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Knowledge Generation and Sustainable Development

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Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education

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Introduction

This entry sketches the relation between knowledge generation (KG) and sustainable development (SD) as it appears within the realm of Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD). The suggestion is to distinguish three forms of appearances: The first relation can be called a passive relation. In this appearance, KG for SD is mainly undertaken by (academic) experts whose results and methods are conveyed to students in forms of canonical knowledge within HESD. The students’ role in KG processes is hence the role of passive recipients of this canonical knowledge. Opposed to this appearance is the active relation. Here, students (and other social actors) are directly included in the process of KG in order to craft applicable solutions to concrete challenges for SD. Moreover, KG is not restricted to the acquisition of explicit knowledge. It also includes the development of tacit forms of knowledge that are deemed important for the prospective professional activities of...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sustainability, Working Group Sustainable Consumption and Sustainability Communication, Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication (INFU), Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany

    Pascal Frank

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  1. Pascal Frank
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Correspondence to Pascal Frank .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Sciences, World Sustainable Development Research and Transfer Centre, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

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  1. KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Ingrid Molderez

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Frank, P. (2019). Knowledge Generation and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11352-0_409

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