DOI
10.1080/13504622.2018.1490947

Summary
This study is concerned with the programs; Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD) and how they appear to be struggling in terms of producing the desired outcome of environmentally-responsible or sustainability-focussed-citizenship. The paper researches the possibilities of miscommunication or misunderstanding of basic concepts that may be hindering the desired outcome sustainability education. Shephard et al. introduce the topic by first drawing the readers attention to the fact that hundreds of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) would have signed up to the Talloires Declaration agreeing to various ideals including ‘Educate for Environmentally Responsible Citizenship’ as well as multiple others entailing sustainable development. The method used for analysis of this topic include is philosophical hermeneutics (Gadamer 2004) – used as a philosophical method and a research approach to deal with complex issues. The authors would collectively choose a relevant article and read it simultaneously whilst applying the philosophical hermeneutics method. They would then share and discuss their collective findings over video conference.

The authors then present their results by discussing the particular articles chosen and the findings within them. Table 1 -3 detail the articles chosen and the respective findings of shortcomings in the deliverance of desired outcomes. The authors then go on to discuss their findings in detail and finally conclude the paper with further recommendations.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
This study is relevant to the teaching efficiencies of sustainable development with regards to ESD. Firstly, the methods used in this paper could valuable for the replication of a similar study in most fields of science. Secondly, the findings are rich with implications for the reimagining of higher education curriculum in sustainable development. The findings are discussed with good detail and are presented clearly in tables 1 – 3. The final concluding statements on page 18 are bullet point delivered and detailing further recommendations for sustainability competencies in teaching/researching.

The authors quote Wiek et al. (2011) who detail their five sustainability key competencies: ‘systems thinking, anticipatory (or future)

thinking, normative (or values) thinking, strategic (or action-oriented) thinking, and

interpersonal (or collaboration) competencies. Recently, they have added a sixth

competency: integrated problem-solving competency, which is described as a

“meta-competence of meaningfully using and integrating the five key competencies for

solving sustainability problems and fostering sustainable development”’

Point of Strength
This paper outlines the use of a philosophical hermeneutics methodology for the assessment of a very particular research topic. The method could be valuable for recreating a similar assessment.

Table 1 - 3 detail the shortcomings identified in the chosen reviewed texts. These texts contain commonly known authors in the field of ESD and is highly relevant to the reimagining or rather refining of higher education teaching of sustainable development. The identified issues present themselves as extremely valuable for researches intending to improve the pedagogy of sustainable development to achieve the outcome of environmentally-responsible or sustainability-focussed-citizenship.

The final conclusions on pages 18 and 19 provide further guidance for researchers and teachers.