and the country, which underlines the vast opportunity for the CSU system to influence culture change toward sustainability within California and beyond. This qualitative research study focused on CSU campus presidents because previous research has demonstrated the important role IHE leaders play on their campuses by setting a vision, establishing priorities, and allocating funding. This study aimed to investigate the 23 CSU campus presidents’ perspectives on sustainability in higher education. The semi-structured interview protocol explored how the presidents understood environmental sustainability, how they viewed the role of IHEs generally and the CSU system in particular in efforts toward sustainability, how they viewed their role as president, and what they perceived as barriers and enhancers to sustainability efforts on campus.
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Sutton, Ann D. "Perspectives on Montessori| Indigenous Inquiry, Teachers, Dialogue, and Sustainability." Thesis, Prescott College, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10746945.
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This research aimed to deepen understanding about effective Montessori teachers and broaden the context of the topic by examining aligning Montessori theory with Indigenous theory and sustainability theory. The research was guided by an Indigenous research paradigm and involved using appreciative inquiry and tapping into the wisdom of experienced Montessori educators, considered as coresearchers and elders. Using Bohm’s dialogue process, six small groups of elders pondered together about the essence of Montessori and their insights about teachers who effectively implement the Montessori concept. The total of 20 coresearchers concluded that the essence of Montessori was when Montessori became a way of life, a process, coresearchers believed, is lifelong. The elders determined effective Montessori teachers are those who can apply the Montessori concept in their classroom. Key attributes of effective Montessori teachers included ability to trust, exercise keen observation skills, and develop mindfulness. One insight offered for teacher educators included allowing more time for adult learners to practice implementation of the theory. For administrators, elders believed that teachers’ development unfolds just as students’ and requires in-kind support. Findings help inform prospective and current Montessori teachers, teacher educators, and school administrators. Findings show an alignment between Maria Montessori’s educational theory and how it is practiced, reveal the complex nature of the Montessori concept, and indicate Montessori education fosters a sustainability mindset.
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GUSTAVSON, LAURA MORTEN. "HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: A STRATEGY TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY AND AN EVALUATION SCHEME." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2016. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=27932@1.
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PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIROCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
PROGRAMA DE SUPORTE À PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO DE INSTS. DE ENSINO
Este trabalho tem por objetivo propor um conjunto de ações em sustentabilidade e uma ferramenta de avaliação e monitoramento como estratégia de pavimentar o árido processo para que uma dada instituição possa ser reconhecida como sustentável. Para avaliar o grau de performance institucional das IESs, propõe-se um modelo analítico para o ambiente organizacional de uma IES em 4 dimensões: Administrativa, Sociocultural, Acadêmica e Operacional. Para cada dimensão, e à luz de um conjunto de 40 ações em sustentabilidade construídas para refletir o estado-da-arte das recomendações internacionalmente consensadas, três índices de sustentabilidade são propostos (índice de comprometimento, coerência e dificuldade na implementação das ações propostas). A motivação consiste em prover uma metodologia sistemática de implementação e avaliação de ações em sustentabilidade para IESs, contribuindo para que estas instituições possam alcançar seus objetivos em favor do desenvolvimento sustentável. A metodologia da pesquisa estruturou-se em três pilares: (i) pesquisa documental e bibliográfica em sustentabilidade; (ii) análise crítica de métricas e indicadores de sustentabilidade e (iii) validação da ferramenta aplicada a um grupo seleto de 21 IESs norte americanas de excelência internacionalmente reconhecida. Os resultados indicaram um grau de comprometimento Bom (IC igual 0.73) para essas IESs. Dentre as conclusões, a ferramenta de avaliação e monitoramento proposta mostrou-se eficaz para a identificação e análise do comprometimento e performance institucional de IESs no processo de implementação de ações de sustentabilidade. Em nível global, a ferramenta proposta não deve ser entendida como um fim em si mesma, mas como um instrumento-guia para o aperfeiçoamento contínuo.
The objective of this work is to propose a set of sustainability actions and an evaluation scheme as a strategy to guide Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in their efforts to become more sustainable. Structured into four dimensions (Administrative, Social & Cultural, Academic, and Operational) a set of forty strategic sustainability actions are created (ten per dimension), reflecting state-of-the-art international recommendations for best practices in sustainability. Based on the institutional fulfillment of these actions, three sustainability indices are proposed as a metric for evaluating aspects related to the commitment, coherency and difficulty of execution of the proposed actions. The motivation for this work is to provide a systematic approach of implementation, evaluation and monitoring of sustainability actions, globally accessible to all HEIs, particularly given the demonstrated bias in the existing metrics favoring HEIs in developed economies. The research methodology is structured based on three pillars: (i) documentary and bibliographical research in sustainability (concepts, principles, guidelines, best practices); (ii) review of metrics and sustainability indicators and (iii) validation of the proposed tool through its application to a select group of 21 HEIs recognized for their academic and sustainability excellence. The results reveal a Good degree of commitment (CI equal 0.73) for the 21 HEIs studied, indicating the proposed evaluation scheme is effective in the identification and analysis of institutional commitment and performance of HEIs implementing sustainability initiatives.