Education for sustainable development and global citizenship
An Emerald mission in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The UN SDG target 4.7 states that by 2030, all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is an interdisciplinary approach to learning that covers the integrated social, economic, and environmental dimensions of the formal and informal curriculum and enables people to develop the knowledge, values and skills to participate in decisions about the way we do things individually and collectively, both locally and globally, that will improve the quality of life now without damaging the planet for the future.
Join us in our mission to learn how, in partnership with some of our authors and experts from the community, we’ve been exploring this subject to answer questions including:
How can education foster sustainable development? What strategies can educators employ to integrate sustainability into the curriculum? Why is cultural diversity essential for sustainable development? And how do we balance economic growth with environmental conservation through education?
We’re inviting authors to publish with us in the field of education, so if you are working on an article, have an idea for a book or special issue, or would like to contribute a blog or commentary then we’d love to hear from you.
This mission supports our quality education for all goal
Education for Sustainable Development
Watch the recording from our recent webinar on the topic of education for sustainable development, as this expert panel explore how educational institutions around the world can benefit from establishing an ESD culture and learn about the different strategies and challenges.
Related research
Explore our range of journal articles on the topic of education for sustainable development and global citizenship.
Blogs and podcast episode
Take a look at our latest blogs and podcast episode to find out more about what our authors have to say regarding education for sustainable development and global citizenship.
Author: Mr. Adrian LAM Man-Ho
Podcast
Environmental education: Why US universities miss the mark on environmental literacy
In this thought provoking and timely discussion, Professor Manuel Vallée from the University of Auckland discusses the barriers that prevent US universities from effectively imparting environmental literacy to their students.Listen to the episode and view the transcript here
Article: How and why US universities fail to impart environmental literacy to all students
Journal: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
Different routes to publication
See our special issues, call for papers, book chapters and book on the topic of education for sustainable development and global citizenship.
Book title
Higher Education for the Sustainable Development Goals: Bridging the Global North and South
Presenting chapters from an international set of contributors, this collection provides practical insights that inform practice, focusing on two themes: the design of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) curricula; and a specific focus on Global North and Global South divide in addressing social and political differences, and the role that HEIs can play in addressing the divide.
Additional information
Impact of education for sustainable development (ESD) training on university teachers
Can ESD training enhance teachers' professional competence, and does the mode of the training – offline or online – affect its efficacy?
View the infographic to find out more (PDF)
Journal: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
Impact of education for sustainable development (ESD) training on university teachers
ESD includes the knowledge, values, and skills to address global challenges and achieve a sustainable society.
University lecturers play an important role in imparting knowledge and promoting skills, but they themselves need to be trained to do so.
Can ESD training enhance teachers’ professional competence, and does the mode of the training – offline or online – affect its efficacy?
Intervention study to assess ESD training for university teachers (2018 to 2021).
Developed a training concept based on the professional action competence model.
Participants
- 183 university teachers from 50 different sub-disciplines
Training sessions
- Face-to-face format (10 sessions)
- Digital format (9 sessions)
Pre- and post-training questionnaires to assess:
- Professional knowledge
- Motivation
- Self-efficacy
- Personal data
Impact of the ESD training program
- Significant increase in professional knowledge
- Improvement in self-efficacy
- Motivation levels remained the same
- Face-to-face and digital formats were equally effective
The ESD training program for university teachers was beneficial, and both digital and face-to-face formats were equally effective during ESD training.
Featured journals
Here we have highlighted our key journals that publish articles on education for sustainable development and global citizenship. You can also search for a specific journal by subject area on our find a journal page.
If you want to speak to us about publishing an article in one of our journals, please get in touch.
Talk to us about your work
We love hearing from researchers and practitioners about their work.
If you would like to contribute to the discussion, or have supporting research on the topic of education for sustainable development and global citizenship, please let us know by filling in this form.
