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I. I. Berchin et al.
Keywords Sustainable development · Sustainability · Living labs · Universities ·
Higher education institutions
1 Introduction
Since the 1970s, the international awareness on environmental education and further
education for sustainable development (ESD) is increasing (Mckeown and Hopkins
2010; Lozano et al. 2015b). In 1975, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) issued the Belgrade charter, stating the primary
role of education in overcoming environmental challenges through capacity-building,
international cooperation, and development of interdisciplinary, continuous and preventive ecological education programs (UNESCO 1975).
Several other declarations, conferences and initiatives on ESD have been issued,
such as the Tbilisi Declaration, the Talloires Declaration, the United Nations’ Decade
of ESD, the Roadmap for implementing the global action program on ESD, the
Sustainable Development Goals, among others.
In 2015, global leaders through a joint effort launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, anchored in
17 Goals to ensure global development over the next 15 years. Amidst these objectives, Goal 4 reinforces the importance of promoting inclusive and quality education
universally (United Nations 2017; Owens 2017).
In this context, this paper aims to understand how sustainable campuses, as living
labs, promote innovations for sustainable development through the case of a Brazilian
Community University. The next section presents a brief review of the literature on
higher education for sustainable development and sustainable campuses as living
labs; followed by the presentation of the methods, the results and discussions of the
findings, and the conclusions and recommendations.
2 Literature Review: The Role of Higher Education
for Sustainable Development
The term environmental education is commonly used to emphasize the correlation
between education and the awareness on environmental sustainability, developing
ecological behaviors and critical thinking (Zsóka et al. 2013; Carleton-Hug and Hug
2010).
ESD is a field of research that aims to implement sustainability in the curriculum
and operational activities of HEIs, leading society to adopt sustainable behaviors
and thinking (Zsóka et al. 2013). ESD’s goal is to encourage the establishment
of new ethical and responsible mindsets, educating society towards environmental
I. I. Berchin et al.
Keywords Sustainable development · Sustainability · Living labs · Universities ·
Higher education institutions
1 Introduction
Since the 1970s, the international awareness on environmental education and further
education for sustainable development (ESD) is increasing (Mckeown and Hopkins
2010; Lozano et al. 2015b). In 1975, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) issued the Belgrade charter, stating the primary
role of education in overcoming environmental challenges through capacity-building,
international cooperation, and development of interdisciplinary, continuous and preventive ecological education programs (UNESCO 1975).
Several other declarations, conferences and initiatives on ESD have been issued,
such as the Tbilisi Declaration, the Talloires Declaration, the United Nations’ Decade
of ESD, the Roadmap for implementing the global action program on ESD, the
Sustainable Development Goals, among others.
In 2015, global leaders through a joint effort launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, anchored in
17 Goals to ensure global development over the next 15 years. Amidst these objectives, Goal 4 reinforces the importance of promoting inclusive and quality education
universally (United Nations 2017; Owens 2017).
In this context, this paper aims to understand how sustainable campuses, as living
labs, promote innovations for sustainable development through the case of a Brazilian
Community University. The next section presents a brief review of the literature on
higher education for sustainable development and sustainable campuses as living
labs; followed by the presentation of the methods, the results and discussions of the
findings, and the conclusions and recommendations.
2 Literature Review: The Role of Higher Education
for Sustainable Development
The term environmental education is commonly used to emphasize the correlation
between education and the awareness on environmental sustainability, developing
ecological behaviors and critical thinking (Zsóka et al. 2013; Carleton-Hug and Hug
2010).
ESD is a field of research that aims to implement sustainability in the curriculum
and operational activities of HEIs, leading society to adopt sustainable behaviors
and thinking (Zsóka et al. 2013). ESD’s goal is to encourage the establishment
of new ethical and responsible mindsets, educating society towards environmental