Sustainability and Civil Engineering Education: A Bibliometric Mapping of Integration Trends

Abstract

Sustainability in civil engineering education has become a key concern for academia and industry, reflecting the urgency of environmental, social, and economic challenges. This study aims to map research trends and emerging themes in how sustainability is integrated into civil engineering curricula by identifying key countries, institutions, journals, highly cited articles, and active authors and their collaboration networks, and by synthesizing key topics and future directions. A total of 123 Scopus-indexed articles published between 1999 and 2025 were analyzed using a mixed bibliometric and qualitative approach. Performance analysis, science mapping, and content coding of course levels, educational settings, pedagogies, and targeted competencies were combined to characterize the field. Results showed growth in publications after the introduction of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with work concentrated in a set of journals, countries, and institutional hubs. Thematic mapping identified six analytically distinct but related clusters: (1) community engagement and social responsibility learning, (2) environmental resource management education, (3) sustainability principles and professional practices, (4) behavioral and identity-related learning, (5) pedagogical delivery and learning technologies, and (6) sustainable construction with digital and life-cycle tools. These clusters show that sustainability is most often positioned in environmental, construction, and capstone courses, but programwide sequencing and systematic assessment of social, behavioral, and professional identity outcomes remain limited. The review contributes a diagnostic, context-sensitive curriculum map that links sustainability themes with course levels, pedagogical settings, assessed competencies, and future research needs, providing a structured basis for curriculum renewal that can be adapted to institutional priorities, regional workforce needs and local environmental contexts.