Investigating an Applied Bio-Sustainability Praxis (ABP) Higher Education Model to Support Green Jobs in the ASEAN region

ASEAN nations such as Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand represent a globally significant nexus of biodiversity and ecological vulnerability. This posits that a fundamental gap exists within the higher education institutions (HEIs) of these nations. Despite the charted policy in the workforce to prepare for green jobs, many ASEAN HEIs often fail to equip both current and future graduates with the interdisciplinary competencies required to tackle complex ecological challenges, along with a strong foundation in biological sciences. This research proposes the Applied Bio-Sustainability Praxis (ABP) model, a novel curriculum model grounded in Mezirow's Transformative Learning Theory. The model provides a structured methodology for HEIs to systematically integrate advanced biological sciences with key sustainability domains, including environmental assessment, circular economics, and biodiversity policy. The research uses a multi-level validation approach that includes a comparative study of the curriculum and semi-structured interviews with prominent scholars in the three countries. Through such triangulation of data, the study aims to define the ABP model as a versatile higher education template of re-engineering biological science education. Empirical research points to a trend of greater education establishments displaying an aura of environmental worry, a kind of greenwashing, as opposed to taking the radical, more systemic, and profound alterations that would be necessary to integrate ESD meaningfully. It is agreed by most high-ranking leaders in the education field that successful ESD requires an interconnected, multidisciplinary, and holistic approach that is not added as an option or siloed curriculum, but instead is embedded in the heart of other disciplines, including biology.