The DOI matches its Crossref record; 28 of the 28 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Sustainable Development Goals and sustainability teaching at universities: Falling behind or getting ahead of the pack?
Open accessAbstract
The fact that the world community is engaged in pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) means that an unrivalled opportunity is provided to universities, both in respect of teaching and in research, on individual SDGs, as well as in pursuing their “third mission” linking up with external stakeholders and society. However, not many universities have realised that and many are falling behind. This paper explores the many advantages of the introduction of the SDGs into teaching and suggests that it can catalyse the engagement of students in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) with the concepts of sustainability. The paper fills in a research gap by surveying the current state of the art regarding the theme, presenting current data outlining the extent to which HEI are using SDGs to support their sustainability work. The reasons why some institutions are currently not engaging is also shown. The paper, which consists of a worldwide survey deployed to collect data on the SDGs and sustainability teaching at universities, concludes by providing some recommendations aimed at encouraging further engagement of HEI in incorporatingSDGs as part of their teaching programs. This research is unique in the sense that it provides for the first time offers an overview of the level of emphasis selected universities currently place on the SDGs. Finally, it provides a contribution to current state of knowledge by outlining some actions universities may take, to move forward with their implementation.
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“Recent studies have similarly reported that students' self-perceived ethical and social responsibility competencies can be strengthened through curriculum designs that explicitly connect technical problem-solving with broader societal and environmental considerations [10,36].”
From Integrating Sustainability and Ethical Responsibility into Building Water Supply and Drainage Engineering Education: A CDIO-Based Curriculum Reform (2026) · cites this paper as [10]
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Citations
Cites
Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Desa, U. (2018) · Springer Publishing Company eBooks · doi:10.1891/9780826190123.ap02 · Cited by 19,478
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Saunders, M. N. K., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. R. (2003) · Cited by 17,211
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(2022) · doi:10.5040/9781509934058.0025 · Cited by 6,750
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Lozano, R., Ceulemans, K., Alonso-Almeida, M., Huisingh, D., Lozano, F. J., Waas, T., Lambrechts, W., Lukman, R. K., & Hugé, J. (2014) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.09.048 · Cited by 1,256
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Filho, W. L., Azeiteiro, U. M., Alvés, F., Pace, P., Mifsud, M., Brandli, L., Caeiro, S., & Disterheft, A. (2017) · International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology · doi:10.1080/13504509.2017.1342103 · Cited by 485
Self-citationBarriers to innovation and sustainability at universities around the world
Ávila, L. V., Filho, W. L., Brandli, L., Macgregor, C. J., Molthan‐Hill, P., Özuyar, P. G., & Moreira, R. M. (2017) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.07.025 · Cited by 343
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Research works printed but not linked: 5
- Aleixo, 2017, Conceptualizations of sustainability in Portuguese higher education: roles, barriers and challenges toward sustainability, J. Clean. Prod.
- Bardin, 1977, vol. 70
- Saunders, 2007
- Spangenberg, 2017, 25, 311
- UN Conference on trade and development (UNCTAD), 2016
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Singh, P. K., & Chan, S. W. (2022) · Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity · doi:10.3390/joitmc8020061 · Cited by 65
Assessing Environmental Sustainability of Phytoremediation to Remove Copper from Contaminated Soils
Espada, J. J., Rodríguez, R., Delgado, A., Vicente, G., & Bautista, L. F. (2024) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su16062441 · Cited by 8
Huang, T., Wang, T., Zhang, F., Hao, Y., Liang, L., Wang, X., Yao, M., & Yuan, C. (2026) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su18041933 · Cited by 1
Metadata
- Authors
- Leal Filho, W., Shiel, C., Paço, A., Mifsud, M., Ávila, L. V., Brandli, L. L., Molthan-Hill, P., Pace, P., Azeiteiro, U. M., Vargas, V. R., & Caeiro, S.
- Affiliations
- Bournemouth University (GB)
- University of Beira Interior (PT)
- University of Malta (MT)
- Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (BR)
- Universidade de Passo Fundo (BR)
- Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (PT)
- Manchester Metropolitan University (GB)
- Universidade Aberta (PT)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Cleaner Production
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-09
- Volume
- 232
- Pages
- 285-294
- ISSN
- 0959-6526 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2947399006
- Semantic Scholar
- 064739a973b0338285db3e382ebf22df2bc372d9
- Cited by
- 894
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 180 · 2025: 152 · 2024: 163 · 2023: 166 · 2022: 92 · 2021: 80 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 11
- FWCI
- 157.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- e-space.mmu.ac.uk
- Locations
- Journal of Cleaner Production (publishedVersion)
- Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (acceptedVersion)
- e-space (Manchester Metropolitan University) (submittedVersion)
- Bournemouth University Research Online (Bournemouth University) (submittedVersion)
- Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology (UID/GES/04630/2013)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Sustainability in Higher Education
- Social Sciences › Education › Environmental and sustainability education
- Social Sciences › Education › University Extension and Social Responsibility
- Keywords
- Sustainable Development Goals, sustainability education, higher education institutions, university teaching, third mission, university-community engagement, sustainability curriculum
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