This dissertation examines the transformative potential of integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education as a catalyst for sustainable development in the West Bank, Palestine, amid the constraints of Israeli occupation. It explores how structural barriers—including restricted movement, inadequate infrastructure, limited resources, gender disparities, and sociopolitical instability—undermine access to quality education and impede efforts to build a knowledge-based society. Employing a qualitative research design, the study draws on interviews with college professors and NGO professionals to investigate how integrated STEM education can foster critical thinking, innovation, and problem-solving skills that address pressing local challenges such as water scarcity, renewable energy, and economic resilience. Findings reveal that integrated STEM education plays a pivotal role in empowering Palestinian students, enhancing workforce readiness, and advancing national sustainable development goals. However, its implementation faces significant challenges, including outdated curricula, limited technological infrastructure, insufficient teacher training, and persistent gender inequalities. Participants emphasized the urgent need for comprehensive policy reforms, localized curriculum development, sustained teacher professionalization, and strategic international partnerships to overcome these barriers. The study further highlights how STEM education can strengthen cultural identity, promote social cohesion, and build institutional resilience in contexts of political instability. By situating STEM education at the intersection of governance, sustainability, and social justice, this dissertation contributes to scholarly discourse on education in conflict-affected regions and offers actionable recommendations for policymakers, educators, and NGOs. It argues that investing in integrated STEM education is not only a pathway to sustainable development but also a means of strengthening Palestinian agency and resilience under occupation.
This article critically examines Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within teacher education, considering its alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals. Adopting a theoretical-critical approach, this study is based on a critical narrative review of national and international publications from 2015 to 2024, combined with thematic analysis. Forty-two works were selected from databases including Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal interrelated gaps across multiple dimensions that hinder the effective implementation of ESD. Conceptually, an anthropocentric and economistic bias predominates, accompanied by a lack of epistemological reflection on alternative frameworks such as planetary health. In the pedagogical dimension, behaviorist approaches emphasize individual actions without critically addressing socioeconomic structures, thereby weakening interdisciplinarity. Institutionally, resistance persists toward breaking with rigid disciplinary curricula, alongside insufficient support for transdisciplinary practices. Politically, the study identifies a disconnect between Brazil’s National Common Curricular Base (Base Nacional Comum Curricular — BNCC) and the effective integration of environmental themes, as well as the hegemony of a competency-based neoliberal logic that depoliticizes education. These gaps are particularly evident in teacher education, which lacks robust curricular components and adequate professional development opportunities. Critical environmental education emerges as a transformative perspective by fostering ecological awareness and socio-environmental justice. The study concludes that overcoming these challenges requires strengthening critical, interdisciplinary, and territorially contextualized training practices that integrate scientific, social, and ethical-political knowledge, thereby preparing educators to transform the structures that perpetuate the socio-environmental crisis.
J. Gomes-Figueiredo, Janete do Rosário Amaro Crisanto· Revista Brasileira de Ciênci...· 0 citations
The Transformer project at TU Wien exemplifies how universities can act as initiators for sustainability education and STEM science communication. Addressing the urgent need for climate change adaptation and the strengthening of key competencies for sustainability, this paper examines the university’s role in creating a temporary, participatory learning space. The Transformer bridges academic research and societal practice, demonstrating how higher education institutions can actively shape sustainable development. As both a knowledge producer and a facilitator of public dialogue, TU Wien designs the Transformer as a hands-on laboratory for children and adolescents, providing low-threshold access to STEM and sustainability content. By integrating university students and researchers from architecture, civil and environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, informatics, and technical chemistry, the project transforms abstract scientific concepts into tangible, co-created solutions. This approach is designed to foster systemic thinking, practical skills, and participant agency—outcomes for which this paper presents documented but preliminary evidence—while enriching academic teaching and research through real-world applications. This paper analyses how TU Wien’s commitment to interdisciplinary cooperation and participatory science communication positions the Transformer as a model for other institutions, with a focus on circular economy as the anchor theme. Through reflective practice on four analytical dimensions—place-based learning, staged sustainability education, co-creative STEM communication, and the engaged university—this study offers insights into the challenges and opportunities of university-led co-creation spaces and considerations for institutions seeking to develop comparable initiatives.
Bianca Köck, Ines Kirchengast, Alexander Pichlhöfer et al.· Education sciences· 0 citations
Purpose: Education is universally recognized as a cornerstone of socio-economic progress, yet systemic gender disparities continue to obstruct inclusive development. Women’s education occupies a pivotal position at the intersection of SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 5 (Gender Equality), generating transformative impacts across economic empowerment, political participation, health outcomes, and social well-being. Methodology: This paper adopts a conceptual and narrative review methodology, synthesizing global and Indian evidence to examine barriers, policy frameworks, and interventions that shape women’s educational participation. Findings: Findings reveal that socio-cultural norms, economic constraints, and institutional gaps remain persistent barriers, while policy initiatives such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, NEP 2020, and state-level programs like Kanyashree Prakalpa have demonstrated varying degrees of success. Community-based interventions and non-formal education models further highlight the importance of localized and flexible approaches. The study proposes a conceptual model illustrating the pathways through which women’s education contributes to sustainable development: economic empowerment, inclusive governance, improved health outcomes, and strengthened social agency. Conclusion: By situating women’s education as a multidimensional driver of sustainable development, the paper underscores the need for gender-responsive budgeting, infrastructure modernization, curricular reform, and community mobilization. Achieving SDGs 4 and 5 requires moving beyond enrollment metrics to focus on quality, retention, and empowerment, ensuring that education functions as an effective engine for equity and long-term socio-economic progress.
Unknown authors· International journal of res...· 0 citations
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) play a crucial role in advancing sustainable development by acting as connectors between knowledge production and societal needs. This study explores the role of HEIs in promoting sustainability in society by identifying key regional challenges related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and examining how these institutions can contribute to addressing them. The research is based on a participatory workshop conducted in Latvia, involving fifty-six stakeholders from the public, private, and civil sectors. Data were collected through group discussions, questionnaire, and observational notes, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis and descriptive statistics. The findings reveal that sustainability challenges are interconnected and concentrated in three main areas: youth-related vulnerabilities (unemployment, mental health, and civic disengagement), inequalities in access to education and digital resources, and environmental issues such as carbon emissions and resource overconsumption. The results also indicate a gap between the perceived importance and practical feasibility of sustainability initiatives. HEIs are identified as key intermediary actors capable of facilitating collaboration, capacity-building, and innovation. The study highlights the need for integrated, multi-level approaches and strengthened partnerships to support sustainable regional development.
Liene Briede· The International Journal of...· 0 citations
Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a critical role in preparing graduates to address the interconnected global crises of the 21st century. Despite explicit calls from UNESCO's Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework (SDG 4 on quality education) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Action for Climate Empowerment agenda (SDG 13 on climate action) to mainstream sustainability and climate change (S&CC) across all fields of study, integration within academic programs remains fragmented and often confined to isolated courses. This study argues that genuinely transformative education requires embedding S&CC as a core, transdisciplinary literacy across all study programs, essential for cultivating professionals capable of leading the socio‐ecological transition across diverse sectors. To investigate how S&CC is systematically embedded in higher education curricula, the study employs a qualitative, multi‐case study methodology drawing on a purposive sample of 10 pioneering universities across five continents. Data were gathered through systematic documentary analysis of institutional materials, including strategic plans, course syllabi, learning outcomes frameworks, and evaluation reports, and analyzed through iterative thematic analysis combining within‐case and cross‐case comparison. The findings reveal four distinct modes of climate change curriculum integration: dedicated modules, structural embedding, framework integration, and research‐line integration, and document persistent barriers including disciplinary silos, limited faculty capacity, and accreditation constraints. The analysis further identifies a structural equity gap in which S&CC education remains concentrated at the postgraduate level, excluding most undergraduates from mandatory climate literacy. Drawing on these insights, a scalable three‐phase framework is proposed: Foundation, Integration, and Institutionalization, to help HEI leaders, educators, and policymakers achieve mandatory, meaningful S&CC integration across all fields of study.
W. Leal Filho, Tarek Ben Hassen, M. A. Dinis et al.· Sustainable Development· 0 citations
India stands at a pivotal juncture in its entrepreneurial journey, where a rapidly expanding startup ecosystem coexists with growing concerns around innovation stagnation, overrepresentation of service-sector ventures, and a lack of sustainability-driven, tech-based startups. Despite progressive initiatives like Startup India and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, a disconnect persists between policy ambitions and grassroots outcomes. At the core of this challenge lies limited entrepreneurship literacy, particularly among the youth, alongside fragmented support systems and underdeveloped academia-industry-government collaboration. These structural weaknesses threaten to derail India’s goal of achieving inclusive and innovation-led development aligned with the vision of “Viksit Bharat 2047.” The study highlights inadequate integration of sustainability and innovation in entrepreneurship education, poor curriculum design, weak institutional implementation of national policies, and limited outreach in rural and semi-urban regions. To investigate these issues, a mixed-methods approach is adopted including academic leaders, incubator coordinators, and policymakers, along with analysis of policy documents like NEP 2020, Government reports, and global models of innovation-driven education. The findings reveal that students have limited exposure to sustainability principles, lack access to entrepreneurial mentorship, and are rarely encouraged to pursue innovation-led ventures. Regional disparities and underutilization of institutional frameworks further hinder inclusive growth. To address these challenges, the study proposes a framework to national entrepreneurship curriculum rooted in NEP 2020, emphasizing digital literacy, vocational training, and entrepreneurial thinking. It highlights the need of revitalizing the triple-helix model by enhancing coordination among academia, industry, and government. Establishing regional innovation clusters, localized incubation hubs, and structured mentorship networks will ensure deeper ecosystem penetration. Ultimately, bridging the divide between knowledge and innovation through systemic entrepreneurship literacy and inclusive policy execution is essential to empower youth, foster sustainability, and realize the vision of a technologically advanced, innovation-driven “Viksit Bharat 2047.”
Pranav Gahadwal, Aditya· International Journal For Mu...· 0 citations
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