ABSTRACT
This chapter explores contemporary trends in sustainable-development knowledge and expertise generation and transmission. Three arenas of particular consequence for sustainable development are considered in depth: curricula transformation, linking research with action, and systemic change. Curriculum transformation in the interest of education for sustainability or sustainable-development education requires a comprehensive process strategy. Sustainable-development learning connects disciplines, continents, and generations. Higher-education operations policies that directly and indirectly bear upon sustainability include energy usage, greenhouse-gas emissions, waste disposal, building, supply-chain management, landscaping, and transportation. A holistic approach to analyzing university involvement in sustainable development works with the four legs of estate management, curriculum, research, and outreach. Estate management refers to the physical-operations side of university activity. Sustainable-development professionals operating in today's interconnected world further require transnational functional competence. For individuals preparing to be boundary-spanning sustainable-development professionals, "the value of basic and effective oral, written, and presentational communication skills cannot be overestimated".
