The climate crisis and its hazardous impacts reached alarming levels where attitudes, mindsets, values, and behaviors of responsible citizens, especially universities need to engage with climate change including the ability to deal with complexity and work collaboratively across sectors and disciplines. Innovative student-centered learning pedagogies will prepare learners for their roles in highly exposed, sensitive, and vulnerable countries to climate hazards. The purpose of this study was to mainstream problem-based learning into climate change education in science-based undergraduate curricula with special emphasis on performing a resource audit on learning materials and teaching pedagogies, analyzing the feedback of learners, and proposing a smart student-centered learning framework. The data were collected via an online questionnaire (n = 211) and three focus group discussions (n = 29) with undergraduates. Student participation was significant in presenting their solutions while exploring, practicing, and developing climate-smart solutions to local, regional, and global climate hazards. Respondents were able to develop innovative, practical solutions and they preferred co-creation over the conventional learning methods. Crowd-sourcing methods used in problem-based learning yielded the best deliverables and active participation showed its potential as a teaching tool. Idea generation through brainstorming, mind mapping, focus group discussions, participatory observations, field days, and research publications was ranked high.