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Social Sustainability and Transformation in Higher Educational Settings: A Utopia or Possibility?

Author

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  • Lili-Ann Wolff

    (Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, PB 9, 00014 Helsinki, Finland)

  • Peter Ehrström

    (Regional Science, Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies, Åbo Akademi University, PB 311, 65101 Vaasa, Finland)

Abstract

Social sustainability is a dimension of sustainability that has received little attention. Our aims in this article are to create a definition of social sustainability based on a comprehensive literature study, and to discuss the implementation of the concept in higher education settings at theoretical and practical levels. We also aim to answer the question of whether it is possible to achieve a socially sustainable and transformative practice in educational contexts. Our approach in the study is critical and reflective and, firstly, built on a literature review including policy documents, research articles and books on sustainability from the perspectives of education and social studies. Secondly, we provide examples of practice from four university sustainability courses. In these courses, social sustainability appears in an interdisciplinary and a sustainable leadership framework. The conclusion from this study is that it is possible to implement social sustainability in various ways at the course level. We identify elementary features at basic, personal and educational levels that facilitate the implementation. However, we see the inclusion of social sustainability as the only way to reshape education and rethink the role of educational institutions. In this reshaping, ethics is the core.

Suggested Citation

  • Lili-Ann Wolff & Peter Ehrström, 2020. "Social Sustainability and Transformation in Higher Educational Settings: A Utopia or Possibility?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-21, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:10:p:4176-:d:360540
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    2. Efrat Eizenberg & Yosef Jabareen, 2017. "Social Sustainability: A New Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-16, January.
    3. Robert H. W. Boyer & Nicole D. Peterson & Poonam Arora & Kevin Caldwell, 2016. "Five Approaches to Social Sustainability and an Integrated Way Forward," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Beate Littig & Erich Griessler, 2005. "Social sustainability: a catchword between political pragmatism and social theory," International Journal of Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(1/2), pages 65-79.
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