ince UN Member States adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, many efforts have been made to design pathways and avenues to see their achievement. SDG 4 on quality education is no exception. However, higher education institutes (HEIs) are struggling to integrate sustainable development into their curricula and classrooms. A better approach to foster cooperation between state governments, HEIs, firms, and NGOs is offered by the Quadro Helix Model. This model facilitates learning, including experiential, to young people in real time—particularly in countries facing serious climate risk.
Since 2002, UNESCO has influenced and supported a global framework for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). ESD calls for an expansion of education and exploration of diverse pedagogical strategies which will develop the required socio-emotional and behavioral values, attitudes, and social skills to deal with global challenges such as climate change. However, HEIs’ main perceived function is to deliver employability in a business-as-usual economy, rather than promote civic responsibility. Furthermore, academics are pushed to publish and patent rather than engage in societal outreach. Given these pressures, breaking HEIs out of their traditional role requires additional incentives be offered to do so.
Enter the Quadro Helix Model, a framework proposed to implement sustainability transition programs such as ESD. A more commonly known model, the Triple Helix Model, differs in that it calls only for cooperation between academia, the private sector, and the government. Whereas the Quadro Helix Model adds a fourth player: NGOs—specifically in the innovation ecosystem—to generate societal innovations and motivate transformation with the support of the state, academia, and firms. As such, it’s more geared toward the objective of changing minds and behaviors about social targets like climate resilience.
Long before the SDGs were adopted, there have been experiments with service-learning clubs engaged in charitable acts, but these cannot be considered ESD as they are disconnected from academic learning. A typical example is the National Service Scheme (NSS), a policy innovation introduced by the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in the 1950s. Students can join NSS clubs in schools and HEIs, and the NSS academic coordinators implement charitable initiatives. Thus, even though NSS is similar to ESD in its top-down approach to increasing youth engagement in HEIs, the work is not designed to mobilize disciplinary knowledge, enhance academic understanding or employability, or prepare students to handle sustainability challenges.
The Quadro Helix Model in Action
Against this backdrop, we take you to Friend in Need India Trust (FIN)—a knowledge-based charity which trains communities, young people, and policymakers on issues related to sanitation, waste management, and hygiene behavior for health and climate resilience. FIN is staffed by training graduates as well as candidates sponsored by firms. This is an example of the Quadro Helix Model in action—NGOs working with academia, policy makers, and the private sector.
Following the adoption of Indian government policies supportive of ESD in 2020 and 2022, both HEIs and firms began sending more young people to FIN to learn about climate change and sustainability. In addition to being useful for attaining SDG 4, it made these young people more employable, equipping them with capabilities such as analytical and critical thinking, innovation, complex problem-solving, analysis, emotional intelligence, creativity, and initiative.
This example illustrates how the Quadro Helix Model is a viable approach to implementing ESD, being both educationally and economically efficient. In short, FIN’s use of the Quadro Helix Model proves that it could be a viable, potential way to implement ESD—an avenue that is educationally and economically efficient. Students get equipped with academic and real-life skill sets that prepare them to take on climate change endeavors as well as the job market. The need for investment is diminished as the NGO partner brings specific educating expertise to the equation. The Quadro Helix Model, then, can be an effective mechanism to realize ESD goals, and it can also lead to the creation of dedicated service and social enterprises, which can communicate effectively with HEIs and firms—creating impact in the education realm.
Editors’ Note: This article was included in our COP 28 special edition, which was published on November 21, 2023, and which you can find here. All articles were written with that publication time frame in mind.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations University.
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A Real-World Approach to Education in Times of Climate Change
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November 21, 2023
Higher education institutions (HEIs) have struggled to bring education for sustainable development into their curricula. Better cooperation between state governments, HEIs, private enterprise, and NGOs can help, write UN University’s Shyama Ramani and Alejandro Alvarez-Vanegas.
S
ince UN Member States adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, many efforts have been made to design pathways and avenues to see their achievement. SDG 4 on quality education is no exception. However, higher education institutes (HEIs) are struggling to integrate sustainable development into their curricula and classrooms. A better approach to foster cooperation between state governments, HEIs, firms, and NGOs is offered by the Quadro Helix Model. This model facilitates learning, including experiential, to young people in real time—particularly in countries facing serious climate risk.
Since 2002, UNESCO has influenced and supported a global framework for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). ESD calls for an expansion of education and exploration of diverse pedagogical strategies which will develop the required socio-emotional and behavioral values, attitudes, and social skills to deal with global challenges such as climate change. However, HEIs’ main perceived function is to deliver employability in a business-as-usual economy, rather than promote civic responsibility. Furthermore, academics are pushed to publish and patent rather than engage in societal outreach. Given these pressures, breaking HEIs out of their traditional role requires additional incentives be offered to do so.
Enter the Quadro Helix Model, a framework proposed to implement sustainability transition programs such as ESD. A more commonly known model, the Triple Helix Model, differs in that it calls only for cooperation between academia, the private sector, and the government. Whereas the Quadro Helix Model adds a fourth player: NGOs—specifically in the innovation ecosystem—to generate societal innovations and motivate transformation with the support of the state, academia, and firms. As such, it’s more geared toward the objective of changing minds and behaviors about social targets like climate resilience.
Long before the SDGs were adopted, there have been experiments with service-learning clubs engaged in charitable acts, but these cannot be considered ESD as they are disconnected from academic learning. A typical example is the National Service Scheme (NSS), a policy innovation introduced by the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in the 1950s. Students can join NSS clubs in schools and HEIs, and the NSS academic coordinators implement charitable initiatives. Thus, even though NSS is similar to ESD in its top-down approach to increasing youth engagement in HEIs, the work is not designed to mobilize disciplinary knowledge, enhance academic understanding or employability, or prepare students to handle sustainability challenges.
The Quadro Helix Model in Action
Against this backdrop, we take you to Friend in Need India Trust (FIN)—a knowledge-based charity which trains communities, young people, and policymakers on issues related to sanitation, waste management, and hygiene behavior for health and climate resilience. FIN is staffed by training graduates as well as candidates sponsored by firms. This is an example of the Quadro Helix Model in action—NGOs working with academia, policy makers, and the private sector.
Following the adoption of Indian government policies supportive of ESD in 2020 and 2022, both HEIs and firms began sending more young people to FIN to learn about climate change and sustainability. In addition to being useful for attaining SDG 4, it made these young people more employable, equipping them with capabilities such as analytical and critical thinking, innovation, complex problem-solving, analysis, emotional intelligence, creativity, and initiative.
This example illustrates how the Quadro Helix Model is a viable approach to implementing ESD, being both educationally and economically efficient. In short, FIN’s use of the Quadro Helix Model proves that it could be a viable, potential way to implement ESD—an avenue that is educationally and economically efficient. Students get equipped with academic and real-life skill sets that prepare them to take on climate change endeavors as well as the job market. The need for investment is diminished as the NGO partner brings specific educating expertise to the equation. The Quadro Helix Model, then, can be an effective mechanism to realize ESD goals, and it can also lead to the creation of dedicated service and social enterprises, which can communicate effectively with HEIs and firms—creating impact in the education realm.
Editors’ Note: This article was included in our COP 28 special edition, which was published on November 21, 2023, and which you can find here. All articles were written with that publication time frame in mind.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations University.
