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Embedding Sustainability in Curricula: A Case Study of an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Framework at the Westminster Business School

Author

Listed:
  • Gustavo Espinoza-Ramos

    (University of Westminster)

  • Amanda Capucci-Polzin

    (University of Westminster)

Abstract

Increasingly complex socio-economic and environmental issues have been transforming all industries, with education playing a critical role in shaping a sustainable future. For that reason, UNESCO created the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), which is an interdisciplinary approach to learning that enables students to develop the values, knowledge and competencies needed to address the current local and global challenges (UNESCO, 2023). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 provide a comprehensive framework for addressing these challenges (United Nations, n.d.). However, there are barriers to the implementation of ESD in the curricula, including a lack of detailed guidance to implement it in educational contexts (Waltner et al., 2020), resistance to change and lack of financial resources (Calvert et al., 2023). For that reason, there is a need for guidance in the implementation of ESD, in this case, in the context of higher education. This conceptual paper is aimed at providing a framework to aid educators in embedding ESD in their curricula. This framework has nine stages: alignment of ESD policy and education strategy, mapping course and module learning outcomes, pedagogy, training of module design, learning activities, assessment, indicators and feedback for improvement. This paper uses narrative inquiry (Adams, T.E., Ellis, C., Jones, S.H. in Autoethnography. In The International Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods. pp. 1–11. Wiley (2017)) as a research strategy to analyse the module leaders’ experiences when developing the ESD framework and applying it to Sustainable City Economies (SCE), a second-year undergraduate module (340 students) at the Westminster Business School (England) that has been implemented since 2021/22. This paper showcases the positive impact of the ESD framework in different areas, including assessment performance, consistent engagement on a field trip and positive feedback during module evaluation. The early findings represent an opportunity for further research to assess the impact of the ESD framework over time and its application to other disciplines.

Suggested Citation

  • Gustavo Espinoza-Ramos & Amanda Capucci-Polzin, 2025. "Embedding Sustainability in Curricula: A Case Study of an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Framework at the Westminster Business School," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance,, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:csrchp:978-3-031-86337-0_16
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-86337-0_16
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