IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v9y2017i8p1353-d106596.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Sustainable Development Goals: An Experience on Higher Education

Author

Listed:
  • Bárbara Crespo

    (School of Industrial Engineering, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain)

  • Carla Míguez-Álvarez

    (Philology and Translation, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain)

  • María Elena Arce

    (Defense University Center at Spanish Naval Academy, Plaza de España 2, 36920 Marín-Pontevedra, Spain)

  • Miguel Cuevas

    (Philology and Translation, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain)

  • José Luis Míguez

    (School of Industrial Engineering, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain)

Abstract

Sustainable development is acquiring high attendance in higher education. In fact, one of the targets for the Sustainable Development Goals announced by the United Nations in September 2015 aims to ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, thorough education on sustainable development. The current study focuses on the evaluation of individual works based on the sustainable development suggested to students in a subject of the Master’s of Thermal Engineering at the University of Vigo. In addition, a sustainable holistic rubric is presented, which was used to analyze the ability of the students to incorporate sustainability principles in their work. The rubric was based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the associated targets of the United Nations, more specifically on the Goals 7, 8, 12, and 13. A total of 10 works were evaluated. As a general conclusion, it was found that the students generally do not consider or consider to a lower extent the economic criteria opposite to the environmental, technical, and social dimensions. The environmental sub-criterion were applied to a greater extent in the development of the works. However, the technical and social dimensions were included to a greater or lesser extent depending on the type of work developed.

Suggested Citation

  • Bárbara Crespo & Carla Míguez-Álvarez & María Elena Arce & Miguel Cuevas & José Luis Míguez, 2017. "The Sustainable Development Goals: An Experience on Higher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-15, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:8:p:1353-:d:106596
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/8/1353/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/8/1353/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Salzmann, Oliver & Ionescu-somers, Aileen & Steger, Ulrich, 2005. "The Business Case for Corporate Sustainability:: Literature Review and Research Options," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 27-36, February.
    2. Richard Beecroft & Jan C. Schmidt, 2014. "Method-Based Higher Education in Sustainability: The Potential of the Scenario Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(6), pages 1-17, May.
    3. Tom Dedeurwaerdere, 2013. "Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science at Higher Education Institutions: Science Policy Tools for Incremental Institutional Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(9), pages 1-19, September.
    4. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    5. Zografakis, Nikolaos & Menegaki, Angeliki N. & Tsagarakis, Konstantinos P., 2008. "Effective education for energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 3216-3222, August.
    6. Giles Atkinson, 2000. "Measuring Corporate Sustainability," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(2), pages 235-252.
    7. Forest Reinhardt, 2000. "Sustainability and the Firm," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 26-41, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Francisco Zamora-Polo & Jesús Sánchez-Martín, 2022. "Including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Transversally in Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-5, August.
    2. Pedro Severino-González & Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez & Constanza Ortuya-Poblete & José Romero-Argueta & Efraín Tunjo-Buitrago & Felipe Arenas-Torres & Giusseppe Sarmiento-Peralta, 2022. "Social Responsibility: Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19—Perception Scale of Students from Higher Education Institutions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-15, April.
    3. Francisco Zamora-Polo & Jesús Sánchez-Martín & Mario Corrales-Serrano & Luis Espejo-Antúnez, 2019. "What Do University Students Know about Sustainable Development Goals? A Realistic Approach to the Reception of this UN Program Amongst the Youth Population," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-19, June.
    4. Jassiel V. H. Fontes & Paulo R. R. de Almeida & Harlysson W. S. Maia & Irving D. Hernández & Claudio A. Rodríguez & Rodolfo Silva & Edgar Mendoza & Paulo T. T. Esperança & Ricardo Almeida Sanches & Sa, 2022. "Marine Accidents in the Brazilian Amazon: The Problems and Challenges in the Initiatives for Their Prevention Focused on Passenger Ships," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-26, December.
    5. Lourdes Molera & Eugenio José Sánchez-Alcázar & Úrsula Faura-Martínez & Matilde Lafuente-Lechuga & Juan Vicente Llinares-Ciscar & Joaquín Longinos Marín-Rives & Pedro Juan Martín-Castejón & María Carm, 2021. "Embedding Sustainability in the Economics Degree of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Murcia: A Methodological Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-19, August.
    6. Francisca Castilla-Polo & María Consuelo Ruiz-Rodríguez & Alonso Moreno & Ana Licerán-Gutiérrez & Macario Cámara de la Fuente & Eva Chamorro Rufián & Manuel Cano-Rodríguez, 2020. "Classroom Learning and the Perception of Social Responsibility Amongst Graduate Students of Management Accounting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-22, August.
    7. Francisco Zamora-Polo & Jesús Sánchez-Martín, 2019. "Teaching for a Better World. Sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals in the Construction of a Change-Maker University," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-15, August.
    8. Veronica Stefan & Mircea Constantin Duica & Liliana Condratchi, 2020. "Promoting Creativity and Innovative Spirit in the Learning Process Through Advanced Web-Based Technologies," Book chapters-LUMEN Proceedings, in: Ioana PANAGORET & Gabriel GORGHIU (ed.), International Conference Globalization, Innovation and Development. Trends and Prospects (G.I.D.T.P.), edition 1, volume 10, chapter 39, pages 354-361, Editura Lumen.
    9. Francisco Del Cerro Velázquez & Ginés Morales Méndez, 2018. "Augmented Reality and Mobile Devices: A Binominal Methodological Resource for Inclusive Education (SDG 4). An Example in Secondary Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, September.
    10. Timothy A. Bodisco & Stuart Palmer, 2020. "Presentation and Evaluation of a New Graduate Unit of Study in Engineering Product Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-14, July.
    11. Tuğba Yeğin & Muhammad Ikram, 2022. "Analysis of Consumers’ Electric Vehicle Purchase Intentions: An Expansion of the Theory of Planned Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-27, September.
    12. Emmanuel Okewu & Sanjay Misra & Rytis Maskeliūnas & Robertas Damaševičius & Luis Fernandez-Sanz, 2017. "Optimizing Green Computing Awareness for Environmental Sustainability and Economic Security as a Stochastic Optimization Problem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, October.
    13. Małgorzata Dzimińska & Justyna Fijałkowska & Łukasz Sułkowski, 2020. "A Conceptual Model Proposal: Universities as Culture Change Agents for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-23, June.
    14. Giorgio Mion & Angela Broglia & Angelo Bonfanti, 2019. "Do Codes of Ethics Reveal a University’s Commitment to Sustainable Development? Evidence from Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, February.
    15. Elise Barrella & Elisabeth Pyburn Spratto & Eric Pappas & Robert Nagel, 2018. "Developing and Validating an Individual Sustainability Instrument with Engineering Students to Motivate Intentional Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-24, August.
    16. Susana Romero & Marian Aláez & Daniel Amo & David Fonseca, 2020. "Systematic Review of How Engineering Schools around the World Are Deploying the 2030 Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-22, June.
    17. Ya-Ching Chang & Hsing-Lung Lien, 2020. "Mapping Course Sustainability by Embedding the SDGs Inventory into the University Curriculum: A Case Study from National University of Kaohsiung in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-21, May.
    18. Leslie Mahe Collazo Expósito & Jesús Granados Sánchez, 2020. "Implementation of SDGs in University Teaching: A Course for Professional Development of Teachers in Education for Sustainability for a Transformative Action," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-19, October.
    19. Christos AMOIRADIS & Mariya STANKOVA & Efstathios VELISSARIOU & Christos Ap. LADIAS, 2021. "Sustainability Analysis Of Greece'S Promotion As A Tourism Destination," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(2), pages 227-238, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrea Beatriz Damico & José María Aulicino & Jorgelina Di Pasquale, 2022. "What Does Sustainability Mean? Perceptions of Future Professionals across Disciplines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Christian Felber & Vanessa Campos & Joan R. Sanchis, 2019. "The Common Good Balance Sheet, an Adequate Tool to Capture Non-Financials?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-23, July.
    3. Primiano Di Nauta & Enrica Iannuzzi & Michele Milone & Claudio Nigro, 2020. "The Impact of the Sustainability Principles on the Strategic Planning and Reporting of Universities. An Exploratory Study on a Qualified Italian Sample," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-21, September.
    4. Tobias Hahn & Frank Figge, 2011. "Beyond the Bounded Instrumentality in Current Corporate Sustainability Research: Toward an Inclusive Notion of Profitability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 325-345, December.
    5. Tobias Hahn & Frank Figge & Jonatan Pinkse & Lutz Preuss, 2010. "Trade‐offs in corporate sustainability: you can't have your cake and eat it," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(4), pages 217-229, May.
    6. Rodrigo Lozano, 2020. "Analysing the use of tools, initiatives, and approaches to promote sustainability in corporations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 982-998, March.
    7. Van Passel, Steven & Nevens, Frank & Mathijs, Erik & Van Huylenbroeck, Guido, 2007. "Measuring farm sustainability and explaining differences in sustainable efficiency," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 149-161, April.
    8. Kozica, Arjan & Kaiser, Stephan, 2012. "A Sustainability Perspective on Flexible HRM: How to Cope with Paradoxes of Contingent Work," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(3), pages 239-261.
    9. A. Gözde Gözüm & : G. Pınar Acar, 2018. "İşletmelerin BIST-Sürdürülebilirlik Endeksi’nde Yer Alma DurumunaGöre Üst Kademe Teorisi Kapsamında Değerlendirilmesi," Istanbul Management Journal, Istanbul University Business School, vol. 29(84), pages 93-112, June.
    10. Witjes, Sjors & Lozano, Rodrigo, 2016. "Towards a more Circular Economy: Proposing a framework linking sustainable public procurement and sustainable business models," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 37-44.
    11. Schöll, Michaela, 2017. "Three Essays on Sustainable Supply Chain Management – Towards Sustainable Supplier Selection and Sustainable Sourcing," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 172463, March.
    12. Mark Anthony Camilleri, 2017. "Corporate sustainability and responsibility: creating value for business, society and the environment," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 59-74, September.
    13. Marian Siminica & Liviu Craciun & Adina Dinu, 2015. "The Impact of Corporate Sustainability Strategies on the Financial Performance of Romanian Companies in the Context of Green Marketing," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 17(40), pages 994-994, August.
    14. Rupert J. Baumgartner, 2014. "Managing Corporate Sustainability and CSR: A Conceptual Framework Combining Values, Strategies and Instruments Contributing to Sustainable Development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(5), pages 258-271, September.
    15. Thaís Vieira Nunhes & Merce Bernardo & Otávio José de Oliveira, 2020. "Rethinking the Way of Doing Business: A Reframe of Management Structures for Developing Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-32, February.
    16. Mehdi Amini & Carol C. Bienstock & John A. Narcum, 2018. "Status of corporate sustainability: a content analysis of Fortune 500 companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1450-1461, December.
    17. Hediger, Werner, 2010. "Welfare and capital-theoretic foundations of corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 518-526, August.
    18. Tobias Hahn & Frank Figge & Jonatan Pinkse & Lutz Preuss, 2018. "A Paradox Perspective on Corporate Sustainability: Descriptive, Instrumental, and Normative Aspects," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 235-248, March.
    19. Imbulana Arachchi, Janaki & Managi, Shunsuke, 2021. "Preferences for energy sustainability: Different effects of gender on knowledge and importance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    20. Nina Hampl & Moritz Loock, 2013. "Sustainable Development in Retailing: What is the Impact on Store Choice?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 202-216, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:8:p:1353-:d:106596. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.