Sustainable Consumption and Education for Sustainability in Higher Education

Abstract

Sustainable consumption (SC) is the concept surrounding the use of products and services with minimal impact on environmental safeguarding resources for current and future generations. Since its implementation in 2015, SC is an expanding area of research as the increased occurrence of environmental impacts is observed globally. In this article, a literature review of sustainable consumption and education is presented as an in-depth review of relevant literature over the last 25 years. The review provides an understanding of the relationship, effect, and current concepts of sustainability education and consumption behavior. An analysis of the historical, geographical, and thematic characteristics of the relevant literature provided the scholarly context of the literature. An exploration into consumer behaviors on an individual and contextual level is presented, highlighting key factors for achieving sustainable consumption on the consumer level. A further review on the effect of education in general, and higher education on consumer behavior, is provided, noting the key findings for the support of sustainable education, as well as the anticipated barriers. In the conclusion, the effect of education on consumption is found to be positive and significant for pro-environmental consumption behaviors, and it is the main approach for implementing the ideals of sustainable consumption in the future.