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Education for Sustainability, Graduate Capabilities, Professional Employment: How They All Connect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2013

Ian Thomas ,
Matthias Barth  and
Teresa Day
Ian Thomas*
Affiliation:
School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Matthias Barth
Affiliation:
School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Teresa Day
Affiliation:
School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Ian Thomas, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne VIC 3001, Australia. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Education for Sustainability (EfS) has an intimate relationship with professional employment as we seek to develop graduates who will take EfS values and understanding into their workplaces to build a sustainable future. The connection is through the capabilities that employers are wanting in the people they employ, and they are the outcomes of the educational experiences that we educators provide for the graduates. This article discusses the role of capabilities and their articulation in universities, particularly the types of capabilities sought by employers, both in Australia and more generally. We discuss similarities and differences articulated by academics and industry, and the implications for curriculum design and outcomes. In parallel, we note the discussion of capabilities associated with EfS and identify similarities with more broadly defined graduate capabilities. Research associated with the exploration of the breadth of the environment profession provides examples of the connections. These insights combine to highlight tension between what is sought by industry and what is needed to embed sustainable development actions into industry through the change agents graduated from our universities.

Keywords

universitysustainabilitycapabilitieseducationemployment
Type
Feature Articles
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 29 , Issue 1: Creating our next courageous steps , July 2013 , pp. 33 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2013 

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