Challenging the growth-prosperity Nexus: Redefining undergraduate economics education for the Anthropocene

Abstract

This paper proposes a conceptual framework to guide the transformation of undergraduate economics education, anchored in integrated human flourishing and ecological sustainability. The framework moves beyond the dominant focus on utility and profit maximization to encompass holistic goals of universal human development, social equity, and ecological sustainability within planetary boundaries. It outlines current economic problems and links them to key competencies critical to addressing these issues. Accordingly, educational themes and corresponding anchor topics are developed that align with the key competencies to equip students with pluralistic, transdisciplinary perspectives and solution-oriented skills for catalyzing a just economy that sustains the web of life. The framework is based on the multidimensional concept of prosperity and includes three interrelated dimensions: ecological sustainability, social inclusion and equality, and quality of life. To implement this framework, guiding principles and targeted learning outcomes for economics are defined that emphasize systems thinking, personal development, transdisciplinarity, and collective agency for transformative change. The goal is to provide a coherent structure to transform undergraduate economics education and empower students to become agents of social change who can critique and reorient the current economic system towards justice and ecological stewardship.