Abstract:

Nowadays, sustainability is a key aspect in tourism management and the aspects of sustainable development already played a crucial but nevertheless mainly implicit role in numerous modules of the educational programme. Assuming this challenge, some universities have begun to consider the need of a training for the sustainability, which permeates the entire university training process, as an element of differentiation in its educational offer.

At the university, future decision makers in government, business, and society acquire the knowledge and skills required to shape the future through the integration of sustainability issues.

Education for sustainable development in higher education is highly desirable. In practice, however, this may present challenges, as it involves systemic and cultural changes as well as organizational transformation. But first it is important to analyze how "sustainable" are the students in orther to know if they are able to conceptualize the relationships between the three dimensions of sustainability and make knowledgeable decisions based on the whole system.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of knowledge that, related with the concept of sustainability, the students of the Tourism Degree taught at the University of Jaen have.

The results demonstrate a need for the reorientation of the educational activities in the Tourism Degree in order to strengthen the training of these students in sustainability. This will allow them to improve their behavior and to apply their knowings and skills in their laboral future, from the perspective of sustainability.

Keywords:

Sustainability, learning, tourism, Tourism Degree, pedagogic reorientation.