education for sustainable development

ABSTRACT

SISSTEM “Sustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics” is a higher educational programme created in 2019 at the University of Aruba in response to the need for engineering education and research in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In this contribution, the SISSTEM programme is introduced, and how SISSTEM equips engineering students with hard and soft skills while addressing local sustainability challenges is showcased through two case studies.  The first case study presents a bachelor course that combines sustainability theory with a teamwork project in which students conduct an energy audit to a local institution. With this course, students acquire skills to support the energy transition in Aruba. The second case study focuses on the involvement of university students in the creation of a citizen science mobile phone app to tackle waste challenges. This case study presents how students can become agents of change to contribute solving waste management challenges on the island. Overall, these two case studies showcase how by combining theory and project-based education, students learn to integrate STEM knowledge into multidisciplinary solutions to complex sustainability challenges. In fact, given the cross-cutting nature of sustainability transitions, educating students in integrating the natural environment, technical, social, and economic aspects in engineering solutions is key to increase resilience of islands. As such, at SISSTEM, students acquire hard skills related to their engineering specialisation, as well as soft skills such as integration of disciplines, contextualization, and collaboration.   

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to elicit global mobilization to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and are increasingly used in support of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Previous studies have highlighted interdependencies between SDGs, with potential interactions between four Sustainability Domains: Economy, Governance, Planet and Society. This study aimed to assess whether people’s perception of the relative importance of the SDGs refects recognition of the need to prioritize eforts across Domains, or whether this perception is based on diferent valuations of the Sustainability Domains themselves. We designed an interactive online tool in which participants used the Q-sort technique to rank the SDGs according to their subjective valuation of importance. We analyzed the rankings of 108 participants, all learners at universities in three Small Island States (SIS): Aruba, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Analysis of the correlation structure among participants’ Q-sorts showed that higher perceived importance of the Societyand Economy-related SDGs 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9 traded of with lower perceived importance of the Planet-related SDGs 13, 14 and 15. Furthermore, SDG rankings of learners from Aruba occurred furthest toward the Planet-based part of this trade-of axis. For ESD programs, our method provides a novel tool to identify key interactions between SDGs that may not yet be recognized by program participants. In this way, communicating the need for simultaneous action and policy development across Sustainability Domains could be specifcally tailored to the local context. Such connections may increase the efectiveness of ESD in addressing the substantial sustainability challenges facing SIS.

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to elicit global mobilization to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and are increasingly used in support of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Previous studies have highlighted interdependencies between SDGs, with potential interactions between four Sustainability Domains: Economy, Governance, Planet and Society. This study aimed to assess whether people’s perception of the relative importance of the SDGs refects recognition of the need to prioritize eforts across Domains, or whether this perception is based on diferent valuations of the Sustainability Domains themselves. We designed an interactive online tool in which participants used the Q-sort technique to rank the SDGs according to their subjective valuation of importance. We analyzed the rankings of 108 participants, all learners at universities in three Small Island States (SIS): Aruba, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Analysis of the correlation structure among participants’ Q-sorts showed that higher perceived importance of the Societyand Economy-related SDGs 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9 traded of with lower perceived importance of the Planet-related SDGs 13, 14 and 15. Furthermore, SDG rankings of learners from Aruba occurred furthest toward the Planet-based part of this trade-of axis. For ESD programs, our method provides a novel tool to identify key interactions between SDGs that may not yet be recognized by program participants. In this way, communicating the need for simultaneous action and policy development across Sustainability Domains could be specifcally tailored to the local context. Such connections may increase the efectiveness of ESD in addressing the substantial sustainability challenges facing SIS.