Education for sustainability and University: an underestimated link for the Italian context

Introduction An analysis of the projects and initiatives relating to Education for Sustainability within the Italian University are quite discouraging: education for sustainability is rarely taught as part of the different curricula, researchers involved in this field are often disadvantaged in their academic career and sustainability is not part of the governance and the policies at an institutional level. Considering the above weaknesses and to support a global and broad perspective of education for sustainability, an Italian WEEC network was set up (by members of the Network WEEC), in July 2013 with contributions from people of different backgrounds: institutions, schools, business, NGOs, universities, to name a few. Among the ambitious aims of this network are: the development of new projects and initiatives for education for sustainability in the different contexts of learning, to affect policies and practices within the communities and to sustain and promote participation and attention of public institutions. The elaboration of a common “identity card” for the network and the arrangement of some working groups organized around different issues relate to education for sustainability, are the main tools implemented up to now. In this scenario, the working group on “Sustainability and University” was formed. Objectives: This group, aware that the Italian school context shows several interesting experiences, especially in primary and lower secondary schools, but in the upper secondary schools traditional methodologies and approaches to disciplines are still dominant, decided to promote a research aimed to understand the state of education for sustainability in high education institutions, such as the University. The aim of this project, consequently, was to promote and to catalyse the engagement of these institutions in the debate on education for sustainability, in relation to their approaches to teaching, curriculum, policies (green campus, for instance), governance and to a broader engagement with community. Methods: To pursue these aims, an online survey (at a national level) was carried out, using questionnaires with specific targets (one for university students and one for university researchers and teachers), to understand the educational needs related to sustainability, the importance attributed to this issue in the perspective of the future of the personal and professional life of respondents. Results: The preliminary results of this survey will be presented and discussed. Conclusion: The auspicious is that thanks to this survey, the integration between different disciplines, approaches and methodologies, and so the long-life learning approach to education for sustainability, can be supported. The hope is that the Italian universities accept to play a strong educational role in the promotion of a sustainable future and at the same time can be proud to become a model of coherence between their teachings and their actions related to sustainability, as happened in other countries