Mainstreaming Education for Sustainable Development, the Transition Towards Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality in Higher Education
Author: *GN Shava, K. Manokore, E. Mhlanga, M.mpofu, N. Phuthi, N. Mkwelie, A. Mangena
Abstract: Over the past 20 years, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has become part of the discourse and issue in higher education teaching and learning. Every phase of higher education the world over are now being urged to declare its support for ESD. The United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda proposes that ESD should play a vital role in the transformation of the world’s economy as expressed in the Agenda’s goals and sub-goals. Higher education should play a pivotal role in mainstreaming education for sustainable development. The UN Incheon Declaration 2015 significantly highlighted the vital role of education that it plays in the universal journey towards sustainable development across the globe and saving our planet. In September 2015 the UN formally adopted the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) as an outcome of a major global consultative process. Agenda 2030 advocates for providing the opportunity to progress towards implementing ESD that fosters the knowledge, skills, values, perspectives, and actions that lead towards a more sustainable future. The study draws on structure and agency approaches to examine the implementation of Agenda 2030 Global Goals to offer deeper insight into the roles individuals and institutions of higher education in Zimbabwe play in implementing the UN sustainable development goals. The aim of the study is to increase knowledge of potential strategies to meet the fourth UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4), which strives for quality education. The qualitative study provides a detailed description of the ways in which agency and structure in higher education systems enable or constrain ESD mainstreaming. We demonstrate that a critical realist perspective can contribute towards the understanding and achievement of transformation towards sustainability.