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Possibilities and Challenges in Education for Sustainable Development: The Case of Higher Education

Author

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  • Ylva Uggla

    (Ylva Uggla, Department of Sociology, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden. E-mail: ylva.uggla@oru.se)

  • Linda Soneryd

    (Linda Soneryd, Department of Sociology, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.)

Abstract

Sustainable development as a subject area and learning objective increasingly finds its way into the curriculum from pre-school to university level, and education and learning are emphasized as key drivers for sustainable development. At the same time, the sustainable development discourse has since its inception been met with critique, not least that it is a post-political discourse, which favours an instrumental view of knowledge and a simplified view of the relation between knowledge and action. In this article, we focus on the possibilities and challenges of teaching sustainable development in higher education. We argue that it is the formative role of higher education that is particularly important to explore in relation to the possibilities of education for sustainable development. In addition, we suggest that sociology can provide a good basis for both critical thinking and normative action, in ways that reaches beyond instrumental and narrow views of knowledge, human action and change.

Suggested Citation

  • Ylva Uggla & Linda Soneryd, 2023. "Possibilities and Challenges in Education for Sustainable Development: The Case of Higher Education," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 17(1), pages 63-77, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jousus:v:17:y:2023:i:1:p:63-77
    DOI: 10.1177/09734082231183345
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christoph Schank & Marco Rieckmann, 2019. "Socio-economically Substantiated Education for Sustainable Development: Development of Competencies and Value Orientations Between Individual Responsibility and Structural Transformation," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 13(1), pages 67-91, March.
    2. Helen Kopnina, 2019. "Ecocentric Education: Student Reflections on Anthropocentrism–Ecocentrism Continuum and Justice," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 13(1), pages 5-23, March.
    3. Charles Hopkins, 2012. "Twenty Years of Education for Sustainable Development," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 6(1), pages 1-4, March.
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