A history of the future of higher education for sustainable development

Thirty years of academic dialogue and reinvention about environmental and sustainability education conceals the consistency of rhetoric that literature holds. This paper argues that higher education for sustainable development does not call for the invention of anything disconcertingly new. In fact, four simple, long‐standing concepts contribute most of the philosophy, disciplinary content and pedagogy required: liberal education, interdisciplinarity, cosmopolitanism and civics. A review is undertaken of the literature behind these ‘ideas neither young nor mature’ and a sustainability canon is derived that features integrated sciences, humanities and social sciences theory, engaging, active pedagogy and authentic external experiences.