Rethinking Education for Sustainable Development through Project-Based, Experiential and Technology-Enhanced Pedagogies: A Systematic Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64169/dje.238Keywords:
Education for Sustainable Development, project-based learning, experiential learning, technology-enhanced learning, sustainability competencies, systematic review, PRISMA 2020Abstract
Sustainability crises are reshaping the demands placed on education, yet many systems still rely on methods that do not build the competencies these challenges require. This systematic review examines how project-based, experiential, and technology-enhanced pedagogies contribute to Education for Sustainable Development and identifies the conditions that enable or constrain their effective use. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, the study searched Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, and selected institutional repositories for studies published between 2020 and 2025. Of 1,247 initial records, 52 met the inclusion criteria and were analysed using thematic synthesis. Findings show that project-based learning strengthens problem-solving and Sustainable Development Goal awareness; experiential and place-based learning produces stronger behavioural change than classroom instruction; and technology-enhanced tools, including virtual reality and serious games, expand engagement with distant or complex sustainability phenomena. Implementation is shaped by limited teacher preparation, extensive curricula, unequal access to technology, and weak assessment tools. The review concludes that advancing ESD depends less on choosing among pedagogies than on combining them within whole-institution approaches that respect local cultural and educational contexts.
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