Teaching Sustainability in Higher Education in the United Arab Emirates: Faculty Perspectives on Challenges and Practice

Abstract

As sustainability becomes an increasingly urgent global concern, higher education institutions play a vital role in preparing graduates to respond to environmental, social, and economic challenges. In places like the United Arab Emirates, this is especially crucial because it ties directly into the country’s national plans and goals for sustainable education. This study dives into how teachers at a government university in the UAE currently think about, teach, and put sustainability into practice, specifically looking at what helps them and what the barriers are to meaningful integration. Using a mixed-methods design, data were collected from 144 faculty members across a range of disciplines through surveys and follow-up focus groups. The findings reveal faculty members personally care a lot about sustainability and are committed to weaving it into their courses. However, there are real-world obstacles like not enough training, limited time, ambiguity in guidance and a disconnect between official sustainability policies and what actually happens in the classroom. Qualitative insights highlight the importance of experiential and applied learning, with faculty emphasizing the value of “learning by doing” to help students move from awareness to action. The study also identified that sustainability is often seen mostly as an environmental issue, and there is limited collaboration between different departments. In addition, there seems to be a perceived gap between what students learn about sustainability and how it prepares them for jobs. Overall, the findings suggest that while momentum for sustainability integration exists, greater institutional support, professional development, and coordinated leadership are needed to bridge the gap between intention and practice. The study offers practical insights for higher education leaders seeking to strengthen sustainability education in rapidly developing contexts such as the UAE.