Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Reflective Actions for Sustainable Development

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education

  • 52 Accesses

Definition

Reflective actions for sustainable development (SD) are a set of thoughtful, conscious individual and collective actions which aim at positively contributing toward three dimensions of sustainability, i.e., economy, society, and environment. They are different from sustainability actions (paying tax, planting trees, using water with care, etc.) which people may undertake as a response to some legal binding or rules. Reflective actions for SD result from thoughtful consideration of the need and consequences of the actions for society, economy, and the environment.

Introduction

Reflective actions for sustainable development (SD) are the actions predicated on critical assessment of one’s own assumptions regarding three aspects of sustainability, i.e., environment, economy, and society. If sustainable development is defined in terms of values like freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature, and shared responsibility (Kates et al. 2005), then reflective actions...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 849.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bradbury H (2001) Learning with the natural step: action research to promote conversations for sustainable development. In: Reason PW, Bradbury H (eds) Handbook of action research. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Brookfield S (1995) Becoming a critically reflective teacher. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Ciegis R, Ramanauskiene J, Martinkus B (2009) The concept of sustainable development and its use for sustainability scenarios. Eng Econ 62(2):28–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen IJ (1996) Theories of action and praxis. In: Turner BS (ed) The Blackwell companion to social theory. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 73–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey J (1933) How we think: a restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. Heath and Company, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Fook J, White S, Gardner F (2006) Critical reflection: a review of contemporary literature and understandings. In: White S, Fook J, Gardner F (eds) Critical reflection in health and social care. Open University Press, Maidenhead

    Google Scholar 

  • Finlay L (2008) Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL Paper 52:1–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Freire P (1970) Pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Huckle J, Sterling S (eds) (1996) Education for sustainability. Earthscan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Inden R (1990) Imagining India. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson T (2007) Sustainable consumption. In: Giles A, Simon D, Eric N (eds) Handbook of sustainable development. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 254–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Kates RW, Parris TM, Leiserowitz AA (2005) What is sustainable development? Goals, indicators, values, and practice. Environment (Washington, DC) 47(3):8–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Mezirow J (1990) How critical reflection triggers transformative learning. Foster Crit Reflection Adulthood 1:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Mogensen F, Schnack K (2010) The action competence approach and the ‘new’ discourses of education for sustainable development, competence and quality criteria. Environ Educ Res 16(1):59–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds M (1998) Reflection and critical reflection in management learning. Manag Learn 29(2):183–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers C (2002) Defining reflection: another look at John Dewey and reflective thinking. Teach Coll Rec 104(4):842–866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumacher EF (1997) ‘This I believe’ and other essays. Green Books, Dartington. (essay first published in 1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Schon DA (1983) The reflective practitioner. Basic Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Smyth J (1992) Teachers’ work and the politics of reflection. Am Educ Res J 29:267–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor C, White S (2000) Practising reflexivity in health and welfare: making knowledge. Open University Press, Buckingham

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilbury D (2003) Emerging issues in education for sustainable development. In: Bhandari B, Abe O (eds) Education for sustainable development in Nepal: views and visions. Japan: International Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), pp 29–40

    Google Scholar 

  • UNCED (1992) Agenda 21. Accessed from: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/outcomedocuments/agenda21

  • Vanhulst J, Beling AE (2014) Buen vivir: emergent discourse within or beyond sustainable development? Ecol Econ 101:54–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Kerkhoff L, Lebel L (2006) Linking knowledge and action for sustainable development. Annu Rev Environ Resour 31:445–477

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan

    Qudsia Kalsoom

  2. University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Sibte Hasan

Authors
  1. Qudsia Kalsoom
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sibte Hasan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qudsia Kalsoom .

Editor information

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

Section Editor information

  1. University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Kalsoom, Q., Hasan, S. (2019). Reflective Actions for 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_27

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation