Integrating education for sustainable development into a sustainable-smart transdisciplinary learning framework

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/ijtl.v18i2.17292

Keywords:

education for sustainable development, sustainable-smart, transdisciplinary learning, social digital innovation

Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been gaining traction as a promising approach for addressing social challenges and driving positive change within society. The purpose of this article is to explore how ESD can be foregrounded to reframe and enrich an existing learning framework called the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Online Learning Framework (ICoL). The ICoL framework has been developed since 2020 using a Design-based Research methodology. Literature on ESD lacks exploration of practical implementation for interdisciplinary collaborative projects within communities. This article interrogates the question of how to integrate ESD within the ICoL learning framework. This study is explorative, and data are drawn from a review of the literature and student reflections. A qualitative, themed analysis of the data revealed a fifth learning design principle and a fourth structuring element towards a new learning framework, called the Sustainable-Smart Transdisciplinary Learning Framework.

References

Brundtland, G. (1987) Our common future: The world commission on environment and development. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Carayannis, E.G. & Morawska-Jancelewicz, J. (2021) The Future of Europe: Society 5.0 and Industry 5.0 as Driving Forces of Future Universities. Journal of the Knowledge Economy 13 pp.3445-3471. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-021-00854-2

Dipholo, K.B. & Biao, I. (2013) Rethinking Education for Sustainable Development in Africa. World Journal of Education 3(6) pp.46-53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5430/wje.v3n6p46

European University Association (EUA). (2021) Universities without walls. A Vision for 2030 (Report February 2021). https://eua.eu/resources/publications/957 (Accessed 3 October 2023).

Fam, D., Clarke, E., Freeth, R., Derwort, P., Klaniecki, K., Kater-Wettstädt, L., Juarez-Bourke, S., Hilser, S., Peukert, D., Meyer, E. & Horcea-Milcu, A.I. (2020) Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and practice: balancing expectations of the ‘old academy with the future model of universities as ‘problem solvers’ Higher Education Quarterly 74(1) pp.19-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12225

Freeth, R. & Caniglia, G. (2020) Learning to collaborate while collaborating: advancing interdisciplinary sustainability research. Sustainability Science 15(1) pp.247-261. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-019-00701-z

Friedman, B. & Hendry, D.G. (2019) Value Sensitive Design: Shaping Technology with Moral Imagination. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/7585.001.0001

Gladden, M.E. (2019) Who Will Be the Members of Society 5.0? Towards an Anthropology of Technologically Posthumanized Future Societies. Social Sciences 8(5) pp.148-187. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci8050148

Helbing, D., Fanitabasi, F., Giannotti, F., Hänggli R., Hausladen, C., van den Hoven, J., Mahajan, S., Pedreschi, D. & Pournaras, E. (2021) Ethics of Smart Cities: Towards Value-Sensitive Design and Co-Evolving City Life. Sustainability 13(20) p.11162. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011162

Hill, R., Adem, Ç., Alangui, W.V., Molnár, Z., Aumeeruddy-Thomas, Y., Bridgewater, P., Tengö, M., Thaman, R., Yao, C.Y.A., Berkes, F. & Carino, J. (2020) Working with indigenous, local and scientific knowledge in assessments of nature and nature’s linkages with people. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 43 pp.8-20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2019.12.006

Jiménez-Aceituno, A., Peterson, G.D., Norström, A.V., Wong, G. & Downing, A. (2020) Local lens for SDG implementation: lessons from bottom-up approaches in Africa. Sustainability Science 15(3) pp.729-743. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-019-00746-0

Kasinathan, P., Pugazhendhi, R., Elavarasan, R.M., Ramachandaramurthy, V.K., Ramanathan, V., Subramanian, S., Kumar, S., Nandhagopal, K., Raghavan, R.R.V., Rangasamy, S., Devendiran, R. & Alsharif, M.H. (2022) Realization of Sustainable Development Goals with Disruptive Technologies by

Integrating Industry 5.0, Society 5.0, Smart Cities and Villages. Sustainability 14(15258) pp.1-31.

Leicht, A., Heiss, J. & Byun, W.J. (2018) Issues and trends in education for sustainable development. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.

Manteaw, O.O. (2012) Education for sustainable development in Africa: The search for pedagogical logic. International Journal of Educational Development 32(3) pp.376-383. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2011.08.005

Mckenney, S. & Reeves, T.C. (2020) Educational design research: Portraying, conducting, and enhancing productive scholarship. Medical Education 55(February) pp.82-92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14280

Mishra, P., Thakur, P. & Singh, G. (2022) ‘Sustainable Smart City to Society 5.0: State-of-the-Art and Research Challenges’ South African Institute of Electrical Engineers 113(4) pp.152-164. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23919/SAIEE.2022.9945865

Moallemi, E.A., Malekpour, S., Hadjikakou, M., Raven, R., Szetey, K., Ningrum, D., Dhiaulhaq, A. & Bryan, B.A. (2020) Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Requires Transdisciplinary Innovation at the Local Scale. One Earth 3(3) pp.300-313. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.08.006

Nicolini, D. (2009) Zooming in and out: Studying practices by switching theoretical lenses and trailing connections. Organization Studies 30(12) pp.1391-1418. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840609349875

O’Donoghue, R., Taylor, J. & Venter, V. (2015) How are learning and training environments transforming with ESD? In A. Leicht, J. Heiss & W.J. Byun (Eds.) Issues and trends in Education for Sustainable Development. UNESCO pp.111-131.

Qureshi, I., Pan, S.L. & Zheng, Y. (2021) Digital social innovation: An overview and research framework. Information Systems Journal 31(5) pp.647-671. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12362

Reeves, T.C. (2006) Design research from the technology perspective. In J.V. Akker, K. Gravemeijer, S.E. McKenney & N. Nieveen (Eds.) Educational design research. Routledge pp.86-109.

Rosak-Szyrocka, J., Apostu, S.A., Ali Turi, J. & Tanveer, A. (2022) University 4.0 Sustainable Development in the Way of Society 5.0. Sustainability (Switzerland) 14(23) pp.1-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su142316043

Salgues, B. (2018) Society 5.0: industry of the future, technologies, methods and tools. London, Hoboken, NJ: ISTE Ltd. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119507314

Serpa, S. & Ferreira, C.M. (2019) Society 5.0 and Sustainability Digital Innovations: A Social Process’, Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflicts 23(1) pp.1-14.

Sinakou, E., Donche, V., Pauw, J.B. De, & Van Petegem, P. (2019) Designing powerful learning environments in education for sustainable development: A conceptual framework. Sustainability (Switzerland) 11(21) p.5994. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11215994

Smuts, H. & Van der Merwe, A. (2022) Knowledge Management in Society 5.0: A Sustainability Perspective Sustainability 14(11) pp 6879. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116878

Strachan, S.M., Marshall, S., Murray, P., Coyle, E.J. & Sonnenberg-Klein, J. (2019) Using Vertically Integrated Projects to embed research-based education for sustainable development in undergraduate curricula. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 20(8) pp.1313-1328. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-10-2018-0198

Tietjen, P., Ozkan Bekiroglu, S., Choi, K., Rook, M.M. & McDonald, S.P. (2023) Three sociomaterial framings for analysing emergent activity in future learning spaces. Pedagogy, Culture and Society 33(01) pp.17-36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2021.1881593

Tikly, L. (2019) Education for sustainable development in Africa: a critique of regional agendas. Asia Pacific Education Review 20(2) pp.223-237. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-019-09600-5

Ulmer, N. & Wydra, K. (2020) Sustainability in African higher education institutions (HEIs): shifting the focus from researching the gaps to existing activities. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 21(1) pp.18-33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-03-2019-0106

United Nations. (2015) Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. United Nations General Assembly. New York, p.35.

UNESCO. (2020) Education for Sustainable Development: A roadmap. Paris. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374802 (Accessed 3 October 2023).

de Villiers, M.R. & Harpur, P.A. (2013) Design-based research – the educational technology variant of design research: Illustrated by the design of an m-learning environment. Proceedings of the South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information Technologists Conference ACM pp.252-261. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2513456.2513471

van den Berg, C. & Verster, B. (2020, September) Co-Creating Social, Digital Innovation to Recognise Agency in Communities: A Learning Intervention: Research in Progress. In Conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists 2020 pp.85-93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3410886.3410912

Verster, B. & van den Berg, C. (2021) Pedagogical propositions for interdisciplinary collaborative learning through social, digital innovation. 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’21) June 22-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd21.2021.13092

van den Berg, C. & Verster B. (2022a). Towards a framework for interdisciplinary collaborative online learning spaces. 8th International Conference on Higher Education Advances, Valencia, Spain, 13-17 June 2022, http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAd22/paper/view/14577 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd22.2022.14577

van den Berg, C. & Verster, B. (2022b). Exploring Interdisciplinary Collaborative Online Learning Spaces through Sociomateriality in Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic Journal of e-Learning 20(4) pp.467-482. DOI: https://doi.org/10.34190/ejel.20.4.2359

Vilmala, B.K., Vilmala1, I.K., Suhandi, A, Permanasari, A. & Khumalo, M. (2022) A Literature Review of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Science Learning: What, Why, and How. Journal of Natural Science and Integration 5(1) pp.35-44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24014/jnsi.v5i1.15342

Wheeler, K.A., Hesselink, F. & Goldstein, W. (2015) Education for sustainability—looking backward and looking forward—IUCN CEC perspective on the United Nations decade of ESD. Applied Environmental Education & Communication 14(2) pp.70-81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1533015X.2014.970719

Žalėnienė, I. & Pereira, P. (2021) Geography and Sustainability Higher Education for Sustainability: A Global Perspective. Geography and Sustainability 2(2) pp.99-106. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geosus.2021.05.001

Zidny, R., Sjöström, J. & Eilks, I. (2020) A multi-perspective reflection on how indigenous knowledge and related ideas can improve science education for sustainability. Science & Education 29(1) pp.145-185. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-019-00100-x

Downloads

Published

17-11-2023

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Integrating education for sustainable development into a sustainable-smart transdisciplinary learning framework. (2023). The Independent Journal of Teaching and Learning, 18(2), 8-28. https://doi.org/10.17159/ijtl.v18i2.17292

Similar Articles

1-10 of 82

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.