This book lays out the principles and practices of transformative sustainability education using a relational way of thinking and being. Elizabeth A. Lange advocates for a new approach to environmental and sustainability education, that of rethinking the Western way of knowing and being and engendering a frank discussion about the societal elements that are generating climate, environmental, economic, and social issues. Highlighting the importance of Indigenous and life-giving cultures, the book covers educational theory, transformation stories of adult learners, social and economic critique, and visions of changemakers. Each chapter also has a strong pedagogical element, with entry points for learners and embodied practices and examples of taking action at micro/meso/macro levels woven throughout. Overall, this book enacts a relational approach to transformative sustainability education that draws from post humanist theory, process thought, relational ontology, decolonization theory, Indigenous philosophy, and a spirituality that builds a sense of sacred towards the living world. Written in an imaginative, storytelling manner, this book will be a great resource for formal and nonformal environmental and sustainability educators.

This collection explores sustainability education in the North American academy. The authors advocate for a more integrated approach to teaching sustainability in order to help students address the most pressing problems of the world, embrace experimentation, and foster more meaningful involvement with the communities in which universities are located. Throughout, they remain focussed on identifying opportunities for sustainability in higher education and suggesting specific strategies and tactics to achieve them. Recommendations include pedagogical and structural changes aimed at helping students understand the systems in which they can advance sustainability. This timely volume will be of interest to scholars, academic leaders, policy makers, societal partners in research, and private-sector leaders interested in advancing the sustainability agenda. Contributors: Apryl Bergstrom, Christopher G. Boone, Ann Dale, Thomas Dietz, Roger Epp, Allison F.W. Goebel, Kourosh Houshmand, Robert H. Jones, Naomi Krogman, Shirley M. Malcom, Robert E. Megginson, Patricia E. (Ellie) Perkins, Vicky J. Sharpe, Toddi A. Steelman

There is growing awareness among leading responsible management scholars and practitioners that understanding global wicked problems is insufficient in effecting lasting engagement and changed behaviors. Research indicates that to impact behavior, the mindset has to shift, which leaves the question: How do you shift a mindset? This book guides educators and practitioners, their students and colleagues to take action on finding urgent solutions to the grand challenges stated in the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. A Sustainability Mindset is a way of thinking and being that results from a broad understanding of the ecosystem, from social sensitivity and an introspective focus on our personal values and higher self, which finds its expression in actions for the greater good. By promoting a mindset shift, educators in very diverse contexts are laying the foundation for a resilient future. The book presents a collection of over 150 student voices depicting a transformative experience and a shift in their mindset. Seventeen educator/student teams of contributing authors from across five continents describe the activity that prompted those students’ reflections, and the conceptual frameworks that played a role in the selection of the learning goals and activities. The book is written with academic and corporate educators, reflective practitioners, consultants, coaches, trainers and students in mind, and is invaluable in guiding the process of developing a sustainability mindset among participants in the training process.

This handbook offers an expanded discourse on transformative learning by making the turn into new passageways to explore the phenomenon of transformation. It curates diverse discourses, knowledges and practices of transformation, in ways that both includes and departs from the adult learning mainstay of transformative learning and adult education. The purpose of this handbook is not to resolve or unify a theory of transformation and all the disciplinary contributions that clearly promote a living concept of transformation. Instead, the intent is to catalyze a more complex and deeper inquiry into the “Why of transformation.” Each discipline, culture, ethics and practice has its own specialized care and reasons for paying attention to transformation. How can scholars, practitioners, and active members of discourses on transformative learning make a difference? How can they foster and create conditions that allow us to move on to other, unaddressed or understudied questions? To answer these questions, the editors and their authors employ the metaphor of the many turns into passageways to convey the potential of transformation that may emerge from the many connecting passageways between, for instance, people and society, theory and practice, knowledge created by diverse disciplines and fields/professions, individual and collective transformations, and individual and social action.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has emerged as a critical framework for addressing global challenges in the 21st century. As we navigate complex environmental, social, and economic issues, the role of education in fostering sustainable practices becomes increasingly paramount. This edited volume, Education for Sustainable Development: Perspectives and Practices, seeks to illuminate the multifaceted nature of ESD through diverse perspectives and practical examples from around the world.

How do we equip learners with the values, knowledge, skills, and motivation to help achieve economic, social and ecological well-being? How can universities make a major contribution towards a more sustainable future? Amid rising expectations on HE from professional associations, funders, policy makers, and undergraduates, and increasing interest amongst academics and senior management, a growing number of higher education institutions are taking the lead in embracing sustainability. This response does not only include greening the campus but also transforming curricula and teaching and learning. This book explains why this is necessary and - crucially - how to do it. Bringing together the experience of the HEFCE funded Centre for Sustainable Futures (CSF) at the University of Plymouth and the Higher Education Academy's Education for Sustainable Development Project, the book distills out the curriculum contributions of a wide range of disciplinary areas to sustainability. The first part of the book provides background on the current status of sustainability within higher education, including chapters discussing interdisciplinarity, international perspectives and pedagogy. The second part features 13 chapter case studies from teachers and lecturers in diverse disciplines, describing what has worked, how and why - and what hasn't. Whilst the book is organised by traditional disciplines, the authors and editors emphasise transferable lessons and interdisciplinarity so that readers can learn from examples outside their own area to embed sustainability within their own curricula and teaching. Subject areas covered include: geography, environmental and Earth Sciences, nursing/health, law, dance, drama, music, engineering, media and cultural studies, art and design, theology, social work, economics, languages, education, business and built environment.

This Handbook approaches sustainable development in higher education from an integrated perspective, addressing the dearth of publications on the subject. It offers a unique overview of what universities around the world are doing to implement sustainable development (i.e. via curriculum innovation, research, activities, or practical projects) and how their efforts relate to education for sustainable development at the university level. The Handbook gathers a wealth of information, ideas, best practices and lessons learned in the context of executing concrete projects, and assesses methodological approaches to integrating the topic of sustainable development in university curricula. Lastly, it documents and disseminates the veritable treasure trove of practical experience currently available on sustainability in higher education.

This book explores how the education sector can transition to being truly sustainable and why necessary innovations for educational change are being subverted and undermined when mapped onto the existing industrial educational system. Based on PhD case study research with schools that are modelling and teaching sustainability, action research, and the author’s 40 years of working in the K-12 system, this volume examines how education continues to perpetuate the status quo, and why education innovations are thus undermined. It shows the importance of redesigning education based on the principles of sustainable living systems and explores how this can be achieved across all levels of the educational system. The first part of the book establishes a new vision of sustainable education, whilst the second brings to light the industrial mechanistic root metaphors in current practice across leadership and administration, buildings and grounds, curriculum design, teaching, and learning that are subverting innovative efforts. From understanding the foundational, influential, problematic root metaphors of our "Industrial" educational system, it moves to explore how the ecological principles of sustainability can be used to rethink and redesign an educational system, from its administration, leadership, and policy, to curriculum, buildings, grounds and resources, through to teaching and learning, that will support sustainability, innovation, and creativity, developing systems thinking and sustainability as a frame of mind. Exploring how the education sector can transition to being truly sustainable and find new ways to traverse the problematic "Industrial" world view at this pivotal moment, will appeal to administrators, post-secondary educators, policymakers, and researchers and scholars of sustainability education, educational leadership, curriculum design, and educational philosophy.

Prioritizing Sustainability Education presents theory-to-practice essays and case studies by educators from six countries who elucidate dynamic approaches to sustainability education. Too often, students graduate with exploitative, consumer-driven orientations toward ecosystems and are unprepared to confront the urgent challenges presented by environmental degradation. Educators are prioritizing sustainability-oriented courses and programs that cultivate students’ knowledge, skills, and values and contextualize them within relational connections to local and global ecosystems. Little has yet been written, however, about the comprehensive sustainability education that educators are currently designing and implementing, often across or at the edges of disciplinary boundaries. The approaches described in this book expand beyond conventional emphases on developing students’ attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors by thinking and talking about ecosystems to additionally engaging students with ecosystems in sensory, affective, psychological, and cognitive dimensions, as well as imaginative, spiritual, or existential dimensions that guide environmental care and regeneration. This book supports educators and graduate and upper-level undergraduate students in the humanities, social sciences, environmental studies, environmental sciences, and professional programs in considering how to reorient their fields toward relational sustainability perspectives and practices.