Creating a generation with knowledge, abilities, and skills to meet the challenges of economic, environmental, and social sustainability is very important. In the context of the education of sustainable manufacturing, curricula should be directly related to sustainable manufacturing and its requirements. However, universities in the world in general and in developing countries in particular, are still mostly lacking in such initiatives which arise from the need of sustainable manufacturing education in their curricula. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to provide insights into the significance of sustainable manufacturing education in curricula among universities and its contributions to building an educated generation and carries sustainable thoughts. The results of the chapter indicate a low level of interest in adding the education of sustainable manufacturing into the curricula of universities.
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At present, sustainable manufacturing education in curricula has become a crucial requirement in the present and future curricula. The global efforts involve the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development has reported that there are big ambitions for combining sustainability into the curricula pursued through 370 universities within the global partnership (UNESCO, 2014). Furthermore, the United Nations Report on Education for Sustainable Development Goals asserted in Goal 4 that “the learner is able to use all opportunities for their own education throughout their life, and to apply the acquired knowledge in everyday situations to promote sustainable development” (UNESCO, 2017). Notably, universities are the primary means of addressing the issues of sustainable development and achieving their outcomes around the world (Katiliute & Daunoriene, 2015). Therefore, the goals of sustainable development can be achieved through education in universities (Fahey, Verstraten, & Berry, 2016).
Furthermore, Byrne, Desha, Fitzpatrick, and Hargroves (2010) stated at the end of the 1980s until the past decade that the global trend towards combining sustainability into universities curricula has raised. Likewise, Nóbrega (2017) confirmed the significance of sustainability education in curricula now more than ever before. As a result of climate change globally, particularly after 2000, sustainability has become a fundamental issue in many academic disciplines (Prevedouros, Mitropoulos, & Zhang, 2018). Additionally, according to Prevedouros et al. (2018) that integrating sustainability into universities curriculums drives to the development of students with the ability to address the planet's environmental and social challenges. In the same vein, the sustainable education of the population plays an essential role in enhancing their capabilities towards the welfare of society, the preservation of the environment and economic development of a country (Bilge, Seliger, Badurdeen, & Jawahir, 2016; Laurie, Nonoyama-Tarumi, Mckeown, & Hopkins, 2016). This type of education requires multidisciplinary skills, abilities and knowledge.
Indeed, empirical evidence has illustrated the significance of sustainability education and sustainable manufacturing education in the curricula of universities. Many studies in different countries have dealt with sustainability education into the curricula (e.g. Bilge et al., 2016; Fahey et al., 2016; C. Herrmann et al., 2011; Katiliute & Daunoriene, 2015; Laurie et al., 2016; Lozano García, Kevany, & Huisingh, 2006; Mathar, 2017; Palacin-Silva, Seffah, & Porras, 2018; Prevedouros et al., 2018; Salvioni, Franzoni, & Cassano, 2017; Santos, 2017; Scott, 2015; Tang, 2018; Tejedor, Segalàs, & Rosas-Casals, 2018; and Waas, Verbruggen, & Wright, 2010). Moreover, a limited number of studies addressed sustainable manufacturing education in the universities (e.g. Badurdeen & Jawahir, 2017; Cerinšek, Petersen, & Heikura, 2013; Garetti & Taisch, 2012; Jawahir, Badurdeen, & Rouch, 2013).