Education for Sustainable Development: How Can Changes in Local Practices Help Address Global Challenges

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), through formal and informal education, develops knowledge, skills, understanding, values and actions required to create a sustainable world, which ensures environmental protection and conservation, promotes social equity and encourages economic sustainability. ESD emphasizes action-oriented approaches that call for various academic disciplines to work together through inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations to co-create solutions and better contribute to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Conceptual frameworks, models, tools, and platforms are needed to advance on such complex issues. There has been a growing concern on how higher education institutions (HEIs) can contribute to sustainable development. In this context, it is important that HEIs collaborate with other actors, such as civil society, governments, private sector and non-governmental organizations and the general public to co-create new ways to promote ESD and better contribute to sustainable development. Hence, this Research Topic is focused on ESD as a means to address local solutions for global problems through transdisciplinary and transformational practices.
The goal of this Research Topic is to address how stakeholders can co-create solutions in addressing global sustainability challenges by promoting inter- and transdisciplinary science of ESD. This will be done by looking for local solutions to global problems, and by proposing transdisciplinary co-creation approaches (e.g. action-oriented or participatory-based approaches) which promotes collaboration with various actors. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework and its five Ps principles (i.e. People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership) will be used as guidance for the proposed issues and solutions.

ESD addresses themes such as poverty alleviation, citizenship, peace, ethics, responsibility in local and global contexts, democracy and governance, justice, human rights, gender equality, corporate responsibility, natural resources management, biological diversity and climate change. The scope is based on a triangulation of the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability, allowing inter- and transdisciplinary science that goes beyond conventional and silo approaches in addressing interrelated and complex issues, as well as intra- and inter-generational equity.

Trans- and interdisciplinary science of ESD, problem-based approaches in sustainability science.
• Impacts of HEIs to society and sustainability
• Competences and pedagogical approaches in promoting sustainability literacy at undergraduate level (Climate Change Education, Engineering Education for Sustainable Development, Transformative Learning, Service Learning etc)
• Social Inclusion and Gender Equality within the local context
• Perception of teaching and learning of sustainability within Higher Education context
• Campus operations and co-creation with the community
• Assessment of the previous topics
• Youth empowerment and sustainable development
• Land use issues at the local level;
• Traditional/Local/ Indigenous Knowledge & Experiences;
• Impacts of HEIs to society and local experimentations
• The role of competences and pedagogical approaches in promoting sustainability
• Student perceptions on sustainability teaching
• Campus operations and co-creation with the community
• Assessment of the various topics related to sustainable development
• Entrepreneurship Education
• Universities as enablers of regional/community social innovation ecosystems

Manuscript type of journal manuscripts, including Original Research, Review Articles, and Case Studies.