The study explores the incorporation of Environmental Education (EE) for sustainability in the Namibian Colleges of Education. The thrust is held in this study because of the view that the incorporation of EE promotes sustainable development. Cross-curricular teaching is the preferred model for the incorporation of EE in the Namibian Colleges of Education because it brings all teacher educators to contribute to the teaching of environmental education themes just as sustainable development requires all players to incorporate its principles in core operations of institutions. The study explores the global environment crisis, the environmental degradation in Africa in general and Namibia in particular. Education is seen as an instrument that could be used to address the environmental problems that affect the ability of the ecosystem to regulate climate, to provide resources and to support natural and human life in the broader environment. The study presented the EE goals such as the ecological foundation, the conceptual awareness: issues and values, investigation and evaluation as well as the environmental action, training and application. The study explores theoretical perspectives for the incorporation of EE, theories of modern environmentalism and theories of sustainability as well as policies that were undertaken in Namibia to incorporate EE in the Namibian Colleges of Education. The methodology of research is both quantitative and qualitative and is rooted in the classical and grounded theory approaches to research. The documentation of data and the questionnaire were used as techniques and tools to collect both direct and indirect data. It emerged from the findings of the study that the ecological foundation and the conceptual awareness subgoals are part of EE teaching while the investigation and evaluation as well as the environmental action, training and application subgoals are not part of EE teaching in the Namibian Colleges of Education. The findings of the study reveal that teacher educators in the Namibian Colleges of Education have a variety of understandings and perceptions about the incorporation of EE in the Namibian Colleges of Education. The findings also show that the barriers that affect the incorporation of EE in the Namibian Colleges of Education are institutional, dispositional and situational. The recommendations of the study support the clarification of the concept of cross-curricular teaching in light of the emerging paradigm of sustainable development. They also promote the re-orientation of the administration, the curriculum and teacher educator attitudes in the Namibian Colleges of Education. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

Sustainable development through sustainable engineering is a promising strategy for combating unsustainable patterns of population growth, resource consumption, and environmental degradation. For sustainable engineering to alleviate global problems, however, improvements in undergraduate education are required to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to engage in sustainable design. Consequently, the goal of this dissertation is to assess and improve sustainability education in civil and environmental engineering (CEE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Three phases of inquiry were conducted to (1) examine the current status of CEE sustainability education, (2) use assessment results to develop a pedagogically-innovative sustainability module, and (3) investigate the impacts of implementing the module into select CEE courses on student learning. Several key findings resulted from this work. First, the Sustainability Tool for Assessing Universities’ Curricula Holistically (STAUNCH®) suggested that integration of sustainability into the curriculum was incomplete and favored environmental sustainability. Second, CEE seniors’ conceptual understanding of sustainability, based on concept map results, was found to be generally correct, although limited in comprehensiveness, connectedness, and balance. Third, examination of capstone project reports (2002 and 2011) using the novel Sustainable Design Rubric revealed little change in the students’ sustainable design abilities over the past decade, due potentially in part to students simply “meeting the expectations” of project sponsors. Based on these insights, a five-part, learning-cycle-based sustainability module was developed and implemented in CEE capstone and cornerstone design courses. Higher learning gains for cornerstone students, as compared to seniors, supports future integration of the module into cornerstone design courses. While project results are especially important for CEE at Georgia Tech, other programs and institutions may benefit from the development and improvement of sustainability knowledge assessment tools, as well as the empirically-informed and theoretically-grounded sustainability module.

The central argument underlying this research is that experiential learning (EL) can strengthen environmental university programs. Its goal is to demonstrate the benefits of EL from students' and graduates' perspectives and to provide recommendations for its effective implementation into a program. The research utilized a qualitative case study (Environmental Sciences/Studies (ESS) programs at the University of Manitoba, Canada) through focus groups and individual interviews with students and graduates. The results indicate that EL helps develop an understanding of environmental complexities; motivates students to engage at all levels of their ability; is decisive in skill development; engages students in environmental issues with diverse stakeholders; is important in obtaining employment; and it is imperative to connect EL activities to concepts taught in class. The data however, did not show EL to be a significant factor in fostering pro-environmental behaviours in post-secondary environmental students. Overall, the research shows that provided effective implementation, EL can play a significant role in enhancing ESS curriculum and that ESS students place a great value on EL in their education. / October 2016

La thèse se concentre sur la recherche de stratégies d'apprentissage dans les lycées vietnamiens quant à la participation aux projets d'apprentissage intégrés à l'enseignement et apprentissage de la science physique dans le cadre d'une éducation au développement durable. Elle développe cinq stratégies principales d'apprentissage dans le cadre d'un scénario de projet de l'exploitation des énergies solaires dans la vie courante, et cela dans trois classes de terminales de différentes écoles. Les résultats de la thèse révèlent de nombreux indices concernant les impacts de l'enseignement par les professeurs sur l'apprentissage de leurs élèves, ainsi que sur les méthodes d'apprentissage mobilisées par les élèves pour la réalisation du projet dans un contexte où ils doivent jumeler ce projet avec leurs cours courants sur la classe. Ces résultats sont analysés et nous aident à proposer des suggestions afin d'améliorer le déploiement des projets intégrés à l'enseignement/apprentissage des disciplines scolaires ainsi qu'à augmenter l'efficacité de l'éducation au développement durable dans le contexte scolaire. / The research focuses on student learning strategies in project based learning in context of sustainability education through secondary physics education in Vietnam. The intervention about a learning scenario for the grade-12 student project on solar energy at three different high schools has resulted in five possible learning strategies. In addition, the research outcome shed light on the relation between how the teacher implemented the project design and student achievements as well as how the student struggled with classroom activities and group-based assignments to fulfill their projects. Based on these results, the application of project based learning is suggested to change for more effective student learning and better sustainability education in the school.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:25:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sandra Lays Gathas Carvalho.pdf: 1395555 bytes, checksum: 8ae7ff71fcbeef3e7ae99724b400d32a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-25 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / One of the reasons for the rising interest in education for sustainability among business schools is the belief that it has a central role in the education of a new generation capable of thinking and acting by principles that go beyond the economic reasons. In the international academic sphere studies have grown in number as well as in diversity of approaches. Despite the global scenario, the discussion of sustainability in higher education in Brazil is still under disseminated in practices that integrate education, environment and society as well as in the literature supporting the academic debate. Thus, the present study objective was to discuss the meanings of education for sustainability in higher education and the consequences for the education of the future generation of business administrators. The intention was to reflect upon the experiences of the directors and deans of undergraduate courses on the integration of sustainability in business education in the context of Brazilian universities, promoting a debate on its specificities, difficulties and advances in contrast to the international context. To achieve its objective, a basic qualitative study was conducted with 17 business schools in the north, south and southeast of Brazil. The data collection strategy included interviews and document analysis. It starts with a discussion of sustainability, based on the works of Sachs (1995), Wright (2004) and Shriberg (2002). After that a discussion of the international literature on education for sustainability reviews European, North and Latin American, South-Pacific, African and Brazilian researchers. At the end the works of Down (2006), Beringer (2007), Beringer, Wright e Malone (2008), Lozano-García, Huisingh and Fabián (2009) are explored to present the experiences of integrating sustainability into higher education. The results indicate that at one side the insertion of sustainability in the business schools curricula has shown advances in the last years. Experiences are being conducted in most of the studied schools in terms of curricula, research, community extension, student opportunities, academic staff development, inclusion of sustainable goals in the vision and mission declarations and even in the university governance and administration. At the other side, the experiences show there is still a distance from meaningful changes that may affect the presuppositions of the business education. It is important to mention this scenario is not a prerogative of the Brazilian context, as studies of Calder e Clugston (2003), Tauchen and Brandli (2006) and others indicate this is an international issue. Nonetheless, this does not minimize the need for a significant effort from the Brazilian schools for the advancement of alternative models towards an education for sustainability. / Entre as razões do crescente interesse pelo tema educação para sustentabilidade nas escolas de administração, está a crença de que esta tem um papel central na formação de uma nova geração capaz de pensar e agir por princípios que vão muito além das preocupações de cunho econômico. Na esfera acadêmica internacional, estudos se multiplicaram nas últimas duas décadas, tanto em número quanto em diversidade de abordagens. Apesar de um cenário global promissor, no Brasil, por sua vez, a discussão da educação para sustentabilidade no ensino superior ainda é pouco disseminada, tanto nas práticas que relacionam educação, meio ambiente e sociedade nos cursos de educação superior, quanto na literatura que sustenta as discussões acadêmicas a respeito do tema. Assim, o presente trabalho teve por objetivo discutir os significados de educação para sustentabilidade nas instituições de ensino superior e suas implicações para a formação da nova geração de administradores. A intenção foi refletir sobre as experiências dos responsáveis pela direção e coordenação dos cursos de graduação na inserção da sustentabilidade no currículo de administração de empresas, no contexto brasileiro, promovendo um debate sobre suas especificidades, dificuldades e avanços em relação às tendências mundiais nesse campo. Para tanto, um estudo qualitativo foi conduzido com diretores e coordenadores de 17 cursos de graduação nas regiões nordeste, sul e sudeste do país. As principais estratégias de coleta de dados foram entrevistas em profundidade e análise documental. Parte o estudo de uma discussão sobre sustentabilidade, suportada por autores como Sachs (1995), Wright (2004) e Shriberg (2002). Em seguida procede-se a uma análise da literatura internacional sobre educação para sustentabilidade, revisando autores europeus, norte-americanos, africanos, latino-americanos e outros. Por fim, recorre-se a Down (2006), Beringer (2007), Lozano-García, Huisingh e Fabián (2009), para discutir experiências de inserção da educação para sustentabilidade. Os resultados indicam que, por um lado, a inserção da sustentabilidade no currículo das escolas de administração e negócios brasileiras têm demonstrado avanços nos últimos anos. Experiências já estão sendo conduzidas como as que se observou na maior parte das escolas participantes do estudo em termos de currículo, pesquisa e extensão, participação de alunos, capacitação de docentes, inclusão de metas sustentáveis nas declarações de visão e missão e, até mesmo na gestão universitária. Por outro lado, as experiências também indicam a distância que se tem de qualquer iniciativa nos cursos de administração que sinalize um rompimento ou uma revisão dos pressupostos que há anos vêm fundamentando a formação do administrador. É importante que se diga, contudo, que este cenário também não é prerrogativa do contexto brasileiro, as pesquisas de Calder e Clugston, (2003), de Tauchen e Brandli (2006), entre outros, indicam uma preocupação mundial nesse sentido, que não minimiza, em nada, a necessidade de um empenho significativo de nossas escolas de administração em fazer avançar modelos alternativos que respondam ao que se espera de uma formação para a sustentabilidade.

How do we help students to integrate their tertiary education with their development as " wise" global citizens and professionals? The study engages with this question through exploring the use of Reflective Journals as a central and integrating strategy for learning and assessment for a socially and culturally diverse group of students in a large, compulsory, first year, one-semester Engineering unit [BNB007: Professional Studies] between 2000 and 2004. The study supports the hypothesis that Reflective Journals can be an effective strategy for improving the often-criticised poor communication skills of domestic and international students in technical fields. For many students, the process of reflection also became a means of learning about their learning. Attitude surveys administered to students pre and post the teaching intervention in the years 2000-2002 showed positive changes in anticipated directions that encouraged further research. If attitude change was occurring in BNB007, what was the nature of the change? The research showed that at a deeper, longer term and more complex level, this new self-awareness supported many students to develop the kind of futures thinking and social learning " that will be necessary to navigate the transition to sustainable futures" (Raskin et al., 2002). The study contributes to the literature and to methodology through the first complementary use of two new methodologies, Sense-Making and Causal Layered Analysis. Thirty in-depth Sense-Making based interviews, including four with staff, indicate that 'meta-reflection' and transformative learning did take place. Expressing these qualities in the discourse of internationalisation as " global portability" or even " global competence" is unsatisfactory because these popular terms do not embody the qualities graduates need to create sustainable futures. As currently used, they mainly serve a market-dominated version of globalisation and its allied internationalisation-as-profit discourse. Raskin et al proposed a more appropriate term, " sustainability professionals", emerging from a preferred, valuesbased globalisation inspired by a vision of humane, sustainable futures that see " rights assured, nature treasured, culture rich and the human spirit animate" (p.70). This more challenging concept of a graduate for the 21st century is expressed here through the term Globo sapiens, whose qualities are identified in this study. Such professionals are willing to think critically and to assume responsibility for their impact on communities and the planet. This is the critical-futures oriented, transformative and therefore radical notion connoted by the title Towards Globo sapiens. This research identified some of the terrain and challenges of a post-development vision in a vocational area of teaching in Higher Education. It explained how particular students resisted or reconstructed their worlds when challenged at fundamental levels, but within a supportive atmosphere. Thus the study contributes to what educators might need to know, be and do, in order to teach effectively for the transformations urged by Sustainability Scientists, among others, and upon which any sustainable alternative futures depend. The study is underpinned by transdisciplinary syntheses that help to illuminate each area in new and fruitful ways.

The study explores the incorporation of Environmental Education (EE) for sustainability in the Namibian Colleges of Education. The thrust is held in this study because of the view that the incorporation of EE promotes sustainable development. Cross-curricular teaching is the preferred model for the incorporation of EE in the Namibian Colleges of Education because it brings all teacher educators to contribute to the teaching of environmental education themes just as sustainable development requires all players to incorporate its principles in core operations of institutions. The study explores the global environment crisis, the environmental degradation in Africa in general and Namibia in particular. Education is seen as an instrument that could be used to address the environmental problems that affect the ability of the ecosystem to regulate climate, to provide resources and to support natural and human life in the broader environment. The study presented the EE goals such as the ecological foundation, the conceptual awareness: issues and values, investigation and evaluation as well as the environmental action, training and application. The study explores theoretical perspectives for the incorporation of EE, theories of modern environmentalism and theories of sustainability as well as policies that were undertaken in Namibia to incorporate EE in the Namibian Colleges of Education. The methodology of research is both quantitative and qualitative and is rooted in the classical and grounded theory approaches to research. The documentation of data and the questionnaire were used as techniques and tools to collect both direct and indirect data. It emerged from the findings of the study that the ecological foundation and the conceptual awareness subgoals are part of EE teaching while the investigation and evaluation as well as the environmental action, training and application subgoals are not part of EE teaching in the Namibian Colleges of Education. The findings of the study reveal that teacher educators in the Namibian Colleges of Education have a variety of understandings and perceptions about the incorporation of EE in the Namibian Colleges of Education. The findings also show that the barriers that affect the incorporation of EE in the Namibian Colleges of Education are institutional, dispositional and situational. The recommendations of the study support the clarification of the concept of cross-curricular teaching in light of the emerging paradigm of sustainable development. They also promote the re-orientation of the administration, the curriculum and teacher educator attitudes in the Namibian Colleges of Education. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

Since 1970s neoclassical economics has been identified as a major obstacle for reaching sustainability. Despite the world's growing attention to sustainability education, there has been just few attempts to assess the content and the competency building of sustainable development (SD) postgraduate programs. None has been evaluating if and how economics is integrated in such curricula. This study fills this gap in the empirical research by conducting a novel assessment of six leading SD transdisciplinary master programs in Sweden. Our study uses a qualitative approach to inquire how these programs teach students to understand, challenge and reorient dominant neoclassical economics and the reasoning behind it. Results revealed that the absence of an agreed-upon definition of both the economy and sustainability lead to the wide range of approaches on how to introduce the place and the role of the economy. Every program relies on their own understanding, perspectives and resourcefulness, while agreeing that their teaching should challenge neoclassical economics and engage their students in the various scales of system change. Yet, the time allocated to economics teaching does not exceed 8% of the programs ECTS. We argue that economics should take a much bigger place in postgraduate SD education. A proposed “transdisciplinary economics” calls for more collaboration with students, academia and outside of academia in a joint search for economic alternatives.

Construction is an investment intensive industry which has been notoriouslyknown to be cost and time ineffective. Further, the construction industry isknown to be the world’s largest resource utilizer and the largest polluter.Hence sustainability in construction is necessary.Since Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) are one of the most importantstakeholders in construction, this research aims to determine the sustainabilityaspects taught in Swedish construction programmes. On comparing the aimsand outcomes of all construction courses to the United Nations SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs), this research found that Swedish constructioneducation programmes lack political and social sustainability in theirconstruction curricula. Further, this research investigates the challenges toimparting sustainability education due to present research andpedagogical/teaching methods. Data to investigate the results was collectedthrough interviews with programme directors from various SwedishUniversities.The findings of this research show a connection between practical application,research and traditional education. Further, the factors affecting research andpedagogy are also inter-related and convoluted. A large cause and effectnetwork arising due to the interplay of the factors is addressed in thediscussions section. This thesis finds that sustainable development inconstruction requires development of sustainability evaluation methods as wellas combined efforts from various stakeholders and professions.

L’intensità del trasporto alimentare è un trend destinato ad aumentare nella sua complessità. La ricerca attesta come sia rilevante analizzare “come il cibo viaggia”, forse più di “quanto il cibo viaggia”, nel mercato globalizzato dei prodotti agroalimentari, nelle realtà urbane che modificano le abitudini di consumo e nel “global food system” composto da cinque tipologie di sistemi agroalimentari. Gli impatti in sostenibilità sono strettamente dipendenti dall’efficienza del trasporto e della logistica, di merci agroalimentari e di persone che si spostano per l’approvvigionamento, dal campo al consumatore e viceversa. Eppure il concetto di food miles si è ampiamente diffuso tra gruppi di consumatori, attestando mutamenti culturali significativi. Si pensi all’idea tutta italiana di “km-zero”. “Può il trasporto del cibo essere economicamente, socialmente e culturalmente sostenibile, per conservare l'ecosistema?” Questa domanda, approfondita pedagogicamente, può essere riformulata: “How can consumers, economical stakeholders and policy makers become environmentally friendly about transportation of food?” Il quesito conduce all’interrogativo di quale formazione e ricerca interdisciplinare progettare per orientare gli sforzi verso questo fine. Una nuova formulazione concettuale potrebbe promuovere azioni sostenibili per la mobilità e i trasporti sulle lunghe, medie e corte distanze, per la filiera lunga e corta: il “Kmetro verde”. / The transportation of agro-alimentary products is constantly evolving. The research has been focusing on long distances, tied with the global market. But results in a lack of investigations in medium and short distances which also possess some efficiency gain. The investigation of these shorter mode of transport is paramount as they have significant impact on the triptych of sustainability. In this context, the concepts of "food miles" and of "km-zero" have spread widely among the consumers, attesting the community awareness regarding sustainability issues. However, as environmental concerns arise, such concept has showed it's limit. Therefore the question, "Can transportation of food become economically, socially and culturally sustainable, to preserve the ecosystem?", that lead to this concept, needs to be reassessed. Starting from a pedagogical standpoint, this question can be rephrased as “How can consumers, economical stakeholders and policy makers become environmentally friendly about transportation of food, to preserve the ecosystem?”. For a successful undertaking of such problematic, it is paramount to evaluate the need of novel training practises as well as the design of interdisciplinary research. A new formulation of such concept, embodied in "kmeter green", would aim to promote sustainable mobility on all the distances and chains' lengths.