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

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Katja Brundiers
  • Matthias Barth
  • Gisela Cebrián
  • Matthew Cohen
  • Liliana Diaz
  • Sonya Doucette-Remington
  • Niki Harré
  • Meghann Jarchow
  • Kealalokahi Losch
  • Jessica Michel
  • Michaela Zint
  • Yoko Mochizuki
  • Marco Rieckmann
  • Roderic Parnell
  • Peter Walker
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 languageEnglish
JournalSustainability Science
Volume16
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)13-29
Number of pages17
ISSN1862-4065
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.2021

Bibliographical note

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

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