The statistics are discouraging: the fashion industry alone contributes 10% of global carbon emissions, consumes 2,700 litres of water to produce a single t-shirt, and generates 92 million tonnes of textile waste annually (Li, Z. et al., 2024; Mayer, P. et al., 2024). However, when students are repeatedly confronted with such overwhelming data without pathways to meaningful action, the result is often paralysis rather than empowerment. Traditional sustainability education, whilst well-intentioned, frequently focuses on problem identification rather than solution development, leaving students feeling helpless in the face of seemingly impossible challenges.
The paradox of sustainability education has become increasingly apparent in higher education institutions worldwide. While awareness of environmental challenges has never been higher, many students and educators report feeling overwhelmed, disheartened, and ultimately disengaged from sustainability initiatives. This phenomenon presents a critical challenge for universities committed to fostering entrepreneurial solutions and meaningful engagement with global environmental crises.
Addressing this requires institutions to leverage their unique role in shaping societal values by embedding sustainability into institutional culture, academic standards, and pedagogical practices. By cultivating an environment where sustainability principles are not only taught but lived, universities can nurture sustained engagement and empower students to co-create innovative responses to pressing environmental issues.
Reimagining Sustainability Education
The solution to sustainability burnout lies not in diminishing the reality of sustainability challenges, but in fundamentally reimagining how universities approach sustainability education. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s (RMIT) Fashion Enterprise Global Experience demonstrates how institutions can transform sustainability fatigue into catalytic action through "productive cognitive dissonance,” which deliberately creates educational experiences that confront students with uncomfortable truths while simultaneously empowering them to become agents of change.
Established in 2021 with support from the New Colombo Plan Scholarship program, the initiative takes Australian students to Indonesia to collaborate with local peers on real-world business solutions that support circular economy principles. Students gain first-hand exposure to the entire fashion ecosystem, from mass manufacturing facilities to pioneering enterprises creating mushroom leather, extending garment lifespans, and transforming coal waste into jewellery, while also participating in tangible environmental restoration activities, such as removing textile waste from rivers and developing upcycled products with local brands. This immersive, cross-cultural approach not only builds technical knowledge but also instils personal agency, resilience, and cultural competence essential for global industry transformation.
This approach aligns closely with the education and culture standards of entrepreneurial and engaged universities, recognising that transformational learning requires more than traditional classroom instruction. By immersing students in the realities of Indonesia's fashion supply chain, the initiative creates a cultural shift from passive learning to active engagement.
The key insight is that sustainability burnout often stems from a disconnect between awareness and agency. Students understand the problems but lack tangible pathways to contribute to solutions. When educational experiences bridge this gap, the emotional weight of environmental challenges transforms from a source of anxiety into a catalyst for entrepreneurial action.
One student's reflection captures this transformation perfectly: "Being there, in the river, pulling out fabric with my own hands… it changed me. It made sustainability feel real. Urgent." This testimony illustrates how direct engagement with environmental challenges, rather than abstract study of them, can reignite passion and commitment.
Strategic Design Principles
The RMIT initiative’s success in addressing sustainability burnout stems from several strategic design elements that other institutions can adapt. Firstly, it creates opportunities for students to witness both problems and solutions simultaneously. While students observe the environmental impact of fast fashion production, they also engage with innovative companies developing circular economy solutions. This dual exposure reduces the despair that is often felt with one-sided, problem-focused education.
Secondly, the initiative emphasises collaboration over competition. Australian and Indonesian students work together on real business challenges, creating a sense of shared purpose that extends beyond individual academic achievement. This collaborative approach reflects the education standard's emphasis on integrating external stakeholders and real-world challenges into curriculum design.
Most importantly, the initiative incorporates structured reflection based on Kolb's (1984) widely used model of Experiential Learning, which draws in turn on Dewey’s, cited in Miettinen (2024) understandings of 'Reflective Activity' and its role in effective learning and development. We are inspired by contemporary approaches to proactive reflective practices to ‘build cognitive bridges between classroom learning, practical application of that learning in an unpredictable, all-too-human world, and personal insights that deepen the learner’s understanding [which] in turn, increases their resourcefulness, mental and emotional flexibility, problem-solving skills, and ability to critically interrogate complex issues and questions’ (Harvey, M. et al., 2020). Students don't simply experience sustainability challenges; they are guided to analyse how these experiences reshape their understanding of professional identity and responsibility. This metacognitive dimension helps students develop resilience rather than burnout, enabling them to maintain long-term commitment despite industry pressures.
Institutional Impact
The impact extends beyond individual transformation to institutional change. As students return from these experiences with renewed purpose and practical knowledge, they influence campus culture, inspiring peers and contributing to a broader shift in how sustainability is approached within the university. This ripple effect demonstrates how targeted interventions can address sustainability burnout at scale.
The initiative also exemplifies how universities can enhance their influence within the ecosystem by becoming active participants in sustainability solutions rather than mere observers of sustainability problems. Through partnerships with Indonesian businesses, RMIT has positioned itself as a bridge between educational institutions and industry innovators, facilitating knowledge exchange that benefits both sectors.
This ecosystem approach is crucial for addressing sustainability burnout because it demonstrates to students that universities are not isolated from the challenges they study but are active participants in developing solutions. When students see their institutions engaging meaningfully with industry partners, government initiatives, and community organisations, they gain confidence that their own contributions can make a difference.
The initiative's expansion to India, supported by additional New Colombo Plan scholarships, demonstrates how successful models for addressing sustainability can be scaled and adapted. Each new context provides opportunities to refine the approach while maintaining the core principle of transforming overwhelming challenges into empowering experiences.
Recommendations for Universities
For universities seeking to address sustainability within their own contexts, it is important to move beyond problem-focused education to solution-oriented experiences. This includes creating opportunities for students to engage directly with both challenges and innovations, emphasising collaboration and shared purpose over individual achievement, and integrating structured reflection into learning to help students develop resilience and long-term commitment.
Engaged universities can help students develop the knowledge, values, and agency needed to address sustainability challenges through the standards of culture and education, ensuring that sustainability principles are embedded in both institutional identity and everyday learning experiences.
The ultimate goal is not simply to produce graduates who understand sustainability challenges, but to cultivate professionals who are emotionally resilient, culturally competent, and practically equipped to drive meaningful change throughout their careers. In an industry worth trillions globally, such transformation is not just educationally valuable, but environmentally essential. The challenge of sustainability fatigue becomes an opportunity for educational innovation, institutional leadership, and ultimately, meaningful contribution to a more sustainable future.
Harvey M, Lloyd K, McLachlan K., Semple A-L and Walkerden G (2020). Reflection for learning: a scholarly practice guide for educators. Advance HE, accessed 2 August 2022. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/reflection-learning-scholarly-practice-guide-educators
Kolb, DA (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey.
Li, Z., Zhou, Y., Zhao, M., Guan, D., & Yang, Z. (2024). The carbon footprint of fast fashion consumption and mitigation strategies-a case study of jeans. The Science of the Total Environment, 924, Article 171508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171508
Mayer, P., Tama Birkocak, D., & Muthu, S. S. (2024). Carbon Footprint of Fashion: Assessing and Addressing Carbon Emissions in Textile Production. In Carbon Footprint Assessments (pp. 99–130). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-70262-4_5
Miettinen, R (2000) ‘The concept of experiential learning and John Dewey's theory of reflective thought and action’, International Journal of Lifelong Education, 19:1, 54-72, doi: 10.1080/026013700293458
.
Images courtesy of the author.