Sustainable development is among the grand challenges of the next decades. To come closer to address this challenge, the EU is committed to mainstream the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the European policy framework and current Commission priorities. Moreover, special attention is paid to means for the achievement of the SDGs, their universal application to all countries and the simultaneous address of the economic, environmental and societal dimensions of sustainability. Thus, there is the need of not only raising awareness, but also of acquiring a sustainability literacy, in the sense of a functional education that will provide the necessary skills and motives to cope with the challenges of and contribute to sustainable development. As a result, it is essential to provide an innovative pedagogy to students of higher education that will be the policy makers of tomorrow. In particular, their education should be exploring sustainability and the complexity among its different dimensions; moreover, it should provide the necessary means for the students to experience processes of complex decision making, sharpen their clarity of thought, enhance their communication abilities and help them develop critical thinking, as well as key competences to address the complexities of sustainable development. This type of education needs to become a learning process that moves towards a more experiential and student-centred way of learning, thus helping students to constantly assess the environment, operate and adapt to it through processes of revision of their frames of reference, while providing them with the appropriate materials to comprehend systemic complexity. The objective of the SUSTAIN project is to commence and promote sustainable literacy among students of higher education (and young people in general) through an innovative and student-centered education. To achieve this objective, we have designed, developed and implemented a course to be taught to students of higher education; a course hybrid in nature, as it combines game-based learning with an analytical style of education. In more details: 1) The course deals with transportation sustainability, societal metabolism and decision making under those contexts. The purpose is to teach students the definitions of those notions, how they are translated in everyday life, and formalize the mathematics knowledge necessary to make robust decisions. 2) The project team has developed small, illustrative simulation models that make the definitions more concrete and allow students to experiment in a consequence-free environment. The simulation models can be used to identify scenario exemplars on how we can achieve sustainable urban transportation and a balanced societal metabolism, while taking into account formal decision making process. Thus, greater insights are provided to the policy makers of the future regarding the complexities of decisions in uncertain issues where many diverse stakeholders are involved. 3) The approach of the SUSTAIN project is hybrid and as such the materials developed are translated, in elements and mechanics of a Serious Game. The purpose is to have a board game that allows students to learn about transportation sustainability and societal metabolism through playing. One important aspect of the design of the game is that it avoids being just an informational/fact-delivering game; the core design principle combines delivery of facts with experiential elements that allow students to explore their own sustainability goals and the means to achieve them. The project team maintains that the impact of the project has been in three areas: - At the European (and EU) level, the project has provided added value in the efforts of the EU to disseminate the principles of sustainability, while at the same time educate the future generation of policy makers to be better equipped to promote and achieve the SDGs. Furthermore, the project has continued the effort for an enhanced education that will utilize and incorporate the principles of game-based learning and IC Technologies. - For the partners of the project, the impact has taken the form of a strengthened cooperation and networking of different organizations among different European countries, with different scopes and experiences. At the same time, it has strengthened the role of the participating partners in their respective areas, as the project brought cutting-edge research closer to students and citizens. - Finally, for the students that have participated in the project, the new course has provided a more student-centred education that informed them about important EU and global issues, and at the same time helped them develop the key competences to deal with complex situations that they will have to face. The project also brought them in touch with the work performed by the partners and connected them with other facets of the European culture.
Sustainable development is among the grand challenges of the next decades. To come closer to achieving that state, the EU is committed to mainstream the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the European policy framework and current Commission priorities. Moreover, special attention is paid to means for the achievement of the SDGs, their universal application to all countries and the simultaneous address of the economic, environmental and societal dimensions of sustainability. Thus, there is the need of not only raising awareness, but acquiring a sustainability literacy, in the sense of a functional education that will provide the necessary skills and motives to cope with the challenges of and contribute to sustainable development. As a result, it is essential to provide an innovative pedagogy to students of higher education that will be the policy makers of tomorrow. In particular, their education should be exploring sustainability and the complexity among its different dimensions; moreover, it should provide the necessary means for the students to experience processes of complex decision making, sharpen, their clarity of thought, enhance their communication abilities and help them develop critical thinking as well as key competences to address the complexities of sustainable development. This type of education needs to become a learning process move towards being transformed into a more experiential and student-centered way of learning: thus helping students to constantly assess the environment, operating and adapting to it through processes of revision from their frames of reference and provide the appropriate materials to comprehend systemic complexity. The objective of the SUSTAIN project is to commence and promote sustainable literacy among students of higher education (and young people in general) through an innovative and student-centered education. To achieve this objective, we will design, develop and implement a course to be taught in students of higher education; a course hybrid in nature, as it will combine game-based learning with an analytical style of education. In detail: 1) The course will deal with transportation sustainability, societal metabolism and decision making under those contexts. The purpose will be to teach students the definitions of those notions, how they are translated in everyday life, and formalize the mathematics necessary to make robust decisions. 2) The project team will develop small, illustrative simulation models that will make the definitions more concrete and allow students to experiment in a consequence-free environment. The simulation models can be used to identify scenario exemplars on how we can achieve sustainable urban transportation and a balanced societal metabolism, while taking into account formal decision making process. Thus, greater insights will be provided to the policy makers of the future regarding the complexities of decisions in uncertain issues where many stakeholders are involved. 3) The approach of the SUSTAIN project is hybrid and as such the material develop so far, will be translated, in elements and mechanics of a Serious Game. The purpose is to create a board game that will allow students to learn about transportation sustainability and societal metabolism through playing. One important aspect of the design of the game it will be that it will avoid to be just an informational/fact-delivering game; the core design principle will combine delivery of facts with experiential elements that will allow students to explore their own sustainability goals and the means to achieve them. The project team envisages that the impact of the project will be in three ares: - At the European (and EU) level, the project will provided added value in the efforts of the EU to disseminate the principles of sustainability, while at the same time educate the future generation of policy makers to be better equipped to promote and achieve the SDGs. Furthermore, the project will continue the effort for an enhanced education that will utilize and incorporate the principles of game-based learning and IC Technologies. - For the partners of the project, the impact will take the form of a strengthened cooperation and networking of different organizations among different European countries and with different scopes and experiences. At the same time, it will strengthen the role of the participating partners in their respective areas, as the project will bring cutting-edge research closer to students and citizens. - Finally, for the students that will participate in the project, the new course will provide a more student-centered education that will inform them on important EU and global issues, and at the same time help teach them develop the key competences to deal with complex situations that they will have to face. The project will bring them in touch with the work performed by the partners and connect them with other facets of the European culture.