An empirical investigation on undergraduate students’ perception and assessment of sustainability education

Ferdous Ahmed; Adnan Chowdhury; Tamanna Siddiqua Ratna; Md. Sohel Rana

doi:10.5327/Z2176-94782560

Autores

Ferdous Ahmed International University of Business Agriculture and Technology – Bangladesh https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8737-8142
Adnan Chowdhury Bangladesh Bank – Bangladesh https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8737-8142
Tamanna Siddiqua Ratna International University of Business Agriculture and Technology – Bangladesh https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8737-8142
Md. Sohel Rana International University of Business Agriculture and Technology – Bangladesh https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8737-8142

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5327/Z2176-94782560

Palavras-chave:

educação para a sustentabilidade; estudantes de graduação; ODS; universidades; IUBAT; Bangladesh

Resumo

Atingir os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS) até 2030 continua sendo uma das prioridades globais vitais, e Bangladesh não é uma exceção. Um caminho fundamental para alcançar esses objetivos reside na formação de graduados em sustentabilidade, visando garantir o desenvolvimento nacional e global. A integração do conhecimento sobre sustentabilidade no ensino superior tem facilitado significativamente o processo de aprendizagem ao longo da vida. Na International University of Business, Agriculture, and Technology (em português, Universidade Internacional de Negócios, Agricultura e Tecnologia), disciplinas focadas em sustentabilidade foram incorporadas ao currículo de graduação desde 2013, refletindo um compromisso institucional de longa data com o fomento da educação para o desenvolvimento sustentável em Bangladesh. Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar as percepções sobre sustentabilidade e práticas ambientais entre os estudantes do campus; para tanto, um modelo de regressão logística multinomial foi empregado como principal ferramenta analítica. Os resultados revelaram que 91,1% dos estudantes demonstram compreensão suficiente sobre sustentabilidade, e 93,9% concordam que uma abordagem orientada para a sustentabilidade os influencia positivamente na mudança de estilo de vida. Contudo, 41,0% dos respondentes informaram que participariam de projetos de sustentabilidade no campus, enquanto 47,8% concordaram fortemente, demonstrando uma lacuna entre a conscientização e o envolvimento ativo. Por fim, este estudo sugere que o aumento do número de disciplinas de graduação com foco em sustentabilidade oferecidas pelas universidades pode melhorar a capacidade de um país de promover projetos relacionados à sustentabilidade. Essas melhorias na educação provavelmente levarão a um aumento no número de graduados que se preocupam mais com a sustentabilidade e estão ansiosos para se envolver em iniciativas ambientais dentro e fora do campus. Consequentemente, isso auxilia nos esforços globais e nacionais para alcançar os ODS até 2030.

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