The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in sustainability education (SE) represents a forward-thinking approach to teaching and learning, addressing complex global challenges through innovative technology. The deployment of AI offers promising prospects in SE as a means to enhance learning experiences, foster innovative problem-solving skills, and contribute to the development of sustainable solutions. Despite the potential of AI in sustainability teaching and learning, there is a need for studies that explore several key areas, including how AI may enhance educational outcomes, develop sustainable solutions, and prepare students for future challenges. By means of a set of case studies and a survey from 45 countries, it examines the current use of AI as a tool towards sustainable development identifying some areas where action is needed. The results show that the integration of AI in SE has the potential to significantly enhance the learning experience by providing personalized instruction and facilitating interactive simulations that deepen students' understanding of complex environmental issues. In addition, AI tools can increase student engagement through personalized learning paths and real-time feedback, fostering a more interactive and immersive educational environment that encourages critical thinking and problem-solving. While promising, the use of AI in SE requires ongoing research to explore potential challenges and the ethical implications of AI technologies in educational settings.

The increasing threats of climate change, resource depletion, and human rights crises have led us to realize the impendent need for advancing sustainable development education and to reevaluate the effectiveness of our current strategies and approaches to sustainability and social responsibility education in higher education. Therefore, the purpose of this study was first, to discuss the importance of sustainability education; second, to propose an effective model for sustainability education through a case study of a cross-disciplinary asynchronous online team-teaching model; and third, to discuss the outcomes of the course based on students’ perceptions of various aspects communicated through course evaluations. The course model created by the authors introduces students to the language and evolving norms of the sustainability, social responsibility, and human rights movements. It further challenges students to integrate the concepts and tools to which they are introduced into projects in which they design a non-governmental organization (NGO) and analyze a business entity. This study will help educators better understand the urgency for advancing sustainability and human rights education and its effective approaches and strategies. Furthermore, it will inspire them to adopt them as viable pedagogical approaches to effectively implement into a curriculum.

The concept of climate justice extends traditional environmentalism by emphasizing the social dimensions of environmental issues. Recently, it has gained much attention due to the growing impacts of climate change, especially on vulnerable communities that contribute minimally to global emissions. Based on the need for research in this field, this paper reports on a study that examined how higher education institutions (HEIs) are integrating climate justice into education, based on a literature review and a set of case studies. These cases highlight actions undertaken by various HEIs to incorporate climate justice into education across the globe. Based on the increasing number of publications, the findings show a growing research interest in the topic and reveal that some countries such as the US, the UK, China, Australia, and Germany have a visible presence in the literature. It also provides a wide range of perspectives on educational practices in climate justice, including real-world examples of courses implemented in HEIs. The findings reveal that HEIs have significant potential to address climate justice in their educational programs, which may help to transform students’ values and actions despite challenges.

Universities have an important role in advancing sustainable development by educating future professionals. As an effective approach to scaling sustainability education, the author implemented a problem-based service-learning (PBSL) project with Ten Thousand Villages, a fair-trade non-profit social enterprise (SE), into a Product Innovation and Management course at a public university in the US. The purpose of this study was first, to explore the significance of, strategies for, and barriers to sustainability education in higher education; second, to present a case of a PBSL project systemically incorporated into a course; and third, to propose a PBSL model to facilitate its wide adoption in other courses. A qualitative research method was adopted employing open coding and the constant comparative method to analyze students’ written reflections. Unlike the hypothesized model with a commercial enterprise, the findings revealed that fourteen new themes emerged for the PBSL model; most were consistent with the characteristics of SE. Through this study, educators and practitioners will be able to recognize the urgent need for the scaling of sustainability education and will be inspired to adopt problem-based service learning as a viable pedagogical approach. Further, the study will provide educators and practitioners with insights into its effective implementation into higher education.

In order to offer students a thorough understanding of the complexity of trend analysis and forecasting and prepare them to be socially responsible citizens and professionals, the author developed an industry-academic collaboration and problem-based service-learning project for a Trend Analysis and Forecasting course. The purpose of this study was first, to explore the characteristics of problem-based service learning; second, to propose a problem-based service-learning model to guide its implementation into a learning exercise; and third, to present a case study of a problem-based service-learning project with industry-academic collaboration that was systemically implemented into a course and discuss its outcomes. Students’ participation in the project developed their sense of civic responsibility and critical-thinking skills while enhancing their discipline-specific learning. This study will help educators better understand problem-based service learning as a viable pedagogical approach and inspire them to effectively implement it into a curriculum.