This study uses qualitative research methods of text mining to elucidate the potential and prospects for community-based learning opportunities for raising environmental awareness and bringing about healthy behaviour change among university students and local residents. In particular, we focus on the importance of community-based learning in raising environmental awareness and inspiring action to support healthy living and harmony with nature. The three groups were triangulated using semi-structured questionnaires to model the ways in which education for sustainable development (ESD) can contribute to the promotion of environmental education in local communities. In order to collect in-depth data, the authors themselves were present at the study sites and collected textual data based on semi-structured questionnaires in a participatory observation framework, where they had a common experience to understand the observations. Analysis was carried out using NVivo12. The two community learning initiatives studied were in Okayama and Tokyo, which are leading ESD policy areas. The two case studies are both university student-led projects that aim to raise environmental awareness in local communities through environmentally conscious behaviour change and the creation of a foundation for healthy living. This study focuses on “youth” and “community” among the five priority areas proposed in the 2015 ESD report and discusses the potential and prospects for community learning initiatives and the triggering of the nudge effect on environmentally conscious behaviour change and health behaviours. The results of the textual analysis with triangulation show that, while policymakers and teachers and leaders driving the initiative acknowledge the importance of ESD in a comprehensive way, their attention is more focused on the design of specific projects and curricula. In contrast, university students engaged in ESD activities rated the social education facilities (local community centres, community learning centres) as “lively” and “motivating”. It was found that there are high expectations for “public living rooms”, which are important as a base for learning to promote healthy and sustainable communities and environmentally conscious behaviour change.

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A Qualitative Assessment of Community Learning Initiatives for Environmental Awareness and Behaviour Change: Applying UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Framework

This article presents a characterization of the perception of environmental education, in the schools of the commune of Santa Barbara, Biobio region, which have an Institutional Educational Project (PEI) with an environmental seal This research was carried out through ethnomethodology, to identify and describe pedagogical practices aimed at environmental education, and describe the pedagogical approach to environmental problems that teachers from participating schools have Nine teachers from four rural and urban education establishments participated Among the main findings, it can be seen that the implementation of environmental education is carried out under an instrumental logic, where critical and reflective processes that cause environmental problems are scarcely addressed, proposed from the guidelines of education with a view to sustainability; On the other hand, it highlights the presence of teaching characteristics that could ensure its effectiveness, such as sensitivity to the ecological crisis and critical awareness of environmental problems It is concluded that pedagogical tools are lacking that can strengthen the success of their implementation, link with networks that support the implementation of the proposals, and clarify the pedagogical approach of teachers to environmental problems

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Educación ambiental en la escuela chilena : experiencias pedágogicas en la comuna de Santa Bárbara

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are adopting sustainable development (SD) in their strategies for the future. The roadmap by UNESCO is the path to follow to reach success. The approach is different for every HEI, thus the objective of this paper is to analyze the current state of education for sustainable development activities provided by HEIs through the eyes of the academic community (responders category: professors, researchers, associate professors). The method to conduct the study was an interview that had 40 enclosed questions and a free part at the end where the responders could bring additional information to the study if they considered it necessary. All the interviews were transcribed and given a code (e.g., RHEI1, RHEI 29) in order to perform the analysis using descriptive statistics with the help of the program MS Office EXCEL. The results showed some areas where the activities provided by HEIs need improvement and also revealed promising aspects through partnerships. Making the values of SD known to the academic and local community will help fulfill the true potential for change and future development. Moreover, the analysis showed the need to educate educators and improve their digital skills and teaching methods/techniques in order to achieve sustainable development. Another result revealed the need for improvements in HEI curricula that will contribute to gaining those skills/abilities that emerging jobs should have.

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Analysis of UNESCO ESD Priority Areas’ Implementation in Romanian HEIs

PurposeThe issue of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been on the rise in recent years, with concerns being raised by various stakeholders about its potential effects on education and the environment. However, little research has been done into school leaders' fundamental challenges in addressing ESD.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative, single-case study was embarked on to examine the experiences of Malaysian school leaders who actively engaged ESD in their schools. The data were collected by using semi-structured interviews among four school leaders in schools involved in Johor Sustainable Education Action Plan (JSEAP). A thematic analysis was used to understand the challenges and later drive the strategy used to overcome those challenges.FindingsThis preliminary study revealed that the principals perceived the ESD's four main challenges: encouraging positive thinking and passion, acquiring ESD knowledge, developing system thinking, and curriculum adaptation. Based on this study's findings, school leaders need to make concerted efforts to overcome these challenges, such as finding best practices, encompassing support systems, and exploring innovative partnerships to address ESD effectively in their schools.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is limited to a case analysis of the selected schools and cannot be generalized to a larger population.Practical implicationsThe results of the study may be of interest to other school leaders and educators who are concerned about ESD and its role in their schools, as well as to other academics who are interested in the topic of ESD and the challenges faced by school leaders in implementing sustainable practices.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this is the first study investigating ESD challenges in the Malaysian context. The novel finding helps the readers understand the recent phenomena of ESD implementation better and, at the same time, compare it to other settings.

Education for sustainable development from the lenses of Malaysian school leaders: a preliminary study

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Environmental education to education for sustainable development: challenges and issues

https://link-springer-com-443.webvpn.jmu.edu.cn/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-319-71061-7_115-1.pdf

Arnaud Diemer

Papers

Environmental education to education for sustainable development: challenges and issues

System Dynamics for Sustainable Urban Planning