Social Innovation for Sustainable Development:: Analyzing the Integration of Sustainability Competencies in Social Innovation Education.
2022 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 20 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Describing novel ideas and solutions that more effectively meet people’s needs than existing products, processes, or structures, social innovation (SI) is a promising concept to address the pressing issues of the sustainability challenge that society faces. Social innovation education (SIE) is a recent field in higher education that has gained attention regarding its potential contribution to sustainable development (SD); as such, SIE is nested within the system of education for sustainable development (ESD). The Sustainability Competencies Framework (SCF) suggests key competencies that equip students for work in SD. This thesis assesses the presence of sustainability competencies in SIE programs to provide insights on how SIE can strategically contribute to SD. A global sample of ten SIE programs has been qualitatively investigated; the findings map the content and pedagogies within the programs and provide recommendations for curriculum design that successfully teaches key sustainability competencies. Following a strategic approach for SD, the researchers take the nested system of ESD into consideration and suggest a science-based definition of sustainability across the diversity of programs to facilitate a common discourse and mutual contributions for successful education. The research addresses both educators and institutions of SIE and ESD programs.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2022. , p. 55
Keywords [en]
Social Innovation Education (SIE), Sustainability Competencies, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Curriculum design, Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD), Higher education
National Category
Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Learning Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Pedagogy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:bth-23136OAI: oai:DiVA.org:bth-23136DiVA, id: diva2:1680401
Subject / course
SL2538 Master's Thesis in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability
Educational program
SLASL (Master programme in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability
Presentation
2022-05-31, J1650, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, 371 79 Karlskrona, 10:20 (English)
Supervisors
Examiners
2022-07-042022-07-042022-07-04Bibliographically approved