A guide to key readings
This document provides links to some key literature relevant to ESD. It is necessarily selective, and not exhaustive. The field is vast and growing. The documents & articles mentioned are available to La Trobe staff on a zip file. For others, the documents will need to be sourced, except where a hyperlink is indicated.
It deliberately does not provide detailed definitions of ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable development’ and recognises that these are contested concepts and that a range of perspectives exist – for overviews, see for example, Hopwood, Mellor & O’Brien (2005) ‘Sustainable Development: Mapping Different Approaches’, Sustainable Development 13, 38-52, or Robinson (2004) ‘Squaring the circle: some thoughts on the idea of sustainable development’, Ecological Economics 48, 369-384.
For our purposes we make the normative assumption that our goal is to live well (and with consideration for future generations) within the boundaries of the earth’s capacities, and we acknowledge both the societal causes and likely consequences of our current inability to do so. In particular we are concerned with the implications for tertiary education of our societies being unsustainable. EfS/ESD is not simply, or even mainly, a matter of teaching people about sustainability. Instead it places the emphasis on the ‘for’ in Education for Sustainable Development.
Theories and Frameworks
Tilbury (2012) “Higher Education for Sustainability: A Global Overview of Commitment and Progress.”
Jickling & Wals ‘Debating ESD (2012) 20 Years after Rio: a conversation between Bob Jickling and Arjen Wals’, Jnl. Of Education for Sustainable Development, 6(1), 49-57.
Miller, Munoz-Erickson & Redman (2010) ‘Transforming knowledge for sustainability: towards adaptive academic institutions’, Intl. Jnl. of Sustainability in Higher Education, 12(2), 177-192.
Jones, Selby & Sterling (2010) “More than the Sum of their Parts? Interdisciplinarity & Sustainability”, Chap. 2 of Sterling, Jones & Selby, Sustainability Education: perspect-ives & practice across Higher Ed., Earthscan, London.
Competencies
Barth, Godemann, Rieckmann & Stoltenberg (2007) ‘Developing key competencies for sustainable development in higher education’, Intl. Jnl. of Sustainability in Higher Education, 8(4), 416-430.
Rieckmann (2012) ‘Future-oriented higher education: Which key competencies should be fostered through university teaching and learning?’, Futures, 44, 127-135.
Sipos, Battisti & Grimm (2008) ‘Achieving transformative sustainability learning: engaging head, hands and heart’, Intl. Jnl. of Sustainability in Higher Education, 9(1), 68-86.
Implementation
Cotton, Bailey, Warren & Bissell (2009). ‘Revolutions and second-best solutions: ESD in higher education’, Studies in Higher Education, 34(7), 719-733.
Winter & Cotton (2012). ‘Making the hidden curriculum visible: sustainability literacy in higher education’, Environmental Education Research, 1-14 iFirst article.
Rusinko (2010). ‘Integrating sustainability in higher education: a generic matrix’, Intl. Jnl. of Sustainability in Higher Education, 11(3), 250-259.
Bacon et al (2011). ‘The creation of an integrated sustainability curriculum and student praxis projects’, Intl. Jnl. of Sustainability in Higher Education, 12(2), 193-208.
Curriculum Design
Porter & Cordoba (2009). ‘Three Views of Systems Theories & their Implications for Sustainability Education’, Jnl. Of Management Education, 33(3), 323-347.
… and many more on curriculum design available.
Students and Market for ESD
IPSOS market research survey [commercial in confidence - available only to LTU faculty on request]
Sky Future Leaders (2011). The Sustainable Generation.
Other institutions
University of Gloucestershire (2011), Education for Sustainability: a guide for educators.
Chhokar (2010). ‘Higher education and curriculum innovation for sustainable development in India’, Intl. Jnl. of Sustainability in Higher Education, 11(2), 141-152.
Leuphana University – see presentation
Gudz (2004). ‘Implementing the SD policy at UBC’, Intl. Jnl. of Sustainability in Higher Education, 5(2), 156-168.
Faculty relevant - Education
Australian Conservation Foundation (2001) Education for Sustainability.
Robertson, Margaret (ed.) (2012). Schooling for Sustainable Development, Vol. 3: A Focus on Australia, New Zealand, and the Oceanic Region
McKeown (2012). ‘Teacher education 1992 and 2012: reflecting on 20 years’, Jnl. Of Education for Sustainable Development, 6(1), 37-41.
Faculty relevant - Health
Masterman-Smith et al (2010) Health Education for Sustainability.
Faculty relevant - Humanities and Social Sciences
Leuphana University – ‘Minor in Sustainability Humanities’
Many articles relevant to particular disciplines not included.
Faculty Relevant - Business, Economics and Law
Stubbs & Schapper (2011). ‘Two approaches to curriculum development for educating for sustainability and CSR’, Intl. Jnl. of Sustainability in Higher Education, 12(3), 259-268.
Aries (2010). Sustainability in key professions: Accounting.
Presbury & Edwards (2005), ‘Incorporating Sustainability in Meetings and Event management education’, Intl. Jnl. of Event Management Research, 1(1), 30-45.
Adams et al (2011) ‘The development of leaders able to respond to climate change and sustainability challenges: the role of business schools’, Sustainability Accounting, Management & Policy Journal, 2(1), 165-171.
Faculty Relevant - Science, Technology and Engineering
Desha et al (2009). ‘Addressing the time lag dilemma in curriculum renewal towards engineering education for sustainable development’, Intl. Jnl. of Sustainability in Higher Education, 10(2), 184-199.
Forum for the Future (2003). The Engineer of the 21st Century.
Fenner et al (2005). ‘Embedding sustainable development at Cambridge University Engineering Department’, Intl. Jnl. of Sustainability in Higher Education, 6(3), 229-241.
Hopkinson et al (2010). ‘Practical pedagogy for embedding ESD in science, technology, engineering and mathematics curricula’, Intl. Jnl. of Sustainability in Higher Education, 11(4), 365-379.
