Embedding Education for Sustainable Development in higher education: A case study examining common challenges and opportunities for undergraduate programmes

This paper explores the perceptions of academics and students towards embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into undergraduate degree programmes in the School for Earth, Ocean and Environmental Science (SEOES) at the University of Plymouth. The main purpose of the research was to identify current ESD related teaching and learning in a science-based undergraduate programme and the opportunities for, and barriers to, further extensions of ESD. The results indicate that there is general support for the embedding of ESD in the curriculum, but there is considerable uncertainty expressed by lecturers concerning how this can best be done. There is a general concern that additional embedding into the degree programme might lead to reductions in the amount of core subject matter being taught. The programme and ESD agendas are to an extent seen by lecturers as conflicting. ESD is viewed mainly in terms of curriculum content as opposed to the pedagogy employed.     

农业一农村发展过程中土地持续利用管理

农业一农村发展过程中的土地持续利用具有阶段性特点，不同阶段的持续利用管理内容与方式应与其发展阶段的土地利用和生产、经济发展相一致。以生态工程与景观生态设计方法，是进行不同层次的土地持续利用规划和设计的有效方法。而强大的人工控制系统以及灵敏现代信息工程系统，是实现土地持续利用必不可少的保证。在进入农业一农村发展的综合农业阶段，土地利用结构的调整，必须以促进农村产业结构调整为目标，以土地利用景观的多元化，保证社会、经济以及环境的持续发展。本文以曲周县为例对上述观点进行阐述。     

高校学生对可持续发展的认知研究——基于全球261所高校的调查数据

联合国教科文组织自2015年以来在全球范围内开展了一项针对高校学生的可持续发展认知测试，其测试结果开创性地勾勒出了高校学生可持续发展认知的全球图景。基于该测试第一批次全球261所高校的调查数据分析发现，高校学生已具备基本的可持续发展知识和素养，可持续教育已普遍纳入高校的培养计划，未来需要更多地在实践活动中培养学生的可持续责任意识，“可持续发展为导向的大学”理念广泛受到认同与传播。中国高校学生在测试中整体表现优于国际平均水平，这是近年来我国高校开展可持续教育的成果体现。可持续发展教育的进一步推进需要政策、理论和实践等多层面的支持和联动。我国高校围绕立德树人的重要目标，应把可持续发展理念融入学生核心素养和综合素质培养之中。     

Future-oriented eGovernance: The sustainability concept in eGov research,and ways forward

eGov (eGovernment/eGovernance) is a complex endeavor involving many actors, ambitions, and perspectives. The field has, in research and in practice, over the years expanded its focus from service orientation to a comprehensive perspective with the ambition to integrate all of government in coherent action. Comprehensive integration requires a future-oriented perspective so investment is made in robust and flexible solutions meeting not only today's demands but also sustainable to meet those of the future. This paper addresses the use of the sustainability concept in eGov research. We discuss definitions and elements of sustainability and conduct a structured review of eGov literature investigating how various sustainability areas (social, economic, environmental and technical) are addressed. We find 21 overall themes in 94 papers, with the highest number in the “social” category. Two cross-cutting themes to which 21 overall themes relate are also identified; Decision-making and Infrastructure. Findings show that sustainability is mainly addressed narrowly, focusing on projects rather than general issues, and shallowly with a focus on single factors rather than the complex interaction among them, and with little foundation in sustainability theory. The paper contributes with an overview of themes in previous research as well as theory-based input for future research efforts on eGov sustainability, from a dynamic and sociotechnical sustainability perspective.     

Do policy mix characteristics matter for low-carbon innovation? A survey-based exploration of renewable power generation technologies in Germany

Policy mixes may play a crucial role in redirecting and accelerating innovation towards low-carbon solutions, thus addressing a key societal challenge. Towards this end, some argue that the characteristics of such policy mixes matter greatly, yet with little empirical evidence backing up such claims. In this paper we explore this link between policy mix characteristics and low-carbon innovation, using the research case of the transition of the German electricity system towards renewable energy. Our empirical insights are based on an innovation survey administered to German manufacturers of renewable power generation technologies which builds on the Community Innovation Survey. For our purposes we adjusted the survey to better capture companies’ perceptions of policy mixes. Employing a bivariate Tobit model we find evidence that companies’ perceptions regarding the consistency and credibility of the policy mix are positively associated with their innovation expenditures for renewable energies, and this positive link intensifies when considering the mutual interdependence of these policy mix characteristics. In contrast, neither the comprehensiveness of the instrument mix nor the coherence of policy processes were found to be related to innovation expenditures. Overall, these findings suggest that future research on low-carbon and eco-innovation should pay greater attention to the characteristics of policy mixes, rather than focusing on policy instruments only. Finally, our findings indicate a need to consider how policy may be measured in innovation surveys to generate better informed policy advice regarding the greening of innovation.     

Agency in regime destabilization through the selection environment: The Finnish food system’s sustainability transition

The growing urgency of environmental threats combined with the slow pace of sustainability transitions has turned attention towards a better understanding of regime destabilization. Focusing excessively on niche innovations could be incumbent regimes’ diversion and resistance strategy and could reinforce the ‘business as usual’ mindset instead of contributing to system-wide changes. Historical cases of system transition have most often been used to understand the dynamics of regime destabilization. However, these insights have limitations when the focus is on ongoing transitions. Moreover, it is argued that more attention should be paid to agency and actors. Herein, regime destabilization is understood through an internally structured selection environment, implying that agency is assumed not only in variation at the niche level but also in the selection processes: (1) the selection environment is shaped by active and strategic actors and actor networks; (2) the selection environment is shaped by diverse discursive framings; and (3) the selection environment is shaped by various actors beyond the regime and even beyond the system in question. The argument is empirically tested in the case of the Finnish food system by constructing prevailing storylines in the sustainability transition. Four contrasting but partially overlapping storylines and their associated actor networks are identified. The empirical case supports the view that actors across all levels aim to influence the selection environment’s formulation with their framing of the problem and the strategic response. Thus, more attention must be paid to the content and diversity of different discursive framings in sustainability transitions.     

‘The learning sticks’: reflections on a case study of role-playing for sustainability

Use of role-plays to develop deep student-learning has many advocates. Role-play is a powerful approach for learning that develops relevant skills in a range of disciplines and situations. In Higher Education, sustainability programmes role-play pedagogy appears to have great relevance for developing the competencies that these graduates will need. The ability of role-play pedagogy to develop these competencies was assessed through a case study of students in a first-year subject/course at an Australian university. Analysis of the students’ written comments indicate that the students were involved in significant learning, and had made substantial progress in developing five key skills for sustainability. The enjoyment and engagement they demonstrated was an added benefit of their experience and potentially of the role-play approach. While it is acknowledged that a role-play requires careful planning and support, and may be considered resource intensive, it can be argued that the student learning achieved is worth the effort.