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Abstract
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has grown in prevalence in the U.S. and globally, with nearly 600 major and non-major sustainability programs registered through the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Reporting System (STARS). Sustainability education programs often defy traditional disciplinary boundaries and student-teacher roles. These programs aim to enable individuals to think critically about the interdependence of our human and environmental systems and make connections between local and global actions to address sustainability challenges and adapt to a changing world. This qualitative study seeks to understand and provide a rich description of the learners experience in a non-major sustainability certificate program at the University of Georgia (UGA), a large land- and sea-grant university in Athens, Georgia. Constructivist grounded theory methodology was used to interpret learner outcomes and construct a theory describing the context of positive outcome attainment from the perspective of student participants. In addition to demonstrating key competencies for sustainability, students in the UGA Sustainability Certificate program emphasized personal development and feelings of hope as outcomes of the program, facilitated in part by the sense of community co-constructed among students, staff, faculty, and community members. The findings of this study stress the importance of the socio-emotional outcomes and components of ESD programs, which may in turn support the development of cognitive outcomes. The resultant theory of community pedagogy for sustainability furnishes a backdrop for ongoing evaluation and evolution of sustainability education and insight for ESD programs hoping to equip sustainability leaders with the qualities needed to spur social and environmental change.