Sustainable development, education and literacy

TLDR

Environmental education has a much larger literature base than sustainable development education. The study aims to distinguish sustainable development education from environmental education and propose practical, problem‑based interdisciplinary approaches for its implementation. The authors critique existing literature, introduce complexity theory, and present a case study illustrating problem‑based interdisciplinary integration of sustainability into course delivery. The discussion and case study demonstrate that reconciling sustainability and development demands a complex interdisciplinary approach, and recommend that practitioners adopt interdisciplinary, problem‑based applied learning in sustainable development programs. The literature review is not exhaustive and focuses solely on sustainable development education.

Abstract

Purpose To distinguish sustainable development education from environmental education and stress the importance of problem‐based interdisciplinary learning to sustainable development education. Design/methodology/approach A range of published works relating to sustainable development education are critiqued, an introduction to complexity theory is given and related to sustainable development education, and a case study is provided to demonstrate an example of incorporating sustainability into course delivery and to demonstrate problem‐based interdisciplinary learning. Findings Our discussion supports our claim that reconciling sustainability and development requires a complex interdisciplinary approach beyond that found in some areas of traditional environmental education. Research limitations/implications Our literature search is not exhaustive and focuses on sustainable development education. A much greater body of literature relating to environmental education exists. Practical implications Our discussion and case study suggests practitioners designing and teaching sustainable development related programs should incorporate an interdisciplinary approach and allow for problem‐based applied learning to take place. Originality/value This paper distinguishes sustainable development education from environmental education and suggests practical courses of action for initiating sustainable development education in a meaningful manner.