STRUGGLES AND SUCCESSES OF TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING FOR THE SDGS

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have shed light on the concept of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) expressed through the knowledge of targets and indicators. Consequently, UNESCO has invoked the adoption of new pedagogical approaches for SDGs –that is, transdisciplinary and transformative learning, to overcome mere knowledge teaching and to teach, new generations of young leaders, ESD skills such as envisioning, critical thinking and partnership building. This paper discusses the struggles and successes of a pilot project in transformative learning in an institution of higher learning for the advancement of the SDGs. This project has been carried out at the University of Torino (UniTo) and focuses on merging sustainable development with open innovation. Recognized as one of the best practices regarding sustainable development by the Italian Association of Universities for Sustainability (RUS) in 2017, the case involves students in a transdisciplinary, creative and open learning environment. With this approach, students learn about SDGs, the complexities of sustainability and the use of valuable tools to contribute to their local communities and organizations.