Inclusion of Education for Sustainable Development in Environmental Engineering. A Systematic Review

Pedro Mauricio Acosta Castellanos, Araceli Queiruga-Dios and Lina González Álvarez
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Pedro Mauricio Acosta Castellanos: Doctoral School, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
Araceli Queiruga-Dios: Department of Applied Mathematics, High School of Industrial Engineering, University of Salamanca, 37700 Salamanca, Spain
Lina González Álvarez: Environmental and Civil Engineering Faculty, Universidad Santo Tomas, Tunja 150009, Colombia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-11

Abstract: Sustainable development (SD) is a global commitment, in the economic, social, and environmental terms of the 21st century. The SD integrates conventional development models that seek economic growth and human development, within the framework of respect and sustainable use of natural resources. This challenge must involve all levels of society. Higher education is not an exception, since universities must strive for knowledge, research, and innovation to promote SD. To achieve this, education for sustainable development (ESD) has been especially promoted by the United Nations. ESD is an indirect measurement instrument for the inclusion of SD in higher education curricula. Environmental engineering is one of the areas of most recent creation and expansion of engineering, this undergraduate program seeks to solve the environmental problems generated by the economic development of human beings, applying the theory, techniques, and technologies of engineering. With this systematic literature review (SLR), we were able to answer different research questions posed towards the most relevant competencies, techniques, and tools for the inclusion of ESD in the environmental engineering curriculum. This SLR was developed by searching the Science Direct, Scopus, and ERIC databases. We were able to identify success stories for the inclusion of ESD and some gaps in promoting ESD within undergraduate programs in environmental engineering. Likewise, we find the most applied activities, tools, and competencies within this engineering field that are part of ESD and promote SD from the curriculum.

Keywords: education for sustainable development; educational strategies; environmental engineering; university education; systematic review (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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