The sustainability literacy test: the first worldwide picture of the knowledge of our students on SD

15th April 2014

Nearly 150 people have been working for more than year in order to produce the first international knowledge test on sustainable development.

The “sustainability literacy test” is a multiple choice questionnaire of 50 online questions evaluating basic knowledge of sustainable development issues, and individual and corporate responsibility. Designed for any student enrolled in a higher education institution, the test is designed to be used at any level (bachelor, master, MBA, PhD) regardless of the type of study pursued (engineer, manager, lawyer, biologist, architect) and is free.

Higher education institutions from all over the world can now organise examination sessions for their students. As of this week, universities and colleges in the USA and Hong Kong have the opportunity to customise the test by inserting questions dealing with local issues for one-third of the assessment. In just a few days, France, Spain, India, Quebec, Brazil and Argentina will follow. By July, 25 countries and regions will be able to offer the same kind of local adaptations.

In each of these 25 countries, major academic associations and networks have prepared questions related to local regulations, laws, culture and practices.

Supported by a number of United Nations institutions and international academic networks, we expect this pilot version of the Sustainability Literacy Test to be used by 100,000 students in the coming months and the first worldwide snapshot of the level of knowledge of higher education students will be presented in November 2014 during the next United Nations conference on Sustainable Development education in Nagoya, Japan.

Certainly a useful tool for any university or college that wants to embrace the sustainable development journey. 

The EAUC are part of the Regional / National Expert Commitee (RNEC) and have been working with colleagues from Business Schools who are members of the UK and Ireland PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) Chapter to provide the UK and Ireland specific questions. The UK test is not yet available but we will announce when you can start registering your students to take it.

We will hear from Jean-Christophe Carteron, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Kedge Business School, during the day 1 keynote at the EAUC Annual Conference. The development of the test is down to the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Management (Kedge Business School) and the support of institutions, international organisations including the UN, academics, corporates, and civil society organisations.

More information on www.sustainabilitytest.org 
Contact the General Secretariat contact@sustainabilitytest.org