Bringing Sustainability Education Beyond Academia

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

In an era defined by climate urgency and widening social inequities, experts are calling for sustainability education to break out of university walls and enter the public square — a shift they say is essential for building climate-resilient, inclusive societies.

At a recent public forum on sustainability and policy hosted by the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV), leading academics, lawmakers and development professionals stressed that sustainability education should be accessible not only to students and scholars, but also to communities, policymakers, and civil society.

“Everybody talks about sustainability,” said Dr. Jennifer Marie Amparo, dean of the College of Human Ecology at UP Los Baños. “But we need to ask: What do we really want to sustain, and for whom?”

Amparo’s remarks captured a growing consensus: that sustainability cannot be achieved by academia alone. Public engagement, community empowerment, and inclusive education are now seen as core strategies for advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and building systems that are socially just and environmentally sound.

The Problem with Ivory Tower Sustainability

While sustainability science has advanced rapidly in recent years, much of that knowledge remains confined to scholarly journals and academic conferences — inaccessible to ordinary citizens who are often the most affected by environmental degradation.

“It becomes an echo chamber,” warned Bonnie Ladrido, a participant representing local think tank Institute of Contemporary Economics. “Without public engagement, academic knowledge risks becoming irrelevant to actual governance and community development.”

Dr. Fidel Nemenzo, former UP Diliman chancellor, acknowledged this concern, calling for a radical transformation in how universities conduct and share sustainability research.

“We no longer read; we just count,” he said, referring to the overemphasis on publication metrics and global university rankings. “Real commitment to sustainability goes beyond the rankings game. It is grounded in daily decisions, community needs, and future generations.”

Public Education as Climate Action

The call to democratize sustainability education is grounded in stark realities. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, climate-related disasters have cost the world $2.97 trillion since 2000. In the Philippines alone, climate change causes an annual GDP loss of 1.2 percent due to typhoons, with projections showing that figure could rise to 13 percent by 2040.

Against this backdrop, Senator Loren Legarda — the country’s foremost environmental legislator — emphasized the importance of raising awareness and building climate literacy among citizens.

“Science-based legislation influences how we manage our resources and adapt to climate change,” Legarda said in her keynote speech. “But this can only succeed if our people understand the stakes — and that requires education that reaches far beyond universities.”

She argued that sustainability should be taught at all levels — in barangays, schools, media platforms, and even in households. “It’s not enough to pass laws,” she said. “We need to inform, empower, and involve the public.”

Indigenous Knowledge, Localized Learning

For Dr. Raymundo Rovillos, former UP Baguio chancellor and a pioneer in indigenous studies, sustainability education must be culturally relevant and rooted in place-based knowledge.

“Western science has historically marginalized indigenous knowledge,” Rovillos said. “But the tide is shifting. There is now a recognition that local, indigenous systems offer invaluable insights into sustainability and resilience.”

He cited UP Baguio’s work with Cordillera communities to preserve traditional land management practices and promote cultural sustainability. “Our people’s lived experiences are a form of knowledge,” he said. “Education must respect and integrate those realities.”

Dr. Amparo echoed this, sharing lessons from her co-production project with the Aeta Magbukon community in Bataan. Rather than impose top-down solutions, her team worked with local stakeholders to develop sustainable livelihoods that reflected their values and needs — including the revival of traditional honey and bamboo industries.

“Communities are not just beneficiaries,” Amparo said. “They are co-producers of solutions. They have the agency, the insight, and the will. What they often lack is a platform.”

Universities as Catalysts for Civic Action

The challenge, experts say, is for universities to step into a new role — as hubs of public service and civic education. This means translating complex ideas into accessible formats, investing in outreach programs, and building partnerships with media, local governments, and grassroots organizations.

“We need to get off our high chairs,” said Nemenzo. “Let’s move from analysis to action. From critique to collaboration.”

UP Visayas Chancellor Clement Camposano emphasized that the university must be an institution not only of research, but also of public trust.

“Our job is not just to produce knowledge,” he said. “It’s to make that knowledge matter — by ensuring that it reaches those who need it most, from policymakers to fisherfolk.”

Lessons from the Field: Social and Ecological Traps

A key theme of the forum was the need to understand real-world complexities — what Dr. Amparo described as “social-ecological traps,” in which communities are stuck in cycles of poverty, vulnerability, and environmental harm.

“Pilot projects often fail because they don’t account for lived realities,” she said. “We design perfect models in the lab that collapse in the field. That’s why co-design and participatory engagement are critical.”

Amparo’s team mapped out the different strategies used by small-scale fishers facing resource decline — from diversification to temporary exit from fisheries. These adaptive behaviors, she argued, must inform any serious effort at public sustainability education.

“It’s not just about knowledge transfer,” she said. “It’s about knowledge co-creation.”

Rethinking the Role of Policy

The forum also raised hard questions about how policies are crafted — and who gets to influence them. While academia often prides itself on neutrality, speakers argued that it must engage more directly with policy discourse.

“We need scholars who speak policy,” said Dr. Kevin Villanueva, UP Professorial Fellow in ethics and international relations. “And we need policies shaped by scholars who understand the science — and the people.”

He proposed a “Southeast Asian archipelagic order” as an alternative framework for international climate policy — one that centers island nations, indigenous perspectives, and collective responsibility.

“The Westphalian model has failed,” Villanueva said. “We must imagine new ways of being in the world — and that starts with how we teach, learn, and live together.”

Ultimately, the message from UPV’s forum is clear: if sustainability is to be real and lasting, it must be taught, debated, practiced, and lived by all sectors of society.

“This is not just a curricular reform,” said Camposano. “It is a civic imperative.”

Amparo concluded with a call for bayanihan, or communal solidarity. “No one sector can solve this crisis alone,” she said. “But together, through shared knowledge and shared purpose, we just might.”