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Final Thoughts and Summary of Recommendations by Stakeholder

Sustainability education for undergraduate and graduate students is still in its early stage, but the tremendous growth and evolution of curricula and programs provides an opportunity to address the urgent environmental, economic, and societal challenges of communities worldwide. The highly interdisciplinary nature of the field provides a variety of access points for students from all backgrounds and disciplines to learn sustainability knowledge and principles. In addition, the continued growth of sustainability programs will shape the experiences of future undergraduate and graduate students and may one day become a staple of higher education studies. The higher education community should engage with the recommendations put forth in this report so that there is a cohesive guide to students and faculty in selecting their programs, a reference for employers to understand the qualifications for sustainability graduates, and a foundation for potential accreditation in the future.

Education is core to achieving sustainability goals. From K–12 through continuing education and training, education provides a way to equip people with the knowledge and skills to address sustainability challenges, whether framed as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or otherwise. By focusing on undergraduate and graduate education, the committee has shown how higher education institutions play a vital role in research, collaborative action, and workforce development. Our recommendations suggest ways forward in addressing the competencies, capacities, and content areas that students should master; the ways that academic institutions can offer a rich learning experience to a diverse and inclusive student body; and how the sustainability workforce can be strengthened to benefit the entire nation and the world now and into the future.

To clarify the obligations of various stakeholders to strengthen sustainability programs in higher education, the following section reorders the committee’s recommendations by stakeholder. While recommendations are assigned to a stakeholder, their implementation will often require collaborative efforts by several or all stakeholders.

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS BY STAKEHOLDER

Federal agencies should

• Increase their support for sustainability education programs, and provisions should be included for minority-serving institutions to apply for and receive grants to establish or revise sustainability education programs. (Recommendation 4.3)
• Support research on (i) the effectiveness of sustainability curricula for achieving program-level goals and contributing positively to communities of practice, along with impacts on activities within higher education institutions overall; (ii) the marketplace for sustainability jobs and pathways for students to secure those opportunities; (iii) how core competencies and content areas in sustainability programs may be converging, diverging, or otherwise evolving; and (iv) how these programs will prepare students for a post-2030 agenda for sustainable development. (Recommendation 4.4)

Senior leaders of higher education institutions, from presidents to deans, should

• Embrace sustainability education as a vital field that requires specifically tailored educational experiences and the development of core sustainability-focused competencies and capacities delivered through courses, majors, minors, certifications, research, and graduate degrees in sustainability. (Recommendation 3.1)
• Encourage the development of, implementation of, and participation in interdisciplinary sustainability programs that bridge disciplinary silos by fostering effective strategies such as team teaching, curriculum planning, interdisciplinary advising and preparation of graduate students, and educator trainings across departments about competencies and content areas of sustainability. Sustainability programs can be launched and evolve under a variety of institutional arrangements, but a commitment to and value of inclusivity and interdisciplinarity is of fundamental importance, particularly from top leaders of higher education institutions. (Recommendation 4.1)

Directors of sustainability programs, supported by their deans and directors, in higher education should

• Encompass key and emerging sustainability content areas to prepare students to address complex sustainability challenges in a real-world setting while incorporating problem-based and solution-oriented approaches to sustainability. (Recommendation 3.2)
• Develop curricula and programs covering the highly interdependent, varied, and complex contexts of sustainability (including organizational contexts), to develop their ability to discern and address historical and contemporary trajectories and consequences of sustainability processes, and to apply their learning in experiential learning settings (community, organizational, service) so that learners can be more effective implementers of effective transitions toward sustainability. (Recommendation 3.3)
• Prioritize attracting students with varied backgrounds and lived experiences, supporting them for success in a variety of sustainability careers. This also requires attracting and retaining faculty from diverse backgrounds in sustainability education programs, with additional attention to equity, inclusion, and local and Indigenous knowledge in the content of the curriculum and the institutional setting. (Recommendation 4.2)
• Provide training and mentoring support to enhance capacities of their students to translate knowledge to effective action, thereby improving students’ ability to design, implement, and lead proactive change toward a sustainable world. (Recommendation 5.1)

Faculty in sustainability should

• Collaborate with sustainability professionals to address global sustainability challenges and opportunities. Professional societies focusing on sustainability education should pursue collaborative opportunities to provide forums for convening sustainability students, researchers, and professionals; build and expand partnerships with the public and private sectors; offer formalized training and mentorship; develop shared principles and values; establish a model for assessing sustainability programs; and establish and lead a cross-sectoral effort to track and analyze employment in sustainability-focused jobs. (Recommendation 5.2)
• Incorporate key and emerging sustainability content areas to prepare students to address complex sustainability challenges in a real-world setting while incorporating problem-based and solution-oriented approaches to sustainability. (Recommendation 3.2)
• Train students to understand the highly interdependent, varied and complex contexts of sustainability (including organizational contexts), to de-

• velop their ability to discern and address the historical and contemporary trajectories and consequences of sustainability processes, and to apply their learning in experiential learning settings (community, organizational, service) so that learners can be more effective implementers of effective transitions toward sustainability. (Recommendation 3.3)

• Conduct research on (i) the effectiveness of sustainability curricula for achieving program-level goals and contributing positively to communities of practice, along with impacts on activities within higher education institutions overall; (ii) the marketplace for sustainability jobs and pathways for students to secure those opportunities; (iii) how core competencies and content areas in sustainability programs may be converging, diverging, or otherwise evolving; and (iv) how these programs will prepare students for a post-2030 agenda for sustainable development. (Recommendation 4.4)

Sustainability professionals in the private sector and nongovernmental organizations should

• Collaborate with faculty leaders and other sustainability professionals to address global sustainability challenges and opportunities. Professional societies focusing on sustainability education should pursue collaborative opportunities to provide forums for convening sustainability students, researchers, and professionals; build and expand partnerships with the public and private sectors; offer formalized training and mentorship; develop shared principles and values; establish a model for assessing sustainability programs; and establish and lead a cross-sectoral effort to track and analyze employment in sustainability-focused jobs. (Recommendation 5.2)