COVID-19: the impact of a global crisis on sustainable development teaching

Walter Leal Filho (), Elizabeth Price (), Tony Wall (), Chris Shiel (), Ulisses M. Azeiteiro (), Mark Mifsud (), Luciana Brandli (), Carla Sofia Farinha (), Sandra Caeiro (), Amanda Lange Salvia (), Claudio Ruy Vasconcelos (), Luiza Olim Sousa (), Paul Pace (), Federica Doni (), Lucas Veiga Avila (), Bárbara Fritzen () and Todd Jared LeVasseur ()
Additional contact information
Walter Leal Filho: Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
Elizabeth Price: Manchester Metropolitan University
Tony Wall: University of Chester
Chris Shiel: Bournemouth University
Ulisses M. Azeiteiro: Universidade de Aveiro
Mark Mifsud: University of Malta
Luciana Brandli: University of Passo Fundo
Carla Sofia Farinha: Universidade NOVA de Lisboa
Sandra Caeiro: Universidade Aberta
Amanda Lange Salvia: University of Passo Fundo
Claudio Ruy Vasconcelos: Federal University of Paraíba
Luiza Olim Sousa: North-West University
Paul Pace: University of Malta
Federica Doni: University of Milano-Bicocca
Lucas Veiga Avila: Federal University of Santa Maria – UFSM
Bárbara Fritzen: University of Passo Fundo
Todd Jared LeVasseur: College of Charleston

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2021, vol. 23, issue 8, No 7, 11257-11278

Abstract: Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global crisis, one which also influences the ways sustainability is being taught at universities. This paper undertakes an analysis of the extent to which COVID-19 as a whole and the lockdown it triggered in particular, which has led to the suspension of presence-based teaching in universities worldwide and influenced teaching on matters related to sustainable development. By means of a worldwide survey involving higher education institutions across all continents, the study has identified a number of patterns, trends and problems. The results from the study show that the epidemic has significantly affected teaching practices. The lockdowns have led to a surge in the use of on-line communication tools as a partial replacement to normal lessons. In addition, many faculty teaching sustainability in higher education have strong competencies in digital literacy. The sampled higher education educations have—as a whole—adequate infrastructure to continue to teach during the lockdowns. Finally, the majority of the sample revealed that they miss the interactions via direct face-to-face student engagement, which is deemed as necessary for the effective teaching of sustainability content. The implications of this paper are two-fold. Firstly, it describes how sustainability teaching on sustainable development has been affected by the lockdown. Secondly, it describes some of the solutions deployed to overcome the problem. Finally, the paper outlines the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic may serve the purpose of showing how university teaching on sustainability may be improved in the future, taking more advantage of modern information technologies.

Keywords: COVID-19 shutdown; Online teaching; HEIs; Sustainability teaching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-020-01107-z

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