Mainstreaming Sustainability and Climate Change Across Higher Education: Lessons From Ten Pioneering Universities
Abstract
Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a critical role in preparing graduates to address the interconnected global crises of the 21st century. Despite explicit calls from UNESCO's Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework (SDG 4 on quality education) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Action for Climate Empowerment agenda (SDG 13 on climate action) to mainstream sustainability and climate change (S&CC) across all fields of study, integration within academic programs remains fragmented and often confined to isolated courses. This study argues that genuinely transformative education requires embedding S&CC as a core, transdisciplinary literacy across all study programs, essential for cultivating professionals capable of leading the socio‐ecological transition across diverse sectors. To investigate how S&CC is systematically embedded in higher education curricula, the study employs a qualitative, multi‐case study methodology drawing on a purposive sample of 10 pioneering universities across five continents. Data were gathered through systematic documentary analysis of institutional materials, including strategic plans, course syllabi, learning outcomes frameworks, and evaluation reports, and analyzed through iterative thematic analysis combining within‐case and cross‐case comparison. The findings reveal four distinct modes of climate change curriculum integration: dedicated modules, structural embedding, framework integration, and research‐line integration, and document persistent barriers including disciplinary silos, limited faculty capacity, and accreditation constraints. The analysis further identifies a structural equity gap in which S&CC education remains concentrated at the postgraduate level, excluding most undergraduates from mandatory climate literacy. Drawing on these insights, a scalable three‐phase framework is proposed: Foundation, Integration, and Institutionalization, to help HEI leaders, educators, and policymakers achieve mandatory, meaningful S&CC integration across all fields of study.