ABSTRACT
The concept of Sustainable Development (SD) and of education as imperative in the drive towards sustainability, were largely borne out of two key events: the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 and the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, 1992 (Filho 2000). The sustainability movement within western Higher Education (HE) has emerged and gained pace over roughly the last 20 years and is now very much part of the global HE landscape. HE’s fundamental responsibility towards sustainability is espoused on many grounds, including its critical role as a societal leader, future shaper and exemplar of best practice, its influence on local and national policy, and its role in educating the next generation of global citizens (van Weenen 2000; Corcoran and Wals 2004; Gough and Scott 2008).
