Sustainable Development approach in professional profiles: the case of a university community in Ecuador

Education for Sustainable Development is a strategy that seeks changes in the environmental and cultural ethics of the population in search of solutions to the problems of the 21st century. The objective of this work is to strengthen the sustainable development approach in the professional profile of teachers in training. This work used the post-naturalist paradigm and administered the questionnaire Evaluation of training in Sustainability in Higher Education and contextualized observations. 708 people participated, including students, teachers, and administrative staff of a public university domiciled in the province of Manabi, Ecuador. The results show that there is no significant relationship between the factors sex, age, and training program; while it shows significant relationships with the involvement of the participants in class projects related to sustainable local development. An educational model is presented that can be applied to strengthen institutional capacities from the perspective of sustainable development. It is concluded that teachers have low involvement in sustainable development problems, while students have a medium level that can be strengthened through metacognitive processes that articulate socio-educational research projects, work practices, and links with the community.