Bridging the gap between theory and practice in sustainable urban planning education through active learning with SDGs project assessment tool

Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in higher education (HE) continues to struggle with bridging the theory–practice gap, especially in urban planning education, where students often lack the critical skills to holistically evaluate cities through a sustainability lens. This study investigates how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Project Assessment Tool, developed by UN-Habitat to help urban planners align with the SDGs, can foster active learning and reflective practice in urban planning education, especially within a transnational context. This research was conducted as action research embedded in the postgraduate module “Sustainable Urban Planning Strategies” involving 88 students from five different academic programs. The module emphasizes applying sustainability principles to real-world planning practice, with the SDG tool integrated into both classroom activities and assessed coursework. To explore how such tools support experiential learning and critical reflection, data were collected through classroom observations, online surveys, and analysis of students’ reflective coursework, combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Findings reveal that the SDG tool enabled students to apply theoretical concepts to real-world planning challenges, while also prompting critical reflection and adaptation of the tool itself. Students proactively engaged with modifying the tool to address cultural, social, and contextual differences across cities. Importantly, disciplinary orientations influenced how students engaged with the tool, often prioritizing aspects aligned with their discipline, highlighting both the value and complexity of disciplinary diversity in implementing ESD. Overall, our study contributes to the underexplored area of sustainability evaluation tools in HE and establishes an evidence-based foundation for more integrated, experiential, and practice-oriented ESD that prepares students to address complex urban issues.