Digital, international, interdisciplinary learning: enhancing competences and changing mindsets about sustainability in fashion and food

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. 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. 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”. 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.