How Students’ Well-Being, Education for Sustainable Development, and Sustainable Development Relate: A Case of Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University

Abstract

This study investigates how students’ well-being relates to sustainable development and education for sustainable development at Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Saudi Arabia. The authors endeavor to answer the question “How Does Students’ Well-Being Relate to Sustainable Development Via Education for Sustainable Development?” and four sub-questions. The authors used primary data collected by semi-structured interviews exploring the viewpoints of twenty-six female and male students (n = 26) aged between 18 and 25. These interviewees, who are Saudi senior business students, have played a crucial role in our study. As revealed in the content and thematic analysis results, their insights have identified additional well-being and education for sustainable development antecedents that influence sustainable education and, therefore, sustainable development. In addition to this study’s new well-being and education for sustainable development factors, this study also developed a theoretical model for the relationship between antecedents for education for sustainable development factors, education for sustainable development, and sustainable development in the Saudi context. Moreover, this study’s outcomes guide educational institutions to link students’ education for sustainable development to their inner well-being and that on campus, which requires instructors’ awareness and training to help them deliver knowledge, skills, and emotional intelligence that improve students’ well-being, and therefore, education for sustainable development.