Assessing University Students’ Beliefs and Attitudes towards Sustainability and Sustainable Development: A Systematic Review

• Published in: Trends in higher education 2023-12, Vol.2 (4), p.705-717
• Main Authors: Concina, Eleonora, Frate, Sara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: attitudes; beliefs; SDGs; sustainable development; university students
• ISSN: 2813-4346; 2813-4346
• DOI: 10.3390/higheredu2040041

(1) Background: contents and strategies related to sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are being introduced in academic curricula, and the organization of the university environment is evolving to adopt sustainable practices. One of the main aims of this evolution is to raise students’ awareness of sustainability and to encourage them to develop attitudes, knowledge and competencies for acting as future responsible citizens. This implies the need to examine and understand students’ attitudes and beliefs towards sustainability. (2) Method: a systematic literature review has been performed to examine the most recent studies focused on university students’ beliefs and attitudes towards sustainable development. Three educational online databases were searched for identified research papers, and in the end, 20 papers have been included in the analysis. (3) Results: in recent years there has been a growing interest in the topic of university students’ assessment of sustainability beliefs and attitudes. Assessment was frequently limited to the environmental dimension of sustainability, placing the economic, social and educational dimensions in the background. Most of the assessing tools have been developed as quantitative questionnaires. (4) Conclusions: understanding the attitudes and perceptions of university students about sustainability issues is an essential task for helping higher education institutions to effectively infuse the contents and principles of sustainable development into their environments.