Sustainability Mindset Research Articles

Trends forecasting as a tool for sustainable education

The fashion and textile industry is under increasing scrutiny because of its unethical and unsustainable practices. It is clear there needs to be systemic change towards a more ecological future. One way to achieve this is through education, by equipping students with strategies and skills and by nurturing sustainable mindsets. How can we create the next generation of fashion professionals who can help bring the change that is much needed? Having taught sustainability within various modules on a fashion business degree in the United Kingdom, it was observed that a significant number of students engaged at a deeper level with sustainable thinking when learning trends forecasting research. A pilot study was trialled when teaching a short course in India with a small group of interdisciplinary design students and a questionnaire was conducted after the workshop. This article presents findings and reflections of this cross-cultural experience, with suggestions for future projects and educational approaches.

The new facet of healthcare leadership: “Sustainability for NextGen”

<p>A sustainable healthcare framework implies maintaining both the current and future quality of healthcare through balancing social, environmental and financial constraints. Health care faculties in Medical Universities hold a professional obligation to yield ‘sustainability-oriented’ healthcare leaders, having a sense of eco-accountability, environmental justice, and intergenerational resource equity. For this multipronged diverse approach, the most cardinal contribution, for a sustainability continuum, by the current generation of professionals is to develop a ‘sustainability mindset’ for the healthcare leaders of tomorrow. The ripple effect of the ‘sustainability mindset’, thus created will be the key factor, to traverse through generations to come, for individual health, healthcare systems and most importantly for the planetary health.</p>

ევროპის მწვანე შეთანხმება - ღრმა კოგნიტური ილუზიის ჭრილში დანახული ახალგაზრდობის ეკო-ცნობიერება

The European Green Deal is the largest economic correction in the history of the EU. Professionals and experts speak about this project during conferences, international meetings, in media and through other channels of communication, but how many people who are not closely related to the field of economics, innovation and science understand the importance of this project? How high is the level of awareness associated with this issue among the other audience – among the active players of this game aimed at improving the environment? A huge number of professionals in the industry are working to find solutions and paths to achieve the Green Deal goals, and, of course, all the scientific representatives who is interlinked with this area strongly support the ideas. But what about young people who are not in the industry – the generation whose role it is to turn ideas into reality? How important and influential is consumer awareness in the context of the European Green Deal course? In order to analyse this issue, the authors consider it important to reveal the topic of the relevance of the problem, consumer behaviour and sustainable mindset from not a strict scientific perspective and paradigm, but from a popular-scientific way. To delve into the study in more detail, the article describes the analysis of the hypothesis of the prism of awareness through the illusion of explanatory depth for young people, who are potential consumers, as well as the engines of the propagation of the movement. . Competent dissemination of information and a positive impact on the young segment in order to increase the level of awareness of environmental aspects is considered to be very important right now, but to what extent are young people, creators of change, are aware of it right now?

ევროპის მწვანე შეთანხმება - ღრმა კოგნიტური ილუზიის ჭრილში დანახული ახალგაზრდობის ეკო-ცნობიერება

The European Green Deal is the largest economic correction in the history of the EU. Professionals and experts speak about this project during conferences, international meetings, in media and through other channels of communication, but how many people who are not closely related to the field of economics, innovation and science understand the importance of this project? How high is the level of awareness associated with this issue among the other audience – among the active players of this game aimed at improving the environment? A huge number of professionals in the industry are working to find solutions and paths to achieve the Green Deal goals, and, of course, all the scientific representatives who is interlinked with this area strongly support the ideas. But what about young people who are not in the industry – the generation whose role it is to turn ideas into reality? How important and influential is consumer awareness in the context of the European Green Deal course? In order to analyse this issue, the authors consider it important to reveal the topic of the relevance of the problem, consumer behaviour and sustainable mindset from not a strict scientific perspective and paradigm, but from a popular-scientific way. To delve into the study in more detail, the article describes the analysis of the hypothesis of the prism of awareness through the illusion of explanatory depth for young people, who are potential consumers, as well as the engines of the propagation of the movement. . Competent dissemination of information and a positive impact on the young segment in order to increase the level of awareness of environmental aspects is considered to be very important right now, but to what extent are young people, creators of change, are aware of it right now?

The Sustainability Mindset Principles: A Guide to Developing a Mindset for a Better World

The Sustainability Mindset Principles: A Guide to Developing a Mindset for a Better World

Becoming future-proof STEM teachers for enhancing sustainable development: A proposed general framework for capacity-building programs in future studies.

Post-normal times and post-normal science are characterized by contradictions, unknown unknowns and uncertainties, and complexity. These global grand challenges require a revolutionary shift in thinking and mindset on the part of teachers and students Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify new roles for STEM education that will prepare students for this post-normal world and the sustainability mindset it requires. STEM education supports sustainable development by building the capacities of future generations. The integration of Future Studies (FS) into STEM education practices is therefore critical to support efforts at sustainability and to ensure that students are competent 21st century problem-solvers. Building STEM students’ competencies in this area depends on their teachers having the appropriate knowledge and skills to integrate FS within their subjects. Therefore, Futures Studies should be included in STEM education teachers’ capacity-building programs. Based on a sample of 52 Egyptian university academics, this study revealed the basic knowledge and skills that should be included in a Future-Proof STEM teachers capacity-building program.

Qur’anic wisdom and the sustainability mind-set: deciphering the relationship

PurposeThis paper aims to examine practical wisdom from the Islamic religion elaborating on how it pertains to the sustainability mind-set. The purpose is to assess whether the Islamic and sustainability mind-sets coincide and if so, how they do.Design/methodology/approachThe first two chapters of the Holy Qur’an were divided into parts based on the divisions in the exegesis by Abu Bakr Al-Jaza’eri. Next, a qualitative content analysis of the main sustainability themes in these chapters was conducted. The first stage of the content analysis involved the collection of Qur’anic verses related to the sustainability concepts. Following that, inductive interpretive analysis was conducted in the second stage of the content analysis, where key sustainability lessons within the agreed upon Qur’anic verses were extracted.FindingsThe empirical study reported in this paper reveals 10 lessons from the examined Qur’anic text that pertain to the sustainability mind-set. Each of these lessons appears to foretell the wisdom behind the sustainability mind-set.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on sustainability and Islam in two ways. First, the analysis results in key lessons relating to sustainability, the majority of which were not covered in existing literature. Second, the research takes a holistic approach to finding commonalities between the sustainability mind-set and the Islamic mind-set, instead of focusing on a specific aspect of sustainability such as the environment.

Everyone’s a winner if we test less: the CODA action plan.

In this era of 'Choosing Wisely,' we present a four-step action plan to reduce unnecessary pathology testing and the associated patient harm (blood loss through repeated phlebotomy), economic cost and environmental impact. The authors are experts from the CODA group; a medical education and health-promotion charity that aims to build on the Choosing Wisely initiative to provide meaningful and sustainable actions to reduce the carbon footprint of healthcare, globally. Pathology testing is expensive and carbon-intensive, with as many as half of all tests being not clinically indicated. Reducing unnecessary testing is the only effective way to decrease the carbon footprint and other associated costs, as opportunities to reuse and recycle pathology specimens are limited. The four key steps for action are (i) auditing local practice; (ii) defining unnecessary testing including developing a clinical guideline for rational ordering; (iii) educating stakeholders; and (iv) measuring the impact of the intervention through re-audit. This proven method is designed to be used in any healthcare setting around the world; having a small group of passionate 'champions' is thought to be as important as strong clinical governance and more important than access to sophisticated equipment. Electronic medical record systems and other technological solutions offer new ways to help establish a sustainability mindset and reduce unnecessary testing. The Codachange.org/coda-earth/ website provides a dynamic crowdsourcing platform through which we can collectively learn to meet the diverse needs of our international medical community. Self-reported outcomes are gamified through collaborative feedback, amplification via social media and the ability to earn rewards, be uploaded to the CODA website, or added to the template as a success story. By combining our existing local networks with the emerging international CODA community, we can initiate meaningful change now and enter the era of environmental stewardship.

Sustainable Tourism: Conceptual Clarity and Contextualization in Nepal

Considering the paucity of empirical research, the purpose of the paper is to communicate the conceptual facets and empirical frameworks of sustainable tourism that can be contextualized in the context of Nepal. This paper is an analytical review, building on previous view. Empirical evidences, Systematic open discourse among stakeholders, Pragmatism Philosophy, Sustainable Mindset, Destination exploration and branding, Industry-Community-Government interrelationship, learning from best practices are prerequisites of initiating and implementing sustainable tourism practices in Nepal. Sustainability tourism is result of continuous efforts. The academic and business model depends upon context and mindset. This study attempts to offer some empirical models that can be contextualized in Nepalese context. In Nepalese context, revival and exploration of new destinations is needed before sustainability dimension. The research paper has suggested some of the research issues and models in which future research on Nepalese perspective could be conducted. Moreover, study has disseminated contextual remedies for initiating and implementing sustainable tourism scenario in Nepal.

Transizione ecologica e nuove generazioni: il ruolo della famiglia nella promozione della sostenibilità in un’ottica inclusiva e interculturale

Starting from a reflection on the emergencies caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the article analyzes the role of the sustainability in education, based on the international recommendations and documents in this sense. Today more than ever it makes it necessary to live our common good world, promoting an ecological transition towards more inclusive, democratic and resilient communities.To achieve such a condition, it is necessary to invest in the training of future citizens. The family, as an educational agency, is called in this sense to support the new generations in the acquisition of a sustainability mindset and a planetary awareness that can help them interact in a conscious, responsible and reflective way in the current global world.

Twelve Principles to Guide a Long-Overdue Paradigm Shift

If human behaviors are associated with climate change, it relates to how we consume, entertain, travel, do business, relate to "natural resources", to ourselves and to each other. The authors posit that human behaviors are but the visible tip of the iceberg, sustained underwater by a voluminous mass comprised of our values, beliefs, assumptions, the anchors of our identity and shared paradigms. They trace back the history of a shared paradigm that has become dysfunctional and introduce the Sustainability Mindset Principles - a scaffolding to address the complexity of the paradigm. This paper describes how the dysfunctional paradigm can be brought back into balance by developing neglected aspects of a Western-Northern worldview that has been shaping our behaviors for centuries. By naming these aspects, the authors propose a language to incite the readers' imagination of what is possible. Naming creates reality.

Campus sustainability in an entrepreneurial framework

PurposeThis study aims to introduce a new framework for environmental entrepreneurship education.Design/methodology/approachThe authors test their environmental entrepreneurship framework using a Trash-to-Treasure experiential learning activity. The authors observed student entrepreneurs coordinate entrepreneurial efforts in a real-life context and collaborate with stakeholders across campus to achieve project goals. Grounded in action learning and action research frameworks, the authors describe how theory can be used to inform pedagogical practices and transform any sustainability event into problem-based innovative learning.FindingsThe authors report on two key outcomes: increased campus sustainability and contributions to entrepreneurial education and sustainability education. The authors conclude that student-run environmental businesses are win–win projects that truly integrate the three pillars of sustainability (people, profit, planet). The authors provide valuable teaching resources so that this project or similar campus greening initiatives could be implemented at any institute of higher education.Originality/valueDespite the recognized critical need for innovative workers that have an ethical and sustainable mindset, there has been relatively little research into the intersection of environmental and entrepreneurial education. This report provides a toolkit for educators to implement similar projects at their institutions.

Using contemplative photography in transformative sustainability management education: Pedagogical applications in the United States, Russia, and Germany

Developing a sustainability mindset requires a transdisciplinary approach to business education that integrates a rational-analytic mode of thinking and an emotive-holistic understanding of the human mind. In order to cultivate the sustainability mindset of business students, we have designed a contemplative art-based project involving the creation of an electronic portfolio which consists of a student's digital photographs. We have integrated it into our teaching of management courses in the United States, Russia, and Germany, respectively. The project aims to enable business students to become more visually attentive and environmentally conscious, so that they will pay close attention to the process of building more sustainable relationships within their natural and social environments. From the interpretative phenomenological perspective, we have analyzed the students' e-portfolios in order to understand how business students make sense of environmental and human sustainability. While envisioning more transformative sustainability management education, we have also discussed the pedagogical implications of making the e-portfolios for enhancing the students' understanding of the sustainability mindset.

The Role of Poetry in Promoting a Sustainability Mindset: Walter Benjamin as a Guide Toward a Slow Journey

The emergence of highly complex sustainability challenges in modern society has led to the necessity of searching for more effective approaches to education for sustainable development. Research has shown that reflection leads toward more profound levels of engagement with respect to sustainable actions. Therefore, higher education has a role to play in stimulating reflection in light of sustainability. Art-based techniques, which have not been included alongside traditional teaching methods, have begun to gain the attention of researchers and teachers in higher education as they produce a deeper impact and involvement and can have a positive influence on the minds and hearts of the students. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that poetry can contribute to integrating the arts and humanities in management education. The potential effect of poetry on business management majors is being explored as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility course. Poetry has considerable potential as an innovative approach to teach sustainability, but it is rather unusual in business education. Poetry was chosen as an enabler for reflection and emotions. This original teaching project was followed by a research project relying on reflective assignments. A rereading of Walter Benjamin'sIlluminationsfrom the perspective of sustainability studies was a source of inspiration, in particular “Theses on the Philosophy of History,” “The Storyteller” and “Unpacking My Library.” The paper assumes that Benjamin's ideas relate to a slow journey involving “awakening,” “wisdom” and “in a process,” three elements that are at the core of promoting a sustainability mindset. The research project consisted of four reflection assignments students had to comply with: reading and interpreting poetry; searching for a poem which would be most appropriate for the discussed sustainability topic; creating their own poem and reflecting on the whole task. The research took place in the second semester of 2020 and first semester of 2021, all in COVID-19 pandemic context. Students' participation was not mandatory, but the majority joined. Their perceptions and impressions reinforce the existing knowledge about the emotional power of poetry to encourage reflection. The results show that poetry plays a relevant role in encouraging future managers to develop a frame of mind that incorporates sustainability and responsibility. Business students are open to this approach because it adds a new and unexpected dimension to their studies. Despite the urge to integrate reflections, this is still an exception for the majority of management courses. The results suggest that poetry is a relevant instrument to promote a more sustainable mindset among future managers. Paradoxically, by emphasizing a slow journey, i.e., allowing time for integrating reflective practices, a transition toward sustainability in daily managerial processes can be accelerated.

Ecocentric management mindset: a framework for corporate sustainability

PurposeThis study aims to propose a framework to drive organizations, and particularly multinational enterprises, to understand and internalize a sustainable mindset for implementing efficient and effective corporate sustainability initiatives and helping them achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs).Design/methodology/approachThe framework is based on the bidirectional iterative process of the flexible pattern matching methodology. The literature on ecocentric management was examined from top to bottom in its dialogue with corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The bottom-up phase was based on highly visible deviant cases of companies that were significantly recognized for their CSR or for their sustainability programs but became well-known examples of unsustainability. Additionally, an illustrative case was analyzed to examine the mindset in practice.FindingsThe study offers a framework based on six constructs that were identified in ecocentric management literature. It translates the ecocentric management mindset framework into behaviors for organizations that want to conduct efficient sustainable programs that help them achieve the SDGs.Originality/valueThe proposed new framework highlights the conceptual pillars of ecocentric management, and offers practical and theoretical perspectives on how sustainability can be better addressed at the corporate level, and help achieve the SDGs.

Implementation and Impacts of Education for Sustainable Development: Experience of Universitas Gadjah Mada

A green physical setting would need green behavior and culture to sustain and function properly. Education is a key component to form a sustainable mindset and lifestyle for society, especially youth. As a university with a vision to be a resilient and healthy campus, Universitas Gadjah Mada has actively involved in providing education for sustainable development. The activities have commenced since 2016 through Integrated Smart and Green Building research group and involve participants from both internal and external audiences. Internal target audiences were primarily freshman UGM students and later extended to include primary and high school students. External audiences were the government and stakeholders from the commercial sector. The program was designed to increase awareness on sustainable development and encourage everyone to take part to achieve its goals. Students were educated on the importance of sustainable lifestyle and expected to practice green behavior in their daily life. For stakeholders, a focus group discussion was organized to start a conversation for the formulation of green building regulation. There were observable immediate changes in cognitive and behavorial domain toward sustainable lifestyle. Sustainable development is a long term vision and it needs participation from everyone. Higher education as a center of knowledge should actively provide society with education to achieve sustainable development.

Sustainability mindset: a challenge for educational professions?

Sustainability Mindset: una sfida per le professioni educative?

Health and well-being education as basic element of the Sustainability Mindset

For developing a sustainability mindset it is necessary go through an eco-sustainable individual and common concept of health, well-being and lifestyle. The aim of this article is to explain the links that exist between health, well-being, lifestyle and development of sustainability mindset. First, the constituent elements of well-being, mental health and mental disease will be analysed, then the health concept, pathology and determinants of health and the implications that they have in the source of the lifestyle. Finally, the strategies that can be used to change unhealthy lifestyles in the perspective of sustainability will be examined.
 
 L’educazione alla salute e al benessere come archetipo fondante dell’educazione alla sostenibilità
 Per sviluppare una mentalità orientata alla sostenibilità è necessaria un’azione formativa che passi attraverso una concezione ecosostenibile della salute, del benessere e dello stile di vita sia a livello individuale che collettivo. L’obiettivo di questo articolo è quello di esplicitare i raccordi che esistono fra salute, benessere, stile di vita e sviluppo della substinability mindset. Sono dapprima analizzati gli elementi costitutivi del concetto di benessere, di salute mentale e di disturbo mentale, successivamente sono illustrati i costrutti di salute, patologia e determinanti di salute e le implicazioni che essi hanno nella genesi dello stile di vita. In ultimo, sono affrontate le strategie che possono essere utilizzate per cambiare gli stili vita meno salubri nell’ottica della sostenibilità.

FOSTERING SUSTAINABLE MINDSETS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION

AbstractTransitioning to a more sustainable society requires that universities produce an increasing number of engineering professionals capable of redesigning current production and consumption systems. This calls for restructuring engineering curricula towards sustainability becoming an integral part of engineering education and professional practice. To this end, this paper investigates the intrinsic and extrinsic motivational aspects of professional identity that contribute to consolidating sustainable mindsets in engineering, considering education as its main route. Specifically, we focus on identifying significant personal and education-related factors that contribute to fostering sustainable decision-making and affect the development of sustainable mindsets in engineering students. In order to identify such factors, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a diverse set of students and professionals (N=12). A thematic analysis of survey transcripts present three main components that support the development of sustainable mindsets throughout engineering education: i) Personal commitment, ii) Learning opportunities, and iii) Internalization time.

The impact of peer learning on student performance in an architectural sustainability course

PurposeThe importance of sustainability in architecture currently necessitates the integration of innovative teaching strategies on the subject into architecture programs. This study aims to introduce and examine peer learning pedagogy by peer tutoring to educate architecture students in sustainable design.Design/methodology/approachBased on class assignments proposed in two different architecture sustainability-focused courses in the second and fourth years of the Bachelor of Science in architecture program, a total of 103 students assessed the proposed peer learning experience and its impact on their sustainability mindsets and education. Subjective surveys for evaluating the peer learning experience were designed and delivered at different stages of the course sequences. A total of 502 survey responses were obtained in the study.FindingsThe qualitative and quantitative data analysis confirms that the proposed peer learning by peer tutoring increased students’ knowledge, motivation and commitment to sustainable design. In addition, participants became more confident in applying sustainable design skills and their academic grades improved more than 25% compared to previous courses using traditional teaching methods.Originality/valueTraditional architecture education has long been criticized for their pedagogical methodologies based primarily on passive learning. Recently, these programs have begun to prepare students to become active learners and communicators in collaborative and multidisciplinary environments. A mixed-method approach of combining pre-/post-experience surveys and analysis of final grades was used to determine the level of success and the quantifiable behavior change delivered by students involved in this peer learning experience.