Sustainability Competences and Pedagogical Approaches at the University of Nyíregyháza

Abstract

The University of Nyíregyháza is situating in North-Eastern Hungary, in the city of Nyíregyháza. It has 12 institutes and nearly 4,000 students and 200 teaching staff. The University of Nyíregyháza was one of the first among Hungarian higher education institutions declaring a Sustainable Development Strategy in 2010. This chapter presents the results from the 72 survey respondents. The main focus of the university is on social issues, followed by cross-cutting themes, environmental issues, and economic ones. The contribution is high and the strength is high. The ranking of the competences shows that Critical thinking and analysis is the highest, followed by Communication and use of media. The ranking of the pedagogical approaches resulted in Lecturing and Case Studies were the highest, followed by Project- or Problem-based learning. The correlation analysis showed that Case studies, Mind and concept maps, Inter-disciplinary team teaching, Participatory Action Research, Place-based environmental education developed the most competences. The competences most developed were Personal involvement, Strategic action, Inter-disciplinary work, Anticipatory thinking, Interpersonal relations and collaboration, Empathy and change of perspective, and Assessment and evaluation. The results allow a re-evaluation of the University of Nyíregyháza sustainability goals and possible drivers and barriers on the level of single institutes and of the whole university. The results also outline those potential collaborations within the current teaching staff of the University of Nyíregyháza which present an economic and efficient way for moving forward on the road the university has begun in education for sustainable development.KeywordsUniversity of NyíregyházaHungaryTeaching sustainabilityContribution to sustainabilityCompetencesPedagogical approachesCorrelation analysis