Integrating sustainability in luxury hospitality experience through Education for Sustainable Development learning design

Abstract

The new luxury hospitality paradigm has evolved with the integration of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in managing the business. In line with this current trend, the course on Luxury Management for undergraduate students is designed to equip them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitude in managing the luxury hospitality experience by embedding the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) paradigm in the curriculum. This paper describes the process of creating a learning design using the CoDesignS ESD Toolkit by incorporating its three pillars of key competencies for sustainability, specific learning objectives for the SDGs, and transformative pedagogies and teaching methods. The key competencies for sustainability are aligned with the specific learning objectives targeting four SDGs (2, 11, 12, and 13) deemed relevant to the luxury hospitality experience. These address the three learning domains in a well-balanced distribution between the cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioural domains. The learning activities and teaching methods are designed to address the specific learning domains cutting across different learning design activity types, including group discussions, role plays, industry guest speakers, storytelling, and hotel site visits. To supplement the discussion, this case study presents visual graphics from the Toolkit for a better understanding of the process. Plans of implementation and evaluation of the learning design are presented as well as plans for improvement and adoption to a wider institutional community. Reflections on lessons learnt and perspectives of the authors are also shared.