University of Maribor, Faculty of Logistics, Mariborska Cesta 7, 3000, Celje, Slovenia.
Riga Technical University, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Azenes Iela 12, LV-1048, Riga, Latvia.
J Environ Manage. 2022 Aug 15;316:115223. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115223. Epub 2022 May 12.
The environmental and climate crisis is gaining priority among critical human concerns; therefore, environmental knowledge and sustainable solutions play a significant role and gaining global popularity as an academic discipline. Additionally, United Nations Sustainable Development Goal no. 4 acknowledges education's role in promoting sustainable development, sustainable lifestyles, human rights, social responsibility, circular economy, and greening our economy and society. In this paper new conceptual framework that focuses on systematically analyzing environmental sustainability integration in study programs and subjects is developed. The main aim is to reflect the conceptual basis of education related to environmental sustainability topics such as sustainable development, social responsibility, circular economy, ecology, environmental protection, and greening to boost future environmental management practices in industry and services. Defining the level of integration of environmental and sustainability-related topics is divided by research field classification and study cycles (BSc, MSc, PhD). The specific added value of the developed conceptual framework is reflected by defining cross-sections and inter-and trans-disciplinary of sustainability topics integrated within specific programs and subjects. The conceptual framework was tested by assessing 1051 programs in progress in Slovenia. It was revealed that the highest share of study programs has an intermediate level of environmental sustainability with 2-3 subjects (392 study programs). These are represented mainly by integrating environmental protection, ecology, and "greening" but less with circular economy and social responsibility. Significant differences among specific study programs and study fields reflect that young intellectuals will not be equally educated and qualified for future managerial challenges. Master students gain the best insight into core sustainability and environmental topics needed for future environmental managers.
环境与气候危机在人类关注的焦点中日益受到重视；因此，环境知识和可持续解决方案作为一门学科，发挥着重要作用，并在全球范围内受到欢迎。此外，联合国可持续发展目标 4 承认教育在促进可持续发展、可持续生活方式、人权、社会责任、循环经济以及绿化经济和社会方面的作用。本文提出了一个新的概念框架，该框架侧重于系统地分析学习计划和学科中的环境可持续性整合。主要目的是反映与环境可持续性主题相关的教育的概念基础，例如可持续发展、社会责任、循环经济、生态学、环境保护和绿化，以推动未来工业和服务业的环境管理实践。通过研究领域分类和学习周期（BSc、MSc、PhD）来定义环境和可持续性相关主题的整合水平。通过定义特定计划和学科内整合的可持续性主题的跨学科和跨学科部分，可以反映所开发概念框架的具体附加值。通过评估斯洛文尼亚正在进行的 1051 个课程，对概念框架进行了测试。结果表明，具有环境可持续性中级水平的学习课程比例最高，有 2-3 个科目（392 个学习课程）。这些课程主要通过整合环境保护、生态学和“绿化”来实现，但与循环经济和社会责任的整合程度较低。特定学习课程和学习领域之间的显著差异反映出，年轻知识分子在未来的管理挑战中不会得到平等的教育和资格。硕士生对未来环境管理者所需的核心可持续性和环境主题有了最好的了解。
