Mainstreaming Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Higher Education

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has the potential to contribute to quality education and respond to the growing call for a more transformative approach to teaching and learning. Despite this potential, the implementation of ESD has garnered sporadic support in the context of higher education. At its core, ESD promotes the reorientation of pedagogy, curriculum design, and assessment with the aim of equipping students with the necessary skills and competencies to make informed decisions and meet the developmental needs of society (Mickelsson et al., Environmental Education Research 25:135–150, 2019). Universities are challenged to contribute to the moral and/or intellectual improvement of society and will need to adopt new ways of facilitating learning through integrating concepts such as ESD into the university pedagogical environment (Shephard et al., Environmental Education Research 25:532–547, 2019). Within the South African development context, the need to accelerate sustainable development and create graduates who can meaningfully contribute to the needs of society cannot be overemphasized. In response to these problematic conditions, this chapter will highlight the emergence of ESD and the importance of mainstreaming ESD in higher education to promote skills and competencies such as critical, creative thinking; problem-solving; and systemic thinking.