Redefining higher education for sustainability. Strategies, barriers and practices

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), in the form of higher education (HE), plays a pivotal role both in the achievement of sustainable development goals and in the implementation of Agenda 2030 (UNESCO, 2012, 2014). Academia has always been the cradle of innovation, theoretical debates and practical experimentation. However, its mission is also to discern truth, impart knowledge, skills and values and prepare responsible citizens and competent workers who will contribute to an improving world. Recently, colleges, universities and networks of different kinds (e.g. SDSN, IAU, WEEC, etc.) have developed educational initiatives which represent a wealth of sources of innovation in sustainability. The paper aims to identify methodologies, tools and learning processes in order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the ongoing initiatives taken into consideration. The paper highlights evidence, practices and policies by investigating recent literature on the topic (literature review and state of the art) and subjects and methods used in HE sustainability education in face-to-face traditional classroom environment (trends in HE sustainability education) and in an open online environment, namely MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses). The outcomes of the paper will contribute to the suggestion of future scenarios for the improvement of sustainability in HE and for the educational transformation that is required in order to create a sustainable future.