Assessing the Impact of ESD: Methods, Challenges, Results

Quentin Ssossé, Johanna Wagner and Carina Hopper
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Quentin Ssossé: Independent Researcher, 75020 Paris, France
Johanna Wagner: Independent Researcher, 75015 Paris, France
Carina Hopper: Independent Researcher, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-26

Abstract: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD; also often called Education for Sustainability (EfS)) is a key lever of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which emphasize the need for everyone to have the knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of creating a more sustainable world. However, while we can find examples of ESD across the globe, its potential to scale effectively and its impact on achieving the goals of sustainable development as compared with traditional curricula are often questioned. This literature review, at the crossroads of econometrics, educational sciences and psychology, aims to foster scaled ESD research and initiatives by offering a better understanding of the doubts that surround its potential impact. To that end, we (1) shed light on the methods and good practices for assessing this impact; (2) underline the specificity of the data to be collected in the context of these methods of assessment; and (3) outline the existing conclusions of impact studies dedicated to ESD that have served to highlight the limits and challenges for accurate measurement. These impact studies suggest that ESD will only achieve its objectives if pedagogical approaches are renewed. The inclusion of studies showing de facto poor results for ESD makes it possible to complete the picture of the endogenous and exogenous factors determining sustainable behavior that must be taken into account, both in the design of impact assessment tools and in the concrete implementation of ESD.

Keywords: education for sustainable development; sustainability education; environmental literacy; competences for sustainable development; sustainability citizens; impact assessment; higher education curricula (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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