IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i22p12808-d683326.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Responding to Global Challenges through Education: Entrepreneurial, Sustainable, and Pro-Environmental Education in Nordic Teacher Education Curricula

Author

Listed:
  • Jaana Seikkula-Leino

    (Renewing Learning and Collaboration, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, 333520 Tampere, Finland
    Department of Education, Faculty of Human Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-85170 Sundsvall, Sweden)

  • Svanborg R. Jónsdóttir

    (School of Education, University of Iceland, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland)

  • Marcia Håkansson-Lindqvist

    (Department of Education, Faculty of Human Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-85170 Sundsvall, Sweden)

  • Mats Westerberg

    (Department of Social Sciences, Technology and Arts, Luleå University of Technology, SE-97187 Luleå, Sweden)

  • Sofia Eriksson-Bergström

    (Department of Education, Faculty of Human Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-85170 Sundsvall, Sweden)

Abstract

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the European Union’s strategies both set goals for solving environmental challenges faced by societies and communities. As part of solving these challenges, both the UN and the EU stress the development of entrepreneurial and innovative education. Teacher education plays a crucial role in these efforts, since teachers and teacher educators have a significant impact on educating citizens far into the future. In this research, we studied how Nordic (Finnish, Swedish, and Icelandic) primary teacher education curricula involve entrepreneurial, sustainable, and pro-environmental education. For this study, the authors analyzed the B.Ed. curricula of three academic teacher education institutions in Spring 2021. We used qualitative content analysis as our research method. According to the results, all three curricula incorporated both entrepreneurship education and sustainable development to some extent, although often not very explicitly. Given the urgency of problems such as global climate change, the educational goals and contents in these curricula related to entrepreneurial education and sustainable development are very limited. The idea of integrating environmental/sustainable and entrepreneurship education could be promoted in the future more explicitly, with these interdisciplinary educational themes emphasised more strongly in the curricula and education policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaana Seikkula-Leino & Svanborg R. Jónsdóttir & Marcia Håkansson-Lindqvist & Mats Westerberg & Sofia Eriksson-Bergström, 2021. "Responding to Global Challenges through Education: Entrepreneurial, Sustainable, and Pro-Environmental Education in Nordic Teacher Education Curricula," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12808-:d:683326
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12808/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12808/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brent Parton & Alexandria Valerio & Alicia Robb, 2014. "Entrepreneurship Education and Training Programs around the World : Dimensions for Success," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 18031.
    2. Jaana Seikkula-Leino & Maria Salomaa, 2020. "Entrepreneurial Competencies and Organisational Change—Assessing Entrepreneurial Staff Competencies within Higher Education Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Matthias Filser & Sascha Kraus & Norat Roig-Tierno & Norbert Kailer & Ulrike Fischer, 2019. "Entrepreneurship as Catalyst for Sustainable Development: Opening the Black Box," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Jane Lu Hsu & Maja Pivec, 2021. "Integration of Sustainability Awareness in Entrepreneurship Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-14, April.
    5. Jaana Seikkula-Leino & Maria Salomaa & Svanborg Rannveig Jónsdóttir & Elin McCallum & Hazel Israel, 2021. "EU Policies Driving Entrepreneurial Competences—Reflections from the Case of EntreComp," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-21, July.
    6. Marc A. Rosen, 2009. "Sustainability: A Crucial Quest for Humanity - Welcome to a New Open Access Journal for a Growing Multidisciplinary Community," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-4, March.
    7. Bacigalupo Margherita & Kampylis Panagiotis & Punie Yves & Van Den Brande Godelieve, 2016. "EntreComp: The Entrepreneurship Competence Framework for Citizens," JRC Research Reports JRC101581, Joint Research Centre.
    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. Maria-Glòria Barberà-Mariné & Laura Fabregat-Aibar & Valeria Ferreira & Antonio Terceño, 2024. "One Step Away from 2030: An Assessment of the Progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the European Union [A un paso de 2030: Una evaluación del progreso de los Objetivos de Desarrollo S," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(6), pages 1372-1397, December.
    2. María-Carmen Ricoy & Cristina Sánchez-Martínez, 2022. "Raising Ecological Awareness and Digital Literacy in Primary School Children through Gamification," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-19, January.
    3. Nurul Ain Zulkifli & Nornazira Suhairom & Nur Husna Abd Wahid & Nurul Ain Saipudin, 2025. "Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets in Teacher Trainees: A Study on Entrepreneurship Education for Future Educators," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(4), pages 4371-4390, April.
    4. Daniel Gherasim, 2023. "Current Status of Outdoor Education in the Curriculum of the Romanian School to the Discipline of Religion," Research & Education, Weik Press SRL, issue 9, pages 106-127, December.

    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. Timo Nevalainen & Jaana Seikkula-Leino & Maria Salomaa, 2021. "Team Learning as a Model for Facilitating Entrepreneurial Competences in Higher Education: The Case of Proakatemia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-17, July.
    2. Augusta Raţiu & Ionela Maniu & Emilia-Loredana Pop, 2023. "EntreComp Framework: A Bibliometric Review and Research Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-26, January.
    3. Solomon Akpoviroro Kowo & Adeleke Oba Adenuga Olusegun & Olufemi Amos Akinbola & Tolulope Olaoluwa Taiwo, 2021. "Efficacy of Entrepreneurship Education, Intraprenuership and Students' Career Reflections," Acta Universitatis Bohemiae Meridionalis, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Faculty of Economics, vol. 24(1), pages 1-18.
    4. Eleonora Fiore & Giuliano Sansone & Emilio Paolucci, 2019. "Entrepreneurship Education in a Multidisciplinary Environment: Evidence from an Entrepreneurship Programme Held in Turin," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-28, March.
    5. Daniel Vankov & Borislav Vankov, 2023. "Entrepreneurship education 2-in-1: Helping young Bulgarians become more entrepreneurial in a 10-month parallel-group randomized trial," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, December.
    6. Premand, Patrick & Brodmann, Stefanie & Almeida, Rita & Grun, Rebekka & Barouni, Mahdi, 2016. "Entrepreneurship Education and Entry into Self-Employment Among University Graduates," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 311-327.
    7. Sergey Evgenievich Barykin & Larisa Nikolaevna Borisoglebskaya & Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Provotorov & Irina Vasilievna Kapustina & Sergey Mikhailovich Sergeev & Elena De La Poza Plaza & Lilya Saychenko, 2021. "Sustainability of Management Decisions in a Digital Logistics Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-17, August.
    8. Jorge Gustavo Rodríguez Aboytes & Matthias Barth, 2020. "Learning Processes in the Early Development of Sustainable Niches: The Case of Sustainable Fashion Entrepreneurs in Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-26, October.
    9. Ewa Chomać-Pierzecka, 2025. "Innovation as an Attribute of the Sustainable Development of Pharmaceutical Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-20, March.
    10. Kouam, Jean & Asongu, Simplice, 2022. "Effects of Taxation on Social Innovation and Implications for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Developing Countries: A Literature Review," MPRA Paper 114061, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Walter Leal Filho & David Anthony Kirby & Tiago F. A. C. Sigahi & Ricardo L. F. Bella & Rosley Anholon & Osvaldo L. G. Quelhas, 2025. "Higher education and sustainable entrepreneurship: The state of the art and a look to the future," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 957-969, February.
    12. Yoonyoung Cho & David Robalino & Samantha Watson, 2014. "Supporting Self-Employment and Small-Scale Entrepreneurship : Potential Programs to Improve Livelihoods for Vulnerable Workers," World Bank Publications - Reports 20686, The World Bank Group.
    13. Tõnis Mets & Jack Holbrook & Siim Läänelaid, 2021. "Entrepreneurship Education Challenges for Green Transformation," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, February.
    14. Ana Dias Daniel & Shahzada Adeel & Anabela Botelho, 2021. "Entrepreneurial Alertness Research: Past and Future," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, September.
    15. Giustina Secundo & Elisa De Carlo & Andreina Madaro & Giuseppe Maruccio & Fulvio Signore & Emanuela Ingusci, 2019. "The Impact of Career Insight in the Relation with Social Networks and Career Self-Management: Preliminary Evidences from the Italian Contamination Lab," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-20, October.
    16. Rayna, Thierry & Striukova, Ludmila, 2021. "Fostering skills for the 21st century: The role of Fab labs and makerspaces," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    17. Todd Davey & Sofía Louise Martínez-Martínez & Rafael Ventura & Victoria Galán-Muros, 2025. "The creation of academic spin-offs: University-Business Collaboration matters," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1567-1601, August.
    18. Antonio Rodríguez-Peña, 2025. "Corporate entrepreneurship and the sustainable development goals: exploring the connection," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-27, December.
    19. Kluve, Jochen & Puerto, Susanna & Robalino, David & Romero, José Manuel & Rother, Friederike & Stöterau, Jonathan & Weidenkaff, Felix & Witte, Marc, 2016. "Do Youth Employment Programs Improve Labor Market Outcomes? A Systematic Review," Ruhr Economic Papers 648, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    20. Sara Proença & Elias Soukiazis, 2023. "The process of sustainable entrepreneurship: a multi-country analysis," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(10), pages 10995-11010, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12808-:d:683326. 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.