Training students for complex sustainability issues: a literature review on the design of inter- and transdisciplinary higher education

Annemarie Horn*, Aukelien Scheffelaar, Eduardo Urias, Marjolein B.M. Zweekhorst

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Purpose
To prepare students to address complex sustainability issues, they need to be trained in inter- and transdisciplinarity. This paper aims to contribute to better understanding how to do this, by providing insight into design elements and strategies deployed in inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability education.

Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature search was conducted to select inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability programmes. Through deductive and inductive qualitative analysis, design elements and strategies were identified and defined.

Findings
Eleven inter- and transdisciplinary programmes were identified. A comprehensive overview of their design elements and strategies is provided. Moreover, three patterns emerged: students were often only involved in the execution, but not in the preparation and evaluation stages of projects, and thus not trained in these; many programmes relied on diverse student representation for interdisciplinary learning and did not explicitly train interdisciplinary integration; and the societal value of transdisciplinary collaboration received little attention in the evaluation of outcomes and impacts.

Research limitations/implications
Follow-up research into the effectiveness of design elements and strategies for inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability education is needed, because the field seems to be understudied.

Practical implications
The comprehensive overview of design elements and strategies for inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability education holds the promise to inform design of novel programmes with similar ambitions. Moreover, the findings urge additional attention for explicitly training interdisciplinary integration and safeguarding the societal value of transdisciplinarity.

Originality/value
This review presents new insights into strategies and design elements for inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability education.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-27
Number of pages27
JournalInternational Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
Volume24
Issue number1
Early online date7 Jul 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by The Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO) [project number 405.18865.703].

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Funding

Funding. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by The Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO) [project number 405.18865.703].

FundersFunder number
Netherlands Initiative for Education Research405.18865.703
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

    Keywords

    • Higher education
    • Interdisciplinarity
    • Literature review
    • Sustainability
    • Transdisciplinarity

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