Key competencies in sustainability in higher education—toward an agreed-upon reference framework

Katja Brundiers; Matthias Barth; Gisela Cebrián; Matthew Cohen; Liliana Diaz; Sonya Doucette-Remington; Weston Dripps; Geoffrey Habron; Niki Harré; Meghann Jarchow; Kealalokahi Losch; Jessica Michel; Yoko Mochizuki; Marco Rieckmann; Roderic Parnell; Peter Walker; Michaela Zint

doi:10.1007/s11625-020-00838-2

Key competencies in sustainability in higher education—toward an agreed-upon reference framework

Katja Brundiers, Matthias Barth, Gisela Cebrián, Matthew Cohen, Liliana Diaz, Sonya Doucette-Remington, Weston Dripps, Geoffrey Habron, Niki Harré, Meghann Jarchow, Kealalokahi Losch, Jessica Michel, Yoko Mochizuki, Marco Rieckmann, Roderic Parnell, Peter Walker, Michaela Zint

Arizona State University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

237 Scopus citations

Abstract

Hundreds of sustainability programs have emerged at universities and colleges around the world over the past 2 decades. A prime question for employers, students, educators, and program administrators is what competencies these programs develop in students. This study explores convergence on competencies for sustainability programs. We conducted a Delphi study with 14 international experts in sustainability education on the framework of key competencies in sustainability by Wiek et al. (Sustain Sci 6: 203–218, 2011), the most frequently cited framework to date. While experts generally agreed with the framework, they propose two additional competencies, suggest a hierarchy of competencies, and specify learning objectives for students interested in a career as sustainability researcher. The refined framework can inform program development, implementation, and evaluation to enhance employability of graduates and facilitate comparison of sustainability programs worldwide.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	13-29
Number of pages	17
Journal	Sustainability Science
Volume	16
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00838-2
State	Published - Jan 2021

Keywords

Curriculum development
Education for sustainable development
Key competencies
Learning objectives
Sustainability problem solving

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Global and Planetary Change
Health(social science)
Geography, Planning and Development
Ecology
Sociology and Political Science
Nature and Landscape Conservation
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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10.1007/s11625-020-00838-2

Cite this

Brundiers, K., Barth, M., Cebrián, G., Cohen, M., Diaz, L., Doucette-Remington, S., Dripps, W., Habron, G., Harré, N., Jarchow, M., Losch, K., Michel, J., Mochizuki, Y., Rieckmann, M., Parnell, R., Walker, P., & Zint, M. (2021). Key competencies in sustainability in higher education—toward an agreed-upon reference framework. Sustainability Science, 16(1), 13-29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00838-2

Brundiers, K, Barth, M, Cebrián, G, Cohen, M, Diaz, L, Doucette-Remington, S, Dripps, W, Habron, G, Harré, N, Jarchow, M, Losch, K, Michel, J, Mochizuki, Y, Rieckmann, M, Parnell, R, Walker, P & Zint, M 2021, 'Key competencies in sustainability in higher education—toward an agreed-upon reference framework', Sustainability Science, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 13-29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00838-2

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AU - Habron, Geoffrey

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AU - Jarchow, Meghann

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Key competencies in sustainability in higher education—toward an agreed-upon reference framework

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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