How are universities supporting the development of knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes required for climate or sustainability action? Do students feel prepared and able to act for a sustainable future after graduation? What is a 'good education' in the context of a changing climate and societal expectations?

This research considers modules and courses from a range of English universities. Reflecting on an international review of literature and practice around competence development for sustainability, the research reports on the knowledge, attitudes, skills and values that participating students and lecturers hope to develop and build. Perceptions of learning gain were captured through both qualitative and quantitative means.  

The theoretical framework to the doctoral research that informed this paper centres around action research, Gert Biesta's domains of education and Ulrich Beck's consideration of theories of modernity and democratisation in the context of education and sustainability. Lozano, Merrill, Sammalisto, Ceulemans and Lozano (2017)'s work to establish connections between competence development and pedagogical approaches informed the qualitative investigation as a theory to test against academic practice.

Student voices are typically silent in the academic literature in this area. This research challenged this through interviews, focus groups and a unique questionnaire measuring perceived competence gain. The perspectives of lecturers and university staff offer context for how individual institutions currently or could better support education for sustainability, with additional input from several sustainability leaders nationally. 

Education in a post-pandemic university and world features an ever-increasing number of challenges, including a growing awareness of intersecting climate and sustainability crises that are driving many students to demand changes across their time at university. This paper will highlight opportunities and examples of good practice that are relevant to an international audience.

A mixed methods approach was used to bring student voices to the fore of this research whilst supporting a cross-analysis of questionnaire responses from the participant community. Twenty-one case studies were identified from five institutions. Six key competences for sustainability were identified from the international literature and operationalised within a unique questionnaire instrument to capture perceptions of learning gain. Building on established protocols to measure how students learn through differing kinds of teaching and support (the ESRC's ETL Project), data from this questionnaire represents a first attempt to quantify student perceptions of learning gain around competence. 125 responses were received from the questionnaire. A thematic comparison between pedagogical approaches and key competences highlighted by the international literature in the field of education for sustainability provided useful materials to encourage discussion amongst academic participants. Interviews were held with over 50 students, lecturers, key academic-related administrative staff, and leaders within wider society. Focus groups with students were used to iteratively review and test thematic concepts identified within interviews and key stakeholder discussions.

Student and lecturer perspectives on key competences to act for sustainability can be seen to vary between academic disciplines, age of institution and pedagogical approaches used within the case module or course. Undergraduate and postgraduate students share some core values around the role of higher education in society, and can generally be seen to have overlapping perceptions of what competences are key to being an effective social actor after graduation.

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