Alexandra Reith

Professionals within different work contexts play an important role in supporting and accelerating the necessary transformation towards sustainability. While in higher education the knowledge base about key competences for sustainability is increasingly saturated, less research has been dedicated to competences needed from a professional perspective. The lack of clarity in regard to the learning needs for professionals working for complex sustainability transformation has implications for training and evaluation. Advanced training programmes for sustainability transformation like academies are evolving but do not have common ground in educational goals. In addressing this research gap, we conducted a systematic literature review following the PRISMA guidelines. We performed a systematic keyword search on SCOPUS, Web of Science and ERIC on the following concepts including relevant synonyms: competences AND learning AND professional AND sustainable development, resulting in 475 journal articles. Two researchers evaluated the abstracts using the tool SysRev to ensure intercoder agreement on inclusion or exclusion. Included articles were then analysed based on an inductive and deductive coding scheme applying thematic analysis within MAXQDA. The core categories are the following: competences addressed, training formats that were introduced, and evaluation approaches that were used to assess the interventions’ quality. In line with the literature in higher education for sustainable development (HESD) the results show that system thinking, interpersonal and strategic competence have a particular relevance. Future competence, however, plays a somewhat subordinate role, while intrapersonal and implementation competence - in contrast to the HESD literature - are also considered pivotal. In addition, leadership competence is of particular relevance to the professional field. Overall, our review indicates that the competence development of professionals is not evaluated enough (externally) and that constructive alignment is not considered enough in continuing education.