Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Street, Manchester, UK; Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Germany. Electronic address: w.leal@mmu.ac.uk
  • 2 Department of Geomatics Engineering Technology, Yanbu Industrial College, Yanbu, Saudi Arabia; Geoinformatics Unit, Geography Section, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. Electronic address: ainay@rcyci.edu.sa
  • 3 UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit (FP-ENAS), University Fernando Pessoa (UFP). Portugal; Fernando Pessoa Research, Innovation and Development Institute (FP-I3ID), University Fernando Pessoa (UFP), Praça 9 de Abril 349, 4249-004 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: madinis@ufp.edu.pt
  • 4 Rutgers School of Public Health, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Rutgers University, NJ, USA. Electronic address: wendy.purcell@rutgers.edu
  • 5 Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay. Electronic address: gnagy@fcien.edu.uy
Sci Total Environ, 2023 Sep 20;892:164819.
PMID: 37315612 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164819

Abstract

Higher education (HE) matters to the global struggle to combat climate change. Research builds knowledge and informs climate solutions. Educational programmes and courses upskill current and future leaders and professionals to tackle the systems change and the transformation needed to improve society. Through their outreach and civic engagement work, HE helps people understand and address the climate change impacts, notably on under-resourced or marginalised people. By raising awareness of the problem and supporting capacity and capability building, HE encourages changes in attitudes and behaviours, focusing on adaptive change in preparing people to face the challenges of a changing climate. However, HE has yet to fully articulate its contribution towards climate change challenges, which means that organisational structures, curricula and research programmes do not reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the climate crisis. This paper describes the role of HE in supporting education and research efforts on climate change and outlines areas where further action is urgently needed. The study adds to the empirical research on HE's role in combating climate change and the role of cooperation in maximising the global effort to cope with a changing climate.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.