Transforming sustainability education through transdisciplinary practice

Abstract

Addressing urban sustainability challenges through transformative learning requires learners to be receptive to alternative viewpoints and to critically analyse their own assumptions and worldviews. Higher education institutions have an important role to play in addressing such challenges through their capacity to bring together diverse stakeholders and implement structured learning activities that can enable transformation on a personal and societal level. This article presents a case study of how urban sustainability has been incorporated into various courses run by the TD (transdisciplinary) School at the University of Technology Sydney. The findings illustrate that a transdisciplinary approach to higher education can facilitate transformative learning through a focus on real-world challenges, complex systems thinking, the integration of diverse knowledges and reflexivity. The lessons emerging from the case study demonstrate the importance of both enabling students to obtain a transdisciplinary skillset through their education and ensuring that educators adopt a transdisciplinary mindset to curriculum design.