Conference Program

In response to global uncertainties, UNESCO (2020) positioned Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a critical framework to prepare learners for economic and socio-ecological crises. However, this goal often faces institutional barriers. Fundamentally, ESD is based on “transformative learning”, where education goes beyond conveying facts to empowering students to shift perspectives and take meaningful action (Mezirow, 2000; Sterling, 2011). While ESD is theoretically rooted in transformative agency, current institutional models frequently treat students as passive recipients of information rather than active partners in a democratic “educational commons”. Hierarchical decision-making risks reducing the student's role to a mere statistic, obstructing the participatory engagement needed for genuine democratic learning (Biesta, 2016)—a process essential for strengthening dialogue, equality, and empowerment in society. This study investigates learners’ perspectives on sustainability in Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the factors influencing their engagement. The first phase adopted a qualitative inquiry to capture diverse viewpoints on ESD, revealing key themes of engagement, dialogue, and equality. These insights informed the development of a quantitative measurement scale for ESD, guiding the survey design and contributing to its subsequent validation. The resulting framework offers a practical diagnostic tool for Irish HEIs to assess learners’ engagement with ESD. This research adopts a constructivist grounded theory orientation with an exploratory sequential mixed methods design to develop an integrated theory rooted in learners’ voices. In the first phase, semi-structured interviews (n=18) and a focus group discussion (n=4) were conducted with undergraduates from two campuses of one Irish HEI. The analysis followed an inductive, data-driven approach, capturing the richness and complexity of students’ perspectives without imposing pre-existing theories. The qualitative data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis guided by grounded theory principles of iterative coding, constant comparison, and theory generation from emerging data. Codes were grouped into survey domains, and learners’ direct quotes informed the development of survey items. The survey will later be administered across five university campuses to test and validate insights on a larger scale. Findings reveal that sustainability evokes diverse, often conflicting perspectives, from scepticism and frustration to hopelessness. Many learners perceive sustainability as unattainable due to systemic financial constraints, fostering a sense of “infeasibility” that limits participatory engagement. Participants also highlighted a tension between authentic sustainability and dominant capitalist priorities, noting that institutional narratives often prioritise reputational sustainability and economic growth over deeper structural transformation. This suggests that learners' voices navigate a landscape of “misrecognition,” typically marginalised by market-driven agendas. The results suggest that to support democratic learning, ESD needs to move beyond hierarchies and uphold shared values of responsibility, stewardship, and equity. By cultivating critical thinking to navigate complex power structures, HEIs can enable students to transform passive frustration into active, agentic participation in shaping a sustainable common life. This study makes a methodological contribution through an assessment framework co-created with learners to centre their voices at the heart of institutional ESD evaluation. This participatory instrument provides a concrete solution, enabling Irish and international HEIs to assess learners’ needs effectively and move beyond tokenistic engagement.