Purpose Gardens are being used at all educational stages, because they provide with a real-world context for active and experiential learning. In Spain, there exists a movement in favor of their incorporation to higher education for a variety of purposes but prevalently as an innovative resource to teach sciences to pre-service teachers. The purpose of this study is assessing the impacts of such pedagogical practice on university students’ learning and behavioral changes in the areas of environmental and food citizenship, two key dimensions of contemporary citizenship that are essential to achieve sustainable societies. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected by means of an electronic, open-ended question survey completed by 170 students from 6 different universities where gardens are used. Answers were qualitatively analyzed using MAXQDA software to develop a system of content categories and subcategories in relation to reported learning and behavioral changes. Findings Widespread among universities was learning on organic agriculture practices, greater appreciation of agricultural labor, greater willingness to cultivate, higher awareness of environmental impacts of agriculture, improved behaviors regarding waste separation and enhanced fruit and vegetable consumption. Originality/value This work delves into how university gardens act as a vehicle through which students integrate knowledge and reflect on their environmental, food and consumption behaviors. Thus, it supports on evidences, the use of gardens at higher education to nurture two dimensions of contemporary citizenship essential to achieve sustainability.

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In this paper, it is examined the role that environmental education plays in the development of global good living. Environmental education is introduced, its trajectory and evolution are reviewed in multiple currents, and the predominant one, education for sustainable development, is described, stressing on its implicit conceptions and shortcomings. Then, critical environmental education is presented, which spurns the uniformity of global capitalism and teaches the old and the new roots to our land and to the Earth, and a plural and diverse sense of collective and individual identity. We focus on its proposals in relation to ecologism, criticism, sustainability, interculturality, and participation. Afterwards, we reflect on some specific characteristics that the pedagogical proposal of critical environmental education should have for the construction of global good living. Finally, a good living goal is proposed.

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The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of a garden-based teaching unit about “Food and Nutrition” on students’ knowledge and habits of sustainable healthy diets, and to compare it with that of a more traditional unit from a textbook. This communication is framed in a research project (EDUCYL2020-01 “Sembrando interés, cosechando competencia”, financed by the Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Castilla y León through the Dirección General de Innovación y Formación del Profesorado (ORDEN EDU/262/2020, de 9 de marzo, por la que se convoca la selección de proyectos de investigación educativa a desarrollar por equipos de profesores y equipos de inspectores que presten servicios educativos de la Comunidad de Castilla y León durante los cursos 2020/2122)) whose aim is to improve science education by approaching scientific topics of the official curriculum from a context-based strategy. The authors first designed a teaching-learning sequence, using an organic learning garden as a context, including real-life activities to promote reflection and debate among students. Such a sequence was implemented in a group of 40 students at the third course of Spanish compulsory secondary education, whose results were compared with those of a group of 15 students who followed the textbook. The impact was assessed by posing four open questions to students from the two groups, both at the beginning and the end of the instruction, whose answers were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results show that implementing the sequence constituted an educational improvement with respect to traditional teaching, since students’ answers on the topic were overall more comprehensive and evidenced better preparation for making real-life decisions. Students from the experimental group became more aware of the environmental impacts of human nutrition, and of sustainable healthy diets. It was also indicated that the health and nutrition-centered approach that still predominates in education needs to be overcome, and a sustainable approach needs to be taken. This is a novel study that leads a new line of research devoted to addressing education about sustainable food, which arises from the demands of raising awareness among citizens toward changing diets within the transition toward sustainable food systems.