Global research landscape of sustainability curricula implementation in higher education
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
ISSN: 1467-6370
Article publication date: 26 June 2019
Issue publication date: 19 July 2019
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to outline the global research landscape of sustainability curricula implementation processes in higher education. The focus is twofold and investigates where research that aims at integrating sustainability into the curriculum is happening and how the research area of curriculum change for sustainability is developing.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of peer-reviewed case studies published in English in selected journals and edited volumes between 1990 and 2017 was carried out. Data (n = 270 publications) were analyzed via descriptive statistics and bibliometric analysis.
Findings
The study demonstrates that research on sustainability curricula implementation processes in higher education has produced a growing output in a broad range of journals. Nevertheless, the cross-country distribution is imbalanced, with most cases coming from the USA, Europe and Asia, but with the relatively highest density in Oceania. A citation network analysis revealed that the “Western world” is quite well interlinked, whereas other countries are not, indicating that sharing information between and learning from other cases is limited.
Research limitations/implications
The exclusion of non-English publications likely skewed the global distribution of the research landscape included in this study.
Social implications
These findings demonstrate the need for more research and funding for case studies in countries that have not yet been adequately examined.
Originality/value
This study offers the first systematic reflection on the current global research landscape in sustainability curricula implementation and can guide further research endeavors.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editor and reviewers for their constructive comments, feedback and recommendations relating to earlier drafts of the article.
Funding details: The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture and Volkswagen Foundation for the grant “Educating Future Change Agents – Higher Education as a Motor of the Sustainability Transformation” (A115235) through the program “Science for Sustainable Development”.
Citation
Weiss, M. and Barth, M. (2019), "Global research landscape of sustainability curricula implementation in higher education", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 570-589. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-10-2018-0190
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited