EDUCATING FOR SUSTAINABILITY: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

This research is part of the Erasmus+ Project F&F4Sustainability - Project number KA220-HED-1A225A8C.\r\nPart of the extreme complexity surrounding the topic of sustainability is because it not only affects\r\nglobal areas and societies, but also involves cross-cutting disciplines and knowledge, on multiple\r\nlevels. For this, Education for Sustainability (EfS) is faced with the challenging demand to be up-to-\r\ndate and flexible, capable of consistently developing new methods and tools.\r\nWithin this context, the role played by universities is particularly relevant. They bring together\r\ndifferent disciplines, approaches and geographical contexts, contributing to the production and\r\ndissemination of knowledge. Also, they educate the professionals destined to direct the policies that\r\nwill have to address the environmental, economic, social and cultural challenges of sustainability.\r\nDigitisation, internationalisation and interdisciplinarity, especially when combined, seem to have a\r\nmajor impact on EfS; they foster the development not only of knowledge, but also of practical\r\nexpertise and soft skills. These three elements seem to be the main drivers of EfS but, although\r\nresearch has largely focused on the contribution of digital tools, interdisciplinary approaches and\r\nhighly internationalised contexts to learning, it has not sufficiently highlighted the possibilities of\r\ncombining them. Indeed, literature has either focused on the capacity of digital teaching methods to\r\ninternationalize students, especially in the aftermath of the Covid-19, or it has highlighted the need\r\nfor an interdisciplinary approach to develop transversal competences in EfS.\r\nThis contribution questions how the combined approach of digital and interdisciplinary teaching\r\nmethods in international educational contexts can affect students' knowledge, behaviour and\r\nattitudes towards sustainability. To this end, the paper analyses data collected during the testing of\r\ntwo learning modules developed within the Erasmus+ project “Fashion & Food synergy for\r\nsustainability”.\r\nUniversidad de Navarra (Spain), Stichting Katholieke Universiteit (Netherlands) and Uniwersytet\r\nJagiellonski (Poland), together with the project leader, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Italy)\r\nwere involved in the teaching modules and training materials. As for the pilot testing of the first two\r\nmodules, it was possible to start it synchronously and jointly in three of the four universities,\r\ninvolving a total of 140 students.\r\nThe data collected through a questionnaire to the students demonstrates the opportunities of an\r\nintegrated approach in EfS. Combined, digitisation, interdisciplinarity and internationalisation seem\r\nto have an impact on changing students' habits, behaviour and attitudes towards sustainability.\r\nTherefore, they seem to be resources for increasing awareness, creativity, and critical thinking in\r\nthe design of future sustainability policies.\r\nKeyworks: Digitisation; Internationalization; Interdisciplinarity; Higher Education; Sustainability