Using system dynamics to develop education for sustainable development in higher education with the emphasis on the sustainability competencies of students

•Our model describes the dynamics in the education for sustainable development.•The model includes18 reinforcing and six balancing feedback loops.•We simulated the mechanisms in the system for the next 20 years.

In response to growing concerns of the community about sustainability challenges and the intensification of the international calls to move towards a sustainable future, higher education should be involved in implementing the programs of education for sustainable development; because of this fact that University graduates are part of this solution as future leaders and inheritors of technology. In this study, the underlying research question is: What mechanisms are needed to develop education for sustainable development in higher education with the emphasis on the sustainability competencies of students? The research method was system dynamics. Therefore, we used a mix method research design. Tools of research included the literature review, questionnaire, interview, and observation. We developed a dynamic model to develop the education for sustainable development in higher education with the emphasis on the sustainability competencies of students. This model describes the research problem and predicts the behavior of model variables by simulating in the next 20 years. This model included 18 reinforcing and six balancing feedback loops. After ensuring the validity of the model, mechanisms were elicited from the model. Finally, we evaluated these mechanisms for finding the impacts on improving the problem.