Many higher education institutions have assumed the role of diffusing knowledge, values, attitudes and behaviours that favour sustainability. A key objective in such work is training university teachers to apply sustainability criteria to their respective disciplines. While university teachers' active participation is essential to achieving this goal, their ideas about and predispositions towards introducing sustainability into curricula are not always understood or appreciated. In this paper, we report on a questionnaire survey at the University of Valencia, Spain, on the current baseline situation for introducing sustainability across the university's curricula. We also report on a measure to periodically review the situation, including progress of and/or decline in introducing sustainability into diverse subject areas, focusing on a series of indicators grouped under the common name ‘π Indicator’. Key findings from the survey include the widespread support for introducing sustainability across the university's curricula; however, as might be expected, significant differences occur in how questions are addressed by staff from various disciplines, including how they relate to departmental perceptions, interpretations and performance of sustainability‐related teaching.

Designing the training of future teachers through holistic and interdisciplinary visions is vital to developing coherent contents, epistemologies, and methodologies that put Education for Sustainability into action. The research presented here analyzes the teaching guides from the curriculum for the Master’s Degree in Secondary Education Teaching at the Universitat de València (Spain). A collaborative study on the inclusion of sustainability in a selected sample of teaching guides was conducted from an Action/Research methodological approach. The study includes an analysis of the competences identified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and their expected contribution to the 17 SDGs in the United Nations 2030 Agenda. The results of this research point to the need to promote collaborative work across disciplines in order to engage teachers in the transition to sustainability and encourage them to participate in the research process.

RESUMEN: El presente estudio responde al interés por conocer los procesos de aplicación del concepto/teoría del desarrollo sostenible a nivel local y el papel que puede desempeñar la escuela en la implementación de estos procesos en la comunidad en la que está inserta; tiene un respaldo teórico en torno a cuatro conceptos clave: a) el concepto de desarrollo sostenible; b) el concepto de «indicadores» para «medirlo»; c) el concepto de «eco-ética» o sustrato normativo para impulsarlo y d) el concepto de «glocalización» o referencia a lo «local desde lo global» para operativizarlo. Y tiene también un punto de mira o referente: la construcción de una escuela impulsora de la sostenibilidad del desarrollo a nivel local, de acuerdo con la filosofía del Programa 21 suscrito en la Cumbre de Río. Present study attempts to know the process of application the concept/theory of the sustainable development at local level and the role that school can accomplish to implement these process in the community where school stay; it has a theoretical foundation aroLind four key concepts: a) the concept of the sustainable development; b) the concept of «indicators» to measure it; c) the concept of eco-ethic or normative frame to promote; d) the concept global-local to make operative it. And it has a point of view or concerning: the construction of a school propeler of the sustainable development at local level, in conformity with the fhylosophy of the Programme 21 subscribed to the summit conference of Rio.SOMMAIRE: La présent étude essaye de connaître la processus d'application du concept de développement soutenable au niveau local et le rôle que l'école peut jouer dans la mise en oeuvre de ces processus dans la communauté dans laquelle elle est insérée; il a des fondements théoriques autour de quatre questions clef: a) le concept de développement soutenable; b) le concept d'indicateurs pour le mesurer; c) le concept echo-éthique ou substrat normatif pour le propulser et d) le concept «glocalización » ou référence à lui local depuis ce qui est global pour le rendre opérationnel. Et il a aussi un point de vue: la construction d'une école impulsive de l'aptitude à soutenir des opérations prolongées du développement au niveu local, en accord avec la philosophie du Programme 21 souscrit dans le Sommet de Rio.

El propósito de este estudio ha sido establecer un modelo-guía para la participación activa de las Agencias educativas formales en los procesos locales dirigidos a implementar un desarrollo humano sostenible; modelo elaborado a partir de referentes teóricos contrastados con datos obtenidos en la práctica, a partir de las opiniones de los directores escolares de una muestra de centros educativos de enseñanza primaria.