Sustainability Education: policies, theories and practices for the development of soft skills and guidance

Abstract

In the perspective of Human Development and capability, this article aims to provide a framework of the policies for Sustainability Education and a representation of the Italian situation. The paper proposes a review of the main training theories that allow us to underline the convergence between the sustainability approach and the capability approach, identifying a key to understanding in the emphasis on soft skills and guidance. Consistent with the most significant theoretical-methodological models in review – relating to the constructivist paradigm of Life Designing –, the reflection focuses on the experience of the Observatory on Educational Processes and Territorial Analysis of the University of Salerno. Some of the research-action projects carried out by the Observatory testify, in fact, to the construction of significant pedagogical innovation processes subject to empirical research in the area of interest.