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The purpose of this paper is to draw attention towards sustainability consciousness (SC) of pre-service teachers (student teachers) as their role is central in teaching for sustainable development. This paper investigated SC of the pre-service teachers in Pakistan and compared it with other undergraduate students in the country and with that of Swedish upper secondary students.

The paper used survey method using a tool developed by a group of Canadian researchers to measure knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards sustainable development. The instrument was later adapted by a group of Swedish researchers to measure SC. Study data came from 207 pre-service teachers and 154 undergraduate students studying humanities.

The paper reports that SC of the pre-service teachers in Pakistan is much lower than that of Swedish upper secondary students. Moreover, the paper indicates that the SC of pre-service teachers is not different from other undergraduate students in the country.

This paper establishes a baseline of SC of the final-year pre-service teachers enrolled in BEd (Honours) programme in Pakistan. Such a study is critical in the context when ESD is a missing element in teacher education in Pakistan. In the presence of such a baseline study, teacher education institutes and departments might review their curricula in terms of their focus on ESD and plan for initiatives to educate pre-service teachers for sustainability.

The paper contributes to a broader debate on measuring SC of university students.

Higher education is uncertain which sustainability-related education targets should be sought and monitored. Accepting that something needs to be measurable to be systematically improved, the authors explored how measures relate to potential targets. This paper aims to focus on dispositions to think critically (active open-minded thinking and fair-minded thinking in appraising reasoning) as measures and explored how they related to sustainability concern as an indicative educational target.

This research included the development and testing of research instruments (scales) that explored dispositions to critical thinking and sustainability concern. Authors researched these instruments within their own correspondence groups and tested them with university students and staff in Pakistan, the USA, Austria, India and New Zealand. The authors also asked a range of contextualising questions.

Respondents’ disposition to aspects of active, open-minded thinking and fair-minded thinking do predict their concern about facets of sustainability but their strength of religious belief was an important factor in these relationships and in their measurement.

This research demonstrates the complexity of monitoring dispositions to think critically and sustainability concern in educational systems, particularly in circumstances where the roles of religious beliefs are of interest; and suggests ways to address this complexity.

This research integrates and expands discourses on ESD and on critical thinking in diverse disciplines and cultures. It investigates measurement approaches and targets that could help higher education institutions to educate for sustainable development and to monitor their progress, in ways that are compatible with their culture and values.

This study aims to assess the impact of sustainability pedagogies on students’ sustainability consciousness (SC) in the online instructional settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A mixed-method, embedded research design was applied to conduct the research. The participants of the study were the pre-service teachers studying a course, namely, “Education for Sustainable Development” (ESD) in a public sector university of Pakistan. A total of 49 participants were divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group experienced ESD-pedagogies in online teaching-learning (educational) settings, whereas the control group was taught through a lecture-based approach in an online educational setting. The outcome of the research was measured in terms of a change in the pre-service teachers’ SC. The qualitative data were collected from the experimental group only. The quantitative data were analyzed using paired sample t-test and independent sample t-test, whereas the qualitative data were analyzed through thematic analysis.

The quantitative and qualitative data indicate that sustainability pedagogies (i.e. case studies, critical incidents, discussions, debates and problem-based teaching) enhanced pre-service teachers’ SC in online educational settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current research expands the discussion on the effectiveness of sustainability pedagogies in online educational settings in teacher education programs.

It is still unclear how Asian universities incorporate the theory or practice of sustainable development (SD) in their research and education programmes. To address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to report on a study that has examined how universities in Asian countries handle and address matters related to SD.

The study used a bibliometric analysis and an online survey-method. The online survey data were analysed through descriptive analysis and one-sample student’s t-test.

The study indicates that there is considerable variation among the Asian countries regarding sustainability practices in higher education institutions (HEIs). The HEIs in far eastern countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are perceived to demonstrate more sustainability practices.

Even though a substantial number of participants participated in the survey, it did not cover all Asian countries. The online survey was carried out over a limited period of time, and not all HEIs in the field may have received information about the study.

Asia is the largest continent facing a number of sustainability challenges. In this context, the contribution of HEIs is very important. The findings of the current study may serve as a baseline for Asian HEIs to take more initiatives towards SD goals, as HEIs are responsible for the education and training of hundreds of thousands of students who will be occupying key positions in industry, government or education in the coming years.

The study contributes to the existing literature in two distinct ways. First, it was possible to develop a comprehensive instrument to measure sustainability practices in HEIs. Second, this study has filled the gap of the scarcity of studies regarding sustainability practices in HEIs in Asia.