Publications
Researchers are starting to publish about the Sustainability Mindset and the Indicator.
Book chapter
Beate Klingenberg, Nadine Pratt & Elisabeth Suntrup-Andresen, 2025
Abstract
Higher education institutions (HEIs) are recognized as pivotal agents in fostering competencies for sustainable development to enable the urgently needed transformation toward sustainable living. This chapter presents frameworks, tools, and impact assessment approaches designed to develop paradox skills that are considered essential for this transformation. Summarizing key concepts from UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and frameworks such as the OECD Learning Compass 2030 and European Union GreenComp agenda, the chapter highlights the necessity of paradox skills. These encompass abilities to navigate tensions, conflicting goals, and ambiguities inherent in sustainable transformation. The chapter explains the underlying concepts of generic as well as four sustainability-specific paradox categories: belonging, learning, organizing, and performing paradoxes. Practical classroom exercises tailored to cultivate the required skills are presented, including, e.g., role-playing, simulations, and reflective exercises. To expand on these teaching approaches, the frameworks sustainability and paradox mindsets and the polarity mapping and polarity systems tools are discussed. The Sustainability Mindset Indicator (SMI®) is presented as an assessment tool to evaluate impact and progress. By integrating these practical approaches into curricula, the authors aim at supporting HEIs in preparing future leaders to address the multifaceted and complex challenges of a transformation toward sustainability.
A dissertation
A. Miller-Porter, 2024
Abstract
This study was about a university course, Mindfulness & Sustainability (GC495), that I designed, instructed, and assessed. Twenty-one students and I went on a mindful learning journey; together we cultivated a community of Transformative Sustainability Learning (TSL). I used The Work that Reconnects (WTR) to teach mindfulness in Sustainability Education (SE). This was an exploratory qualitative study that utilized two narrative end of semester questions, one assignment and the Sustainability Mindset Indicator (SMI) pre- post- questionnaire to collect and analyze course impact. The study showed that Sustainability Mindsets were strengthened for students who took GC495.
Enabling an Education Revolution through the Sustainability Mindset Principles. A report delivered to the PRME Secretariat as part of Higher Education For Good's 'Youth Talks'.
Cripps, K., Ivanova, E., Sridaran, K., Burga, R., Garcia-Leon, R., Howarth, R. and Tomasella, B. (2024)
Abstract
Imagine a world where individuals are considering the impact on the long term of the decisions they are making. Where, as they analyze information, they wonder who are the stakeholders impacted – extending beyond the traditional ones to include Nature, the ecosystem as a stakeholder, and the next generations. Imagine young people reminding each other to pause before reacting and reflecting on their emotional triggers. Imagine groups of youth having a conversation about how they are nintentionally contributing to the problems, and what they want to do differently to actively shape a better world. Imagine a dinner conversation, where teenagers are sharing with their parents the question: Why are we doing what we are doing? What is the best version of ourselves that we can bring to the world? And students, asking their professor : What would Nature say, if she had a seat in this classroom? Imagine intergenerational collaboration on small local initiatives to make their community a better place to live, led by young people who don’t know what is impossible, and who know how to bridge differences by meeting in the higher ground …..
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2024. Print.
Joshua L. DeVincenzo
Abstract
The purpose of this exploratory collective case study is to understand how climate change education can meet the learning needs of emergency management professionals to prepare and adapt to the impacts of climate change on communities throughout the United States. The primary research question guiding the study was: How do emergency managers experience, learn about, and from, the impacts of climate change in their work? Throughout the study, significant attention was paid to emergent themes in emergency managers’ personal and professional learning and development in the form of multiple data collection methods and analysis. The following sub-questions were also investigated:
A. How do perceptions of climate change influence the ways in which emergency managers engage with climate literacy?
B. What do emergency managers perceive as important for the content and design of climate literacy training and education programs to support their learning?
This collective case study involved the participation of six (N = 6) certified emergency management (CEM) professionals currently practicing in the U.S. as the study’s key informants (KIs). The sequential data collection methods encompassed a survey, semi-structured interviews, and the utilization of the Sustainability Mindset Indicator (SMI) assessment. Additionally, the survey administered to the six KIs was also distributed to a larger sample (N = 56), known as a “boosted sample,” to compare and contrast wider trends, transferability and uncover broader training needs. Data analysis leveraged coding to identify similarities and differences among emergency managers’ lived experiences, approaches, and expert recommendations on learning about climate change-related themes. The theoretical framework that guided this research analysis was the Sustainability Mindset Principles (SMPs). This study aimed to inform future training and education programs for emergency managers on climate change as well as provide researchers and practitioners working in climate science with insights on how to engage emergency management.
The study found that emergency managers in the U.S. are increasingly recognizing the multifaceted impacts of climate change on their roles and responsibilities. Emergency managers reported a preference for localized climate information that extends beyond geography to encompass cognitive, social, political, and historical dimensions. Participants reported a preference for climate-related training to be presented in practical ways with an emphasis on increasing long-term thinking skills in their training. The study observed that emergency managers exhibited strong motivation, preparation for future learning, and sense of purpose that can be applied to integrating climate change information into existing emergency management frameworks. Emergency managers acknowledged the need to refine roles and collaborate across sectors to effectively address climate change given resource limitations, including funding, workforce development, and technology. Building upon a robust training infrastructure in emergency management, climate literacy can facilitate an understanding of climate within the field as well as the widespread effects that transcend a single profession, sector and generation
Joshua L. DeVincenzo, Lauren D. Esposito, Thomas E. Chandler, Himanshu Panwa
Abstract
Climate change poses significant challenges for emergency management professionals tasked with preparing and adapting communities to its impacts. This study aimed to understand how climate change education can meet the learning needs of emergency management professionals throughout the United States. This exploratory collective case study involved six certified emergency management professionals as key informants, along with a survey distributed to 56 emergency managers. The study initiated an essential needs assessment, combining their knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions about climate change with effective engagement in adult learning. The findings carry national and global implications, offering insights into climate literacy programs’ design and implementation. The study revealed that most emergency managers feel unprepared for climate impacts, but their sustainability mindsets, such as purpose and mindfulness, are strengths. However, areas for development were identified in long-term thinking, interconnectedness, and embracing both-and thinking and flow in cycles. The research has the potential to equip emergency managers with a deeper understanding of climate literacy, striving for a sustainable and resilient future.
Embedding a sustainability mindset in responsible management education
Karen Cripps and Simon Smith (Oxford Brookes University Business School, UK)
Purpose – Organisational responses to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals depend on the competency and mindset of business leaders to lead responsibly. This study is informed and underpinned by the Principles of Responsible Management Education. This study aims to examine how embedding the “sustainability mindset principles” within a university programme can contribute to responsible management education and, by extension, leadership development.
Design/methodology/approach – An illustrative case study using 84 students was applied, including undergraduate, postgraduate and executive Master of Business Administration students. An exploratory, qualitative design was followed, primarily adopting focus groups.
Findings – Evidenced learning gains in connecting sustainability knowledge with personal beliefs and behaviours, provide a compelling basis for educational and business practitioners to focus on the sustainability mindset principles (SMPs). Mapping of mindset against leading global competency frameworks provides important theoretical insight. Learning is illustrated through multiple dimensions (i.e. cognitive, behavioural and affective) to inform leadership development approaches.
Research limitations/implications – The mapping of sustainability competency frameworks against the SMP, alongside qualitative research insights, provides a compelling basis for further research into the learning gains from embedding the mindset principles. The situated nature of the study and the lack of longitudinal measurement of what students take forward into their lives and workplaces is a limiting factor to be considered.
Practical implications – This study evidences the value of “whole-person” learning for responsible management, which can helpfully inform the design of both educational and workplace leadership development programmes.
Proceedings of the 2023 EurOMA conference, Leuven, Belgium, July 3-5
Beate Klingenberg, Albachiara Boffelli, Alice Madonna
Abstract: This paper presents an explorative case study for developing a sustainable supply chain management course (“Sustainable and Global Supply Management”, MS in Management Engineering, University of Bergamo, Italy), using a unique and new combination of pedagogical approaches. Various exercises aligned with Kolb´s experiential learning method were used to enhance learning and stimulate the Sustainability Mindset (SM)
development. The choice of exercises was flexibly and intentionally designed based on results of the Sustainability Mindset Indicator (SMI®), an assessment of students’ position towards the SM. A pre-post analysis employing the SMI® allowed determining the effects of the experiential teaching methods.
The role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in educating future leaders with social impact contributing to the sustainable development goals
Barbara Tomasella, Anne Wylie, Devi Gill
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how higher education institutions (HEIs) educate future leaders with social impact contributing to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). HEIs have an interest in developing leaders with social impact, but there is a lack of knowledge on the best teaching and learning strategies to engage students with social action aimed at the SDGs. This paper fills this gap by addressing the question of how HEIs can shape the sustainability mindsets of future leaders with social impact contributing to the SDGs.
Design/methodology/approach: This research used a mixed method research design, including a quantitative survey and qualitative semi-structured interviews of UK students involved in HEIs experiential learning programmes, focused on social impact and entrepreneurial action, developed in partnership with the organisation Enactus.
Findings: This research highlighted the importance of experiential learning, as it develops the knowledge, values and competency underpinning the sustainability mindset of future leaders contributing to the SDGs, in particular their emotional intelligence.
A supply chain view of sustainability management
Fritz Morgane
Abstract: Given the global sustainability challenges facing humans and nature today, this theoretical paper aims to propose a supply chain view of sustainability management and thereby contribute to elevating the sustainable supply chain management field to the level of theory. This is done by identifying supply chain stakeholders and related sustainability challenges, which reveal the inherent paradoxes and tensions in global consumption and production networks. This perspective supports the urgent need for all supply chain stakeholders to understand sustainability challenges and adopt a sustainability mindset. The focus on reducing supply chain disruptions, improving supply chain resilience, and improving supply chain sustainability performance has neglected and even undermined broader sustainability challenges, such as climate change. Therefore, this paper first provides a discussion on the complementarity between stakeholder theory and sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) from a systems perspective; and, second, develops a novel supply chain theory to enhance sustainability management by identifying supply chain stakeholders and related sustainability challenges. Linking stakeholder theory and SSCM facilitates a holistic understanding of sustainability challenges, making it possible to identify opportunities to improve one’s decisions, actions, and current consumption and production patterns. Instead of perpetuating a firm- or client-centred perspective, the supply chain view places the product/service at the center of the stakeholder identification process. It clearly identifies stakeholders upstream, within the focal firm, downstream, or outside the supply chain (SC), as well as the related sustainability challenges. It encourages all organizations and individuals to practise their systems thinking skills in order to improve their sustainability mindset and enhance their subsequent ability to solve sustainability and ethical challenges. The proposed supply chain view supports managers, policymakers, educators, consultant, consumers, and individuals in identifying stakeholders and understanding sustainability challenges related to production and consumption effectively. This extends existing knowledge on sustainability management from a supply chain perspective and opens new research areas, particularly for ethical decision-making and behavioural sciences
The Sustainability Mindset Indicator - A personal development tool
Isabel Rimanoczy
Beate Klingenberg
This paper addresses the problem of assessing, measuring, and further developing a Sustainability Mindset. This mindset is a way of thinking and being that predisposes individuals to act for the good of planet and people. It is a complex construct, developed via the path of an ecological worldview, a systems perspective, and aspects pertaining to emotional and spiritual intelligence. It is aimed at guiding individuals toward living and promoting a more sustainable life, which is crucial for humanity in the 21st century. As educators have been intentionally developing the Sustainability Mindset, it became important to find ways to assess and measure it.
The Sustainability Mindset Indicator (SMI) was designed to address this problem. This paper describes the method followed to develop the SMI: a) anchored in theories of psychology and pedagogy, objectives of the instrument and constructs of measurement were defined; b) a questionnaire was designed; and c) 320 personalized feedback reports were created. The questionnaire uses Johnson’s (1992) framework of polarities and stages of human development (Kegan, 1994), whereas the reports follow the directions of Positive Psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2014) and Appreciative Inquiry (Cooperrider, Whitney, & Stavros, 2008). Three validation phases were employed to confirm phrasing, improve comprehension and accurateness, and prepare for pilot studies.
The SMI represents an important addition to other scales available in the literature. It focuses on personal development and transformative learning to facilitate mindset change in individuals as well as in educational or coaching settings, and can be used to tailor interventions and assess the impacts thereof.
Twelve Principles to guide a long-overdue paradigm shift
Isabel Rimanoczy
Ana Maria Llamazares
If human behaviors are associated with climate change, it relates to how we consume, entertain, travel, do business, relate to “natural resources”, to ourselves and to each other.
The authors posit that human behaviors are but the visible tip of the iceberg, sustained underwater by a voluminous mass comprised of our values, beliefs, assumptions, the anchors of our identity and shared paradigms. They trace back the history of a shared paradigm that has become dysfunctional and introduce the Sustainability Mindset Principles – a scaffolding to address the complexity of the paradigm.
This paper describes how the dysfunctional paradigm can be brought back into balance by developing neglected aspects of a Western-Northern worldview that has been shaping our behaviors for centuries.
By naming these aspects, the authors propose a language to incite the readers’ imagination of what is possible. Naming creates reality.