Abstract
Sustainable development is acquiring high attendance in higher education. In fact, one of the targets for the Sustainable Development Goals announced by the United Nations in September 2015 aims to ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, thorough education on sustainable development. The current study focuses on the evaluation of individual works based on the sustainable development suggested to students in a subject of the Master’s of Thermal Engineering at the University of Vigo. In addition, a sustainable holistic rubric is presented, which was used to analyze the ability of the students to incorporate sustainability principles in their work. The rubric was based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the associated targets of the United Nations, more specifically on the Goals 7, 8, 12, and 13. A total of 10 works were evaluated. As a general conclusion, it was found that the students generally do not consider or consider to a lower extent the economic criteria opposite to the environmental, technical, and social dimensions. The environmental sub-criterion were applied to a greater extent in the development of the works. However, the technical and social dimensions were included to a greater or lesser extent depending on the type of work developed.
Highlights
The most widely accepted definition of sustainable development appeared in the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development by Brundtland, which was published in 1987 and states that sustainable development is ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ [1]
The current study focuses on the evaluation of individual works based on the sustainable development suggested to students in a subject of the Master’s of Thermal Engineering at the University of Vigo
It was found that the students generally do not consider or consider to a lower extent the economic criteria opposite to the environmental, technical, and social dimensions
Summary
The most widely accepted definition of sustainable development appeared in the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development by Brundtland, which was published in 1987 and states that sustainable development is ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ [1]. There are different interpretations of sustainable development. The study of sustainable development requires evaluating these three dimensions, different authors highlight the environmental dimension [3,4,5,6], while the social dimension is often overrated [7]. On 25–27 September 2015, in the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development of the United Nations, a total of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 associated targets were announced, which demonstrate the ambition to reach sustainable development. Action over the fifteen years will be stimulated with these goals and targets [11]
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