Letter from the oasis: Helping engineering students to become sustainability professionals

Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development

“…The key journal articles analyzed are : Crofton 2000;Cusick 2008;de Haan 2006(cf. Barth et al 2007van Dam-Mieras et al 2008); Grunwald 2004Grunwald , 2007Jucker 2002;Kearins and Springett 2003;Kelly 2006;Kevany 2007;Ospina 2000;Rowe 2007;Segalas et al 2009;Shephard 2007;Sipos et al 2008;Steiner and Posch 2006;Sterling 1996;Sterling and Thomas 2006;Svanström et al 2008;Wals and Jickling 2002;Warburton 2003;Welsh and Murray 2003. In the literature review, we first listed, for each document, what each competence was entitled; what its definition and justification were (if available); and how it was linked to the other competencies (categorization or framework, if available). We subsequently cleaned the compilation by excluding elements that did not comply with the definition of competence (e.g., 'having fun'); competencies that did not comply with the definition of a key competence, such as critical thinking and basic communication skills; and competencies that appeared only once (no convergence).…”

“…Definition Anticipatory competence is the ability to collectively analyze, evaluate, and craft rich ''pictures'' of the Sustain Sci (2011) 6:203-218 207 Barth et al 2007;van Dam-Mieras et al 2008) Foresighted thinking ''Gestaltungskompetenz'' Interdisciplinary work Trans-cultural understanding and cooperation Participation Planning and implementation Empathy, compassion and solidarity Self-motivation and motivating others Reflection on individual and cultural models Kearins and Springett (2003) Reflexivity Critical theory Critique Social action/engagement Kelly (2006) Global consciousness ''Globo sapiens'' Considering changes to current ways of life Trans-generational thinking Generosity, openness, and serious engagement Courage Rowe (2007) Change-agent skills Problem solving Problem-solving capacity Sipos et al (2008) Transdisciplinarity Head, hands and heart Systems thinking Conflict resolution Collaboration Empowering Creativity Inclusivity Sterling and Thomas (2006) Valuing diversity, environment, justice Values, knowing, skills, understanding Knowledge of interconnected ecological, social, economic systems Knowledge of the principles of sustainable development Holistic or systemic thinking and analysis Knowledge of sustainability issues and problems Working across disciplines Cooperative action and conflict resolution Dealing with uncertainty Taking action to bring change ACPA.org (http://www2.myacpa.org/; cf. Svanström et al 2008) Mediating and resolving conflicts Change agent Analyzing power structures of inequality Recognizing global implications of actions Spanning boundaries Challenging the status quo Solving sustainability problems Collaboration, networking, developing alliances, building teams Seeing the big picture, understanding need for systemic change Being a leader and a follower Scenario creation Seeing the paths for change and following through Understanding the functioning and interconnectedness of systems Integrity Courage future related to sustainability issues and sustainability problem-solving frameworks.…”

Future-oriented higher education: Which key competencies should be fostered through university teaching and learning?

“…To cope with these challenges, universities have to become a ''learning academia'' [30, p. 13] -they should create teaching and learning settings which can be characterised by aspects as inter-and transdisciplinarity, participation, problemorientation as well as the linking of formal and informal learning and, thus, should facilitate the development of key competencies needed for dealing with (un)sustainable development [8,27,28].…”

The importance of industrial ecology in engineering education for sustainable development

“…Given the multidisciplinary dimensions of the course and the techno-centric ideas prevalent among students, it may be challenging to engage students with sustainability issues at an undergraduate level (El-Zein et al, 2008). Sustainability scientists call for education that produces professionals with a good understanding of sustainability issues, but Undergraduate Postgraduate IJSHE 13,2 students often have different ideas, often based on an expectation of continued unlimited economic growth (Ashford, 2004;Kelly, 2006).…”