MOOCs and universities for sustainable development: A fading nexus?

The quality of, and access to, education for sustainable development (ESD) are at the forefront of e-learning. Assuming that there are opportunities to judiciously examine the potential of massive open online courses (MOOCs) to foster ESD, this article carries out a multi-method scoping review to identify emerging research themes and analyse gaps in the literature, based on: (1) an environmental scan of sustainable development-related MOOCs; (2) a rapid bibliometric analysis (RBA) of literature on the nexus between MOOCs, universities and sustainable development; and (3) a case study of a MOOC entitled “Globalisation and Sustainable Development”. The main contribution of this article to the field is to demonstrate the scale of sustainable development-related MOOCs, the marginal impact of universities in fostering the 2030 Agenda through MOOCs, and the challenges faced by university administrations in utilising MOOCs as a vehicle to advance ESD during a period of financial uncertainty. Based on these findings, the article discusses the potential and pitfalls of MOOCs in fostering ESD in the post-pandemic world.