A Bibliometric Study of Sustainability Education and Awareness during 2014-2024

Abstract

Based on data collected from the Dimensions database and analysed through VOSViewer, this bibliometric study explores the development of sustainability education and awareness research through the time window of 2014 to 2024. It seeks to summarise the main authors, journals, institutions, and emerging research trends within the extremely broad and rapid response from academia to the global sustainability challenges embodied in the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study applies co-citation, co-authorship and co-word analysis to provide a cognitive mapping of the intellectual structure of the research on sustainability education, identifying key contributors and the main lines of research, including environmental literacy, sustainable development, and education for sustainable development (ESD). The study also investigates the spatial distribution of research output, revealing top performers in sustainability education research by country and region. This bibliometric analysis contributes to global sustainability education by mapping the academic field toward sustainability education and exploring the collaborative networks that emerge from this process. The results help identify gaps in existing research and indicate pathways for future research, particularly with respect to social sustainability, interdisciplinary approaches, and sustainability education in higher Education curricula.