Exploring the intersection of sustainability competences and pedagogical approaches in higher education through bibliometric and topic identification analysis

Exploring the intersection of sustainability competences and pedagogical approaches in higher education through bibliometric and topic identification analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Systematic Review Exploring the intersection of sustainability competences and pedagogical approaches in higher education through bibliometric and topic identification analysis Gabriela Ortiz-Martínez, Jordi Segalàs, Alberto Mendoza This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9150250/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Society is currently facing profound global challenges, including environmental degradation, food insecurity, and poverty, underscoring the critical role of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are instrumental in fostering sustainable societies, recognizing their responsibility to prepare future leaders, decision-makers, and academics. Over the past three decades, ESD learning outcomes have increasingly prioritized the development of sustainability competences across cognitive, functional, ethical, and personal dimensions. This shift emphasizes equipping students with the requisite knowledge, values, skills, and attitudes to address complex sustainability issues. To map the intellectual structure and evolution of this field, this study applied the PRISMA framework to conduct a systematic bibliometric review coupled with text-mining-based topic modelling. Using L atent D irichlet A llocation (LDA), the analysis reveals that the conceptualization of ESD has evolved alongside advances in sustainability competences and the integration of diverse pedagogical approaches. Furthermore, the topic modelling delineated four primary, interconnected research themes: the university ecosystem, competences development, the implementation of pedagogical approaches, and disciplines specificities. Despite their theoretical interconnectedness, our findings indicate a notable gap in the current literature regarding the concrete intersection of specific pedagogical approaches and the development of sustainability competences. This limited integrated research highlights a critical area for future inquiry to align teaching methodologies with sustainability learning outcomes better. Sustainable development sustainability competences educational innovation pedagogical approaches text mining bibliometric analysis PRISMA Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementarymaterialv2.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 30 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 29 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 24 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 20 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 10 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 10 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 02 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 01 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 01 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9150250","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Systematic Review","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":622938404,"identity":"5b6cecc8-d2f6-47d0-80eb-214ac946ad60","order_by":0,"name":"Gabriela Ortiz-Martínez","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA7UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHgaGBAYLCDuBwYZoLRIgFmNDAkOaBHFaGGBaGBgOE9Yi73722IcHFRLyDOy9zx88+HO+jp/9AOtmHjxaDM/kJc9IOCNh2MBz3LAhgee2hGRPAtvNGfi0NOQYMyS2STA2SKQB/SJxW8LgBgPbjQ/4tPS/AWr5J2EP0WJwTsIepCUBn18kQLY0SCRCtCQckDCQIGCLgcS7ZIaEYxLJbTzHGGckHEiWnHEmsQ2vX+T7cw8z/qixse1nb2P4+OOPHT9/++Fjt/GFmMEBKIMNIQaKH3y24JceBaNgFIyCUQAEANWdSfl3QphWAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Tecnologico de Monterrey","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gabriela","middleName":"","lastName":"Ortiz-Martínez","suffix":""},{"id":622938405,"identity":"17a33906-e2e9-4d6b-84c3-211c9a4db6cb","order_by":1,"name":"Jordi Segalàs","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jordi","middleName":"","lastName":"Segalàs","suffix":""},{"id":622938406,"identity":"a60e301a-e213-4440-b6f1-58b273012e1d","order_by":2,"name":"Alberto Mendoza","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tecnologico de Monterrey","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alberto","middleName":"","lastName":"Mendoza","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-17 14:54:35","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9150250/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9150250/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":107305592,"identity":"7096a8d8-2fd8-4725-b9d2-c4746183dafe","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-20 08:19:04","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1402422,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ExploringtheintersectionofSCandPAv1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9150250/v1_covered_cabee13b-7c2c-4a37-bf91-5cd352b4054f.pdf"},{"id":107305591,"identity":"f2f17600-a8cf-430b-9b00-a6df3a2a9a1a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-20 08:18:58","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":671748,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Supplementarymaterialv2.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9150250/v1/657f08119cc44a48a1b70e4a.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Exploring the intersection of sustainability competences and pedagogical approaches in higher education through bibliometric and topic identification analysis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-sustainability","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"disu","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Sustainability](https://www.springer.com/43621)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Discover Sustainability","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Sustainable development, sustainability competences, educational innovation, pedagogical approaches, text mining, bibliometric analysis, PRISMA","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9150250/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9150250/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSociety is currently facing profound global challenges, including environmental degradation, food insecurity, and poverty, underscoring the critical role of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are instrumental in fostering sustainable societies, recognizing their responsibility to prepare future leaders, decision-makers, and academics. Over the past three decades, ESD learning outcomes have increasingly prioritized the development of sustainability competences across cognitive, functional, ethical, and personal dimensions. This shift emphasizes equipping students with the requisite knowledge, values, skills, and attitudes to address complex sustainability issues. To map the intellectual structure and evolution of this field, this study applied the PRISMA framework to conduct a systematic bibliometric review coupled with text-mining-based topic modelling. Using \u003cem\u003eL\u003c/em\u003eatent \u003cem\u003eD\u003c/em\u003eirichlet \u003cem\u003eA\u003c/em\u003ellocation (LDA), the analysis reveals that the conceptualization of ESD has evolved alongside advances in sustainability competences and the integration of diverse pedagogical approaches. Furthermore, the topic modelling delineated four primary, interconnected research themes: the university ecosystem, competences development, the implementation of pedagogical approaches, and disciplines specificities. Despite their theoretical interconnectedness, our findings indicate a notable gap in the current literature regarding the concrete intersection of specific pedagogical approaches and the development of sustainability competences. This limited integrated research highlights a critical area for future inquiry to align teaching methodologies with sustainability learning outcomes better.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Exploring the intersection of sustainability competences and pedagogical approaches in higher education through bibliometric and topic identification analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-20 08:18:50","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9150250/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-04-30T16:27:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-29T17:14:52+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-24T13:18:11+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-20T04:27:11+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"194661473929551923197961553406750368244","date":"2026-04-14T00:06:52+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"70838630927430070460160679430196040269","date":"2026-04-13T23:54:40+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"311517759765383997610616683024909572271","date":"2026-04-12T01:43:30+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-04-10T12:56:23+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-04-10T12:47:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-04-02T11:52:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-04-01T21:06:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Discover Sustainability","date":"2026-04-01T21:00:04+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-sustainability","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"disu","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Sustainability](https://www.springer.com/43621)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Discover Sustainability","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"b8dbcdcb-7e4d-46a8-b458-28bed7d282cb","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 20th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-04-30T16:27:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-29T17:14:52+00:00","index":51,"fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-15T13:53:35+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-20 08:18:50","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9150250","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9150250","identity":"rs-9150250","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}