EDUCATING FOR SUSTAINABILITY: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

This research is part of the Erasmus+ Project F&F4Sustainability - Project number KA220-HED-1A225A8C. Part of the extreme complexity surrounding the topic of sustainability is because it not only affects global areas and societies, but also involves cross-cutting disciplines and knowledge, on multiple levels. For this, Education for Sustainability (EfS) is faced with the challenging demand to be up-to- date and flexible, capable of consistently developing new methods and tools. Within this context, the role played by universities is particularly relevant. They bring together different disciplines, approaches and geographical contexts, contributing to the production and dissemination of knowledge. Also, they educate the professionals destined to direct the policies that will have to address the environmental, economic, social and cultural challenges of sustainability. Digitisation, internationalisation and interdisciplinarity, especially when combined, seem to have a major impact on EfS; they foster the development not only of knowledge, but also of practical expertise and soft skills. These three elements seem to be the main drivers of EfS but, although research has largely focused on the contribution of digital tools, interdisciplinary approaches and highly internationalised contexts to learning, it has not sufficiently highlighted the possibilities of combining them. Indeed, literature has either focused on the capacity of digital teaching methods to internationalize students, especially in the aftermath of the Covid-19, or it has highlighted the need for an interdisciplinary approach to develop transversal competences in EfS. This contribution questions how the combined approach of digital and interdisciplinary teaching methods in international educational contexts can affect students' knowledge, behaviour and attitudes towards sustainability. To this end, the paper analyses data collected during the testing of two learning modules developed within the Erasmus+ project “Fashion & Food synergy for sustainability”. Universidad de Navarra (Spain), Stichting Katholieke Universiteit (Netherlands) and Uniwersytet Jagiellonski (Poland), together with the project leader, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Italy) were involved in the teaching modules and training materials. As for the pilot testing of the first two modules, it was possible to start it synchronously and jointly in three of the four universities, involving a total of 140 students. The data collected through a questionnaire to the students demonstrates the opportunities of an integrated approach in EfS. Combined, digitisation, interdisciplinarity and internationalisation seem to have an impact on changing students' habits, behaviour and attitudes towards sustainability. Therefore, they seem to be resources for increasing awareness, creativity, and critical thinking in the design of future sustainability policies. Keyworks: Digitisation; Internationalization; Interdisciplinarity; Higher Education; Sustainability