Global–Local Learning Ecosystems for Societal Purpose
A Latin American Perspective
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22046065 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kelly Henao (0009-0000-9077-287X, University of Groningen, corresponding author), Indira S E van der Zande (0000-0002-8779-5496, University of Groningen) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Pages | 1693 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-15 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Education Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2227-7102 • E-ISSN: 2227-7102 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/educsci15121693 |
| OpenAlex | W4417331613 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 46 |
Higher education faces an urgent demand to respond to global challenges, yet many responses remain tentative. This urgency has intensified in the early 2020s, a period marked by escalating geopolitical tensions and environmental crises. While education alone may not address the root causes, it plays a pivotal role in fostering learners’ resilience and skills that can influence meaningful change. Guided by a theoretical analysis, this article examines what characterises a learning environment that engages learners with global complexities. We review three major bodies of literature: global and intercultural learning, education for sustainability with its transformative approaches, and Latin American perspectives on social engagement. Though sharing common aims, they have largely been treated in isolation. By identifying contributions and gaps, we propose a new characterisation for equipping learners to tackle global complexities locally. We conceptualise it as an ecosystem with four interacting dimensions: societal purpose, an enabling learning environment, a network of actors, and a global–local connection. Drawing on Latin American perspectives, the framework situates societal purpose at its core and fosters ecosystems where diverse actors learn together. Ultimately, the framework is designed to guide both course-level innovation and institutional strategies for global learning
Geopolitics · Global challenges · Latin Americans · Psychological resilience · Social learning · Sustainability · Transformative learning · Digital Education and Society · Global Education and Multiculturalism · Sustainability in Higher Education
The European Higher Education Area
Internationalizing the Curriculum
Assessing intercultural competence
What Does It Mean to Be Globally Competent?
Writing Integrative Literature Reviews
Experiential learning – a systematic review and revision of Kolb’s model
Internationalization in Higher Education, a Critical Review
Real‐world learning opportunities in sustainability
Literature review as a research methodology
Cultivating Global Citizenship through Higher Education
Characteristics and challenges of teaching and learning in sustainability-oriented Living Labs within higher education
Education in collaboration with cities
Global competences and education for sustainable development. A bibliometric analysis to situate the OECD global competences in the scientific discourse
Developmental Pathways to Intercultural Competence in College Students
Academic identities and teaching wicked problems
An update of transformative learning theory
Establishing sustainability science in higher education institutions
A developmental approach to training for intercultural sensitivity
Experience and Education
The Nature of Learning
Learning for an unknown future
Boundary Crossing and Boundary Objects
Dilemmas in a general theory of planning
Identification and Assessment of Intercultural Competence as a Student Outcome of Internationalization
Beyond Culture Learning Theory
| Highly cited | No |
|---|