Case hacks in action: Examples from a case study on green chemistry in education for sustainable development

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Education must be able to connect technology advances, the industry and learning in the classroom. These include advances in the fields of chemistry and chemical education to teach students to be able to contribute to solving problems and sustainable development in the future. Chemical education has the main role in education for sustainable development. For this reason, we need a concept in a chemical education curriculum that can support sustainability. System thinking in chemistry education is relevant to sustainability. Through system thinking, students are challenged to holistically understand the scientific process. This study aims to review the literature on systems thinking and sustainability in chemical education. A total of 9 articles from reputed international journals were the main sources for review. The results of the literature study conducted were the implementation of the system thinking in a chemical education curriculum was a potential thing. The relationship between sustainability and systems thinking were discussed.

PurposeThis paper aims to discuss the knowledge levels, attitudes and behaviours regarding the concept of sustainable development among pre-university programme educators, as well as the potential barriers and opportunities they face in adopting the concept of sustainable development in the teaching of the pre-university level chemistry module at a public university in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted with eight educators of a pre-university programme at a public university located in Selangor, Malaysia. This pre-university programme exposes students to advanced courses in science, which are very much like first-year university courses for candidates who are interested in gaining admission to degree programmes. For this study, the focus was on chemistry educators only. The collected data were analysed through descriptive analysis following which interviews were conducted with the respondents.FindingsIn general, the educators have good knowledge and attitudes towards the concept of sustainable development. Moreover, their projected knowledge (K), attitude (A) and behaviour (B) focus more on environmental dimensions, as opposed to other sustainable development dimensions. While the integration of the concept of sustainable development in chemistry teaching is restricted by a few barriers, such as content-based learning, lack of guidebooks related to sustainable development and an overcrowded curriculum, positive responses from the chemistry educators indicate that there are opportunities to implement sustainable chemistry concepts in the pre-university chemistry module.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study was conducted with several limitations; the data were obtained from a small sample size at an institute located within a public university. The respondents of this research consisted of only three existing chemistry educators and five administrators who are also educators. Further studies about sustainable chemistry teaching should include samples from other public and private universities.Originality/valueThis paper is instrumental in assisting the Ministry of Education, administrators, as well as educators within the pre-university sector to shift their goals towards sustainable chemistry teaching to achieve success in education for sustainable development.

Objectives This study revealed that personality education is likely to be linked to education of sustainable development (ESD) by analyzing personality education and ESD, and suggested ways to link personality education and ESD.
 Methods To this end, a literature study was conducted to analyze prior research on personality education and ESD. In order to improve the validity, four experts were interviewed to collect opinions on personality education capabilities and elements, ESD capabilities and their relationships, and personality cultivation and sustainable development education capabilities.
 Results First, the personailty education element means a direction as a result of education. Personality education elements and personality education competencies should be cultivated together in a close relationship. Personality factors and personality core competencies were set up as self-respect, sincerity, honesty, courage, wisdom, self-regulation, consideration and communication, social responsibility, courtesy and justice, positive self-consciousness. Second, ESD and personality education have similarities in the direction they pursue. Therefore, it will be effective in education by linking the two. ESD capabilities to be linked to personality education were set as creative thinking, logical thinking, critical thinking, systematic thinking, problem-solving, communication skills, information processing skills, career development skills, other-oriented attitudes. Third, the link between personality education and ESD was linked to personality and sustainable development education centered on competency, and in the process, ESD was combined to obtain personality education virtues. Through the convergence of personality education elements and ESD capabilities, personality cultivation and ESD capabilities were created.
 Conclusions Personality education and ESD have the potential to be linked and can be fused. In the curriculum, it is necessary to include the ability to cultivate personality and ESD.

PurposeThe aim of this personal vision research is to analyse the characteristics of physical education subject to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the development of competences in university students. The objective is to reflect on how critical and systemic thinking could be mobilised through the contents and methodologies in physical education to promote the SDGs.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual article is proposed in which an active investigation of how physical education could foster critical and systemic thinking has been carried out. For this purpose, articles were selected that have analysed the potential of physical education for sustainability. Databases such as Web of Science, Scopus or Google Scholar have been reviewed through keywords such as “physical education”, “sustainability”, “critical thinking” or “systems thinking”.FindingsStrategies are presented to enable university students to understand the scope of the subject beyond the physical dimension. This study discusses that it is only through such a change of view of the subject that meaningful learning and learning situations that encourage enquiry and active participation can be introduced. Thus, this paper argues that physical education is a unique area of knowledge for mobilising critical and systemic thinking in the context of sustainable development (SD). Consequently, concrete actions are presented for application in physical education teaching that shows direct connections to specific targets of the SDGs.Practical implicationsThis study presents practical implications for higher education leaders and educational policy designers at the national level, as it would help improve initial and ongoing training programs for physical education teachers, focusing on the development of key competencies for sustainability.Social implicationsPhysical education has the potential to contribute to the development of vulnerable schools and communities, especially to the health and well-being of children and young people and does not require large financial budgets. Therefore, the recommendations presented in this study can have a positive impact on the well-being of these groups.Originality/valueThis document invites reflection on how, through different teaching strategies, we can produce significant learning that contributes to the sustainability of the planet. All this, trying to mobilise critical and systemic thinking and consequently improving awareness for SD.

The opportunities and challenges related to sustainability impose not only a societal transformation but also a personal one. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have great potential to promote sustainability and shape future generations’ skills, knowledge, thinking, and actions. Addressing environmental, social, and economic pillars, education for sustainable development (ESD), or education for sustainability (EfS), is a catalyst for quality education towards a sustainable future. This paper aims to analyze the state of the art and prevailing trends in the scientific literature pertaining to ESD/EfS. In this regard, specific objectives were established to identify the following: (1) authors’ productivity over time; (2) countries’ contribution and collaboration; (3) the most relevant keywords; and (4) the most prominent themes—in terms of relevance and degree of development. To fulfill the research objectives, quantitative research employing bibliometric analysis was carried out in April 2023. The research data sample was collected from the Web of Science (WoS) database. By conducting the search using a combined topic (“education for sustainable development” OR “education for sustainability”), a total of 2827 documents in English were identified within a timeframe of 33 years (1989–2023). These documents served as the foundation for subsequent data processing, visualization, and analysis using Biblioshiny/Bibliometrix (version R-4.2.0), as well as Excel (version 2309) software. The visualization and analysis focused on examining the most prolific authors and countries, in addition to generating word clouds based on keywords. Moreover, the thematic map that was delineated into four quadrants—Basic, Motor, Niche, and Emerging or Declining themes—provides an overview of the researched subject. ESD—embracing environmental, social, and economic pillars—implies transformative learning, action-oriented pedagogies, and professional development. As a holistic framework, it requires interdisciplinarity, system thinking, critical and experiential thinking, problem-based learning, and the use of 4IR technologies to enhance the teaching-learning process.

This research investigated Education for Sustainability (EfS) at an independent Montessori primary school, located in the Perth metropolitan area of Western Australia. A longitudinal case study involving analysis of data from a 20-year period was conducted to determine the effectiveness of EfS. Historical information about EfS at the school from 1990 to 2005 was examined, with the main focus of the study being on the impact of the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI) between 2005 and 2009. AuSSI promotes a whole school, whole systems thinking approach to EfS.Three school-based issues in EfS were studied. First, the research aimed to determine what elements of EfS were in operation in the school prior to involvement in AuSSI. Second, student outcomes including engagement with whole systems thinking, attitudes and values, knowledge and understandings, and skills and behaviours related to EfS, were investigated during the first 5 years of participation in AuSSI. Third, teacher perceptions of the EfS program, including engagement with whole systems thinking, were examined during this same time period.A case study approach was employed to enable in-depth investigation of EfS in the life of the school prior to, during and post implementation of AuSSI. This approach facilitated revelation of participants’ lived experiences, their perceptions and understandings of EfS, as well as detailed information about student outcomes in EfS. Case study methodology was also compatible with the culture and processes of the participating school and provided an opportunity for utilising a whole systems thinking approach. Data was gathered from a range of sources, through surveys, interviews, observation and document analysis over a 5-year period. The total participants included 11 teachers and 75 students.The research identified particular antecedents of EfS in the Montessori method of education that existed in the school prior to AuSSI, including the whole child approach, together with the Montessori learning environment, curriculum and values. Following participation in AuSSI, student attitudes and values, knowledge and understandings, and skills and behaviours related to EfS were enhanced for all year levels. However, after 3 years, when specific EfS actions and projects ceased, student EfS outcomes were limited. Furthermore, students’ thinking and behaviour indicated a ‘silo’, rather than whole systems thinking approach to EfS. Teachers perceived the EfS program as highly effective in the initial 3 years after joining AuSSI. Key elements that enhanced EfS included EfS staff champions who had access to EfS networks, leadership support, and active school community involvement in all EfS processes. However, after 3 years of being an AuSSI school, the culmination of reduced leadership support for EfS, lack of staff training, vague designation of staff with EfS responsibilities and inadequate community involvement, resulted in cessation of the EfS program. Teacher perceptions on whole systems thinking revealed alignment between Montessori philosophy, EfS and whole system thinking was more in theory than in practice.Through an in-depth longitudinal case study of a school this research highlighted the importance of whole school EfS professional learning, embedding EfS and whole systems thinking across the curriculum at all year levels, whole school support, and the usefulness of a sustainability continuum that recognises the complex, dynamic interplay of issues involved in a school's EfS journey. It is strongly recommended that improvements to pre-service teacher education in EfS are implemented, and a review of the AuSSI toolkit is conducted to refine EfS evaluation processes and to target the specific EfS needs of teachers at different stages of schooling, as well as to enhance understanding and implementation of the whole systems thinking approach. Finally, EfS professional learning for all school staff in all schools is warranted to enhance depth of EfS engagement.

Global education is an important aspect in preparing a generation ready to face the challenges of the future. In an effort to develop sustainable education, the use of artificial intelligence is one of the interesting potentials to consider. The research aims to explain the design of global education development aimed at developing AI-based sustainable education through library studies. The study uses a library study method by collecting, analysing, and synthesizing research, scientific articles, reports, and other relevant literary sources. The research focuses on three important aspects in the design of AI-based global sustainable education development, namely, learning personalization, adaptive curriculum development, and student progress assessment and monitoring. The library study results show that the use of AI in education can enable more effective learning personalization. With AI, learning materials can be tailored to individual student needs and preferences, enhancing their engagement and understanding. Furthermore, AI-supported adaptative curricular development allows learning experiences that are adapted to student development and capabilities. Student progress evaluation and surveillance can also be enhanced through the application of AI. This technology can provide more objective and comprehensive assessment of student progress, helping teachers to provide more timely feedback and support better decision-making in learning planning. While the potential for the use of AI in sustainable global education is promising, there are challenges and consequences to bear in mind. Ethical aspects, student data privacy, and fairness in access and use of AI technology should be key concerns in designing sustainable global education development. The study provides insight into the design of AI-based sustainable global education development through library studies. These findings could provide a basis for further research and provide practical guidance to stakeholders in adopting and implementing AI technologies responsibly to develop sustainable education at a global level.

Academics’ opinions and practices of education for sustainable development: reflections on a nation-wide, mixed-methods, multidisciplinary study

This chapter explores the difficulties of defining Education for Sustainability (EfS) and Education Sustainable Development (ESD). We highlight the issues and challenges that educators and academics face in implementing EfS and provide examples of how some institutions translate EfS and ESD into practice. There is little guidance, in the research literature, on a basic framework for the implementation of effective EfS. To overcome this deficit, we have synthesised research-based perspectives and experiences about what is EfS, who it is for, the EfS curriculum and how to translate EfS theory into practice. It is through this synthesis that we offer an EfS theoretical framework for teaching and learning. This framework indicates that EfS should not only provide scientific and technical skills, but also the motivation and social support needed for individuals wanting to pursue and apply their scientific and technical skills for a sustainable future. The EfS theoretical framework is cyclical and involves the translation for EfS practice, educating educators about EfS, the pedagogies in EfS, taking action for EfS, and EfS in practice which loops back to the translation for EfS practice.

A new approach to education has been proposed, called Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), with the goal of developing education in order to foster individuals who will contribute to the realization of a socially, economically, and environmentally more sustainable society. From the beginning of the 21st century, this has given rise to discussions and practices on related themes all over the world, including in Asia. While the environment surrounding education is markedly changing in Asian societies, with educational reforms actively pursued in many Asian countries and regions, their situations greatly differ depending on the context in which they find themselves. Today, departing from the conventional modes of teaching and learning that focus on the acquisition of an already systematized body of knowledge and skills, the field of education the world over is now shifting its focus to what is called key competencies, adopting and experimenting with new teaching and learning styles to develop abilities referred to as 21st-century skills. Based on these theoretical and conceptual discussions, a number of initiatives have been adopted as policies, school curricula, and educational practices in order to promote ESD in Asian countries. It is possible to divide Asian countries into three groups based on the place of ESD in their countries, as well as their degree of socioeconomic development and the popularization of school education: (a) countries that have accumulated experience in the practice of environmental education or development education; (b) countries that have been witnessing growing environmental consciousness and its rapid institutionalization in recent years, with varying degrees of implementation of environmental education; and (c) countries in which the elimination of poverty and inequality remains the most pressing issue and ESD is promoted in connection with development issues. Although the introduction of ESD is greatly affected by each country’s socioeconomic situation, it is important for all countries in Asia to promote equitable and sustainable education in order to realize a sustainable society. Thus, Asian countries need to form a social consensus to promote ESD, which requires the participation and responsibility of the whole of society.

This article analyses Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in chemistry by reviewing existing challenges and future possibilities on the levels of the teacher and the student. Pedagogical frameworks that are found eligible in practice are reviewed. Lesson themes that are suitable for implementing socio-scientific issues (SSI) related to ESD into basic chemistry education at schools are discussed. Based on this analysis, three new demonstrative pedagogical models for ESD in chemistry are presented to help guide the work of teachers. The models draw on an interdisciplinary reading of research in the field of SSI-based science education, sustainability science, green chemistry and environmental education. The current state of ESD in Finnish chemistry education is used as an example case throughout the article. Two tasks where future development is required were recognised. The first task concerns supporting chemistry teachers in overcoming the challenges with SSI and ESD they face in their work. The second task is to ensure that students are more often provided with more relevant and flexible chemistry content and studying methods.

This paper investigates the relationship between Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and chemistry / chemical engineering education at university level. It does so by describing the genealogy of the RRI concept as well as outlining three different interpretations of what RRI refers to and combining them into the hexagon model of RRI. This model constitutes the theoretical framework for this work. The second part of the paper addresses how the science and engineering education research literature has embraced insights from RRI. The hexagon model of RRI explicitly includes a dimension on (science and engineering) education, and this paper will contribute to this dimension by investigating and discussing how research literature can link RRI and tertiary chemistry and chemical engineering education. The paper shows that very limited work has been done to liaise chemistry higher education and chemical engineering education with the RRI framework. In the concluding section of the paper, we discuss how the reported educational experiences on RRI in STEM can be translated into higher education in chemical engineering and chemistry. Hereby a proposal to fill the identified knowledge gap is made. The core of the paper is conceptual, and its central purpose is to introduce RRI to a chemical engineering and chemistry ethics education audience. As mentioned, the RRI approach has gone largely unnoticed within engineering ethics education, and only received limited attention within ethics of chemistry education. We hope that these research communities will find it inspirational to get involved in the RRI framework and to actively enact RRI insights.

“Environmental education” has been internationally recognized in the past as interdisciplinary education in sustainability. However, such education might be Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). ESD focuses on more decision-making and participation for social change than change of mind which environmental education has been focusing on. Moreover, ESD does not treat only environmental problems and it includes environmental education and development education, etc. Therefore, the concept of ESD still has variety. However,“sustainable society” or “ sustainable community” might be important in ESD. On the other hand, environmental education has been also discussing the link between community development and education such as kougai education which the residents took the initiative in solving problems. Globalization after the 1990s has enabled several cross-border exchanges of capital, technology, talent, culture, etc. As a result, local identity and variety is losing its place in society. However, with the increase in number of unsustainable societies, a movement to review local resources and wisdom has been initiated. This study examines “local knowledge” in the activities of farmers belonging to the In-Paeng Network, an independent and autonomous unit in northeastern Thailand. Their activities are based on agricultural knowledge gained from daily practice, traditions learned from elders and friends, and personal experiences. In Bua, a poor village in northeastern Thailand, knowledge learned through experience includes discoveries made in everyday life, traditional cultural values, and agricultural practice. In addition, children are raised to love their homeland. They are taught the value of local flora and fauna, and other ancestral wisdom as passed down by elders. The practice of raising children to love their homeland was initiated to protect the local values, and inculcate them in the next generation children, thereby keeping village traditions alive. The understanding of values also makes children independent, brings the community together, and consequently enables community development.

This thesis concerns an inter- and multi-disciplinary research which was carried out at Environmental Chemistry Laboratory of Chemistry Department at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and UNESCO chair-network on Management and Education for Sustainable Development in the Mediterranean . Among the fundamental directions of Environmental Education and education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is the students familiarization with Environmental chemistry and Sustainable development issues. Also the promotion of critical thinking, through which learners could identify and decode influencing techniques, resist increasingly strong messages emitted by TV and electronic media, using powerful techniques able to counterbalance ESD messages from classrooms. In this research the results of the analysis of a large number of messages from various media were used for: a) identifying and reading between the lines ―non-contested‖ and ―contested‖ techniques for influencing audiences, b) presenting the above techniques to Secondary school and Higher education students, allowing them to identify by themselves the techniques in messages from advertisements, etc., c) testing if, and under what conditions, some of these non-contested techniques could be used for enhancing the efficiency of learning and increasing knowledge about Environmental chemistry, Green chemistry and shifting attitudes towards environmentally friendly direction.We check knowledge and attitude changes due to different educational interventions-presentations. Both the non-contested advertisement methods presentation and the ―static‖ presentation facilitate assimilation of knowledge related to environmental chemistry issues after the intervention. None was better than the other. But non-contested methods presentation stimulated attitudes and positive behaviors towards the environment signifantly better than the static presentation. On the other hand the contested techniques presentation in this study cause statistical significant changes in knowledge assimilation related to environmental chemistry in comparison to static presentation and also affected attitudes deeper. The usage of the latter methods does not suggest that we propose to employ them as means of positive or negative manipulation toward acceptance of messages. The inclusion of near infrasound information and subliminal stimuli serve one of the scopes of the research, which was to reveal that their presence in mass media productions is not neutral and may act especially upon vulnerable population, e.g. children, pupils, students without awareness.