Abstract
Current policies and strategies emphasize the critical importance of advancing a green transition, cultivating sustainability skills, and enhancing energy literacy to effectively address global environmental challenges. Consequently, there is a growing demand for professionals equipped with comprehensive competences in these areas. We have established an integrated framework for assessing competences in sustainability, energy literacy, and biodiversity, organized into five main categories: systems thinking in energy systems, biodiversity, resource management, technology, and policy and regulation. By quantifying these competences, educators and employers have a valuable tool to evaluate and improve graduate preparedness. Our framework was applied to students from three study programs at the University of Maribor in Slovenia: Physics, Mathematics, and Subject Teacher. Using questionnaires, we assessed the competence levels of these students and compared them with market expectations. The findings suggest that, overall, students align well with market requirements, although some variations exist among the individual study programs. Importantly, we identified gaps in policy knowledge and competences related to biodiversity across all programs. These results highlight the necessity of enhancing curricula to better prepare graduates for sustainability-focused careers. By addressing these gaps and refining educational offerings, we can better equip future professionals to navigate and lead in sustainability-driven fields, making a meaningful contribution to global environmental protection and the pursuit of sustainable development goals.
Author Information
Eva Klemencic, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Robert Repnik, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Matej Mencinger, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Petra Cajnko, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Paper Information
Conference: IICE2025
Stream: Curriculum Design & Development
This paper is part of the IICE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Klemencic E., Repnik R., Mencinger M., & Cajnko P. (2025) A Competency Framework for Energy Literacy, Sustainability, and Green Transition in Higher Education ISSN: 2189-1036 – The IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii 2025 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 103-116) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2025.9
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2025.9
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