Advancing Sustainability in Consumption Behaviour and Entrepreneurial Intentions Through Education for Sustainability: Evidence from HEIs in the UAE
摘要
Universities are endowed with the natural capacity to promote sustainability through curriculum design, pedagogical strategies, research, faculty training, and engagement with stakeholders, enabling them to act as change agents. Leadership values and organizational vision play a crucial role in aligning curricula with education for sustainability to build the desired knowledge, skills, and attitudes among students and other stakeholders alike. However, the literature review reveals that education for sustainability as a means to achieve entrepreneurship education is a scarcely researched area in the UAE higher education sector. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the impact of organizational vision and “Education for Sustainability” (EfS) on entrepreneurial intentions to seize opportunities in the sustainability realm. Furthermore, this study examines the effectiveness of the EfS in driving sustainable consumption behaviour by considering use and disposal of fashion products as a case in point. An analysis of data collected from four different universities in the UAE showed that organizational vision and core values and the EfS are more effective in terms of entrepreneurial intentions while it calls for system-wide changes to achieve inner-level transformations in sustainable consumption.