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

Earth and Sustainability

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

509 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

Access to Document

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

@article{46b31a4081d94db297af7707163f9695,

title = "Key competencies in sustainability in higher education—toward an agreed-upon reference framework",

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.",

keywords = "Curriculum development, Education for sustainable development, Key competencies, Learning objectives, Sustainability problem solving",

author = "Katja Brundiers and Matthias Barth and Gisela Cebri{\'a}n and Matthew Cohen and Liliana Diaz and Sonya Doucette-Remington and Weston Dripps and Geoffrey Habron and Niki Harr{\'e} and Meghann Jarchow and Kealalokahi Losch and Jessica Michel and Yoko Mochizuki and Marco Rieckmann and Roderic Parnell and Peter Walker and Michaela Zint",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature.",

year = "2021",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1007/s11625-020-00838-2",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "16",

pages = "13--29",

journal = "Sustainability Science",

issn = "1862-4065",

publisher = "Springer",

number = "1",

}

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 - Dripps, Weston

AU - Habron, Geoffrey

AU - Harré, Niki

AU - Jarchow, Meghann

AU - Losch, Kealalokahi

AU - Michel, Jessica

AU - Mochizuki, Yoko

AU - Rieckmann, Marco

AU - Parnell, Roderic

AU - Walker, Peter

AU - Zint, Michaela

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 - Curriculum development

KW - Education for sustainable development

KW - Key competencies

KW - Learning objectives

KW - Sustainability problem solving

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85088800103

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

U2 - 10.1007/s11625-020-00838-2

DO - 10.1007/s11625-020-00838-2

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85088800103

SN - 1862-4065

VL - 16

SP - 13

EP - 29

JO - Sustainability Science

JF - Sustainability Science

IS - 1

ER -

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

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this