TY - JOUR

T1 - Key competencies in sustainability in higher education - toward an agreed-upon reference framework

AU - Brundiers, Katja

AU - Barth, Matthias

AU - Cebrián, Gisela

AU - Cohen, Matthew

AU - Diaz, Liliana

AU - Doucette-Remington, Sonya

AU - Harré, Niki

AU - Jarchow, Meghann

AU - Losch, Kealalokahi

AU - Michel, Jessica

AU - Zint, Michaela

AU - Mochizuki, Yoko

AU - Rieckmann, Marco

AU - Parnell, Roderic

AU - Walker, Peter

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2020, Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature.

PY - 2021/1

Y1 - 2021/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Sustainability education

KW - key competencies

KW - learning objectives

KW - curriculum development

KW - sustainability problem solving

KW - education for sustainable development

KW - Sustainability Science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088800103&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/ff7a5ae8-3771-3a64-81f7-5828d612d02d/

U2 - 10.1007/s11625-020-00838-2

DO - 10.1007/s11625-020-00838-2

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 16

SP - 13

EP - 29

JO - Sustainability Science

JF - Sustainability Science

SN - 1862-4065

IS - 1

ER -