Identifying core sustainability knowledge in Higher Education: possibilities and challenges

Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has become an important part of core undergraduate education worldwide. One case in point is the Sustainability Literacy Test, developed in alignment with the UN-UNESCO Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), and piloted in universities around the globe last. This knowledge-based tool is meant to capture student ‘minimum level knowledge’ (and gaps therein) of economic, social and environmental topics identified as important and relevant across contexts (2013). On the other hand is the development of higher education learning outcomes related to sustainable attitudes. For instance, the University of Hong Kong Common Core (2014) undergraduate program aims (among other goals) to enhance student appreciation for the connections between industrialization and environmental challenges, and for their role and participation in a global community. Though more difficult to assess, such attitudinal changes are also vital in equipping students to manage sustainability challenges in the future. This presentation will review the development of assessment tools related to ESD in higher education. Alongside the Sustainability Literacy Test, universities have developed means to assess ESD attitudes and even behavioral changes. There can be no perfect ESD assessment tool, because sustainability science is a dynamic field where the values of findings change over time (Vare & Scott 2007). Thus, increasingly virtues such as open-mindedness and creativity are included as ESD goals, as future challenges are unpredictable in relation to the state of knowledge in different areas (climate change, ecology, etc.). Furthermore, the need to learn of local-global connections implies that diversity rather than uniformity will characterize ESD content. In this context, this presentation aims to identify major possibilities and challenges for assessing ESD in higher education in the future through a critical review of means used across the globe.