ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
This article is part of the Research TopicEducation for Sustainable Development in Formal and Higher Education: Emerging Trends, Pedagogical Innovations, and Global ChallengesView all articles
Sustainability-Oriented Entrepreneurship Learning in Higher Education: C-E-I Collaboration in Vocational Makerspaces
Provisionally accepted
- Chuzhou Polytechnic, Chuzhou, China
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Within contemporary higher education systems, vocational education and training (VET) is increasingly expected to integrate entrepreneurship education with sustainability goals. Yet sustainability-oriented entrepreneurship education in vocational colleges often remains fragmented across curriculum, practice-based projects, and assessment, and stakeholder collaboration is frequently treated as external support rather than a learning mechanism. This qualitative multiple-case study investigates how a purposefully designed College-Enterprise-Investment (C-E-I) collaboration in four vocational makerspaces in China shapes sustainability-oriented entrepreneurship learning. Data from semi-structured interviews (n = 38), participant observation, and document analysis were thematically analyzed and cross-case compared. Findings show that (1) sustainability is commonly framed instrumentally (e.g., cost reduction), (2) sustainability is only episodically integrated into core entrepreneurial learning loops, and (3) institutional incentives and shared pedagogical tools remain weak. In response, we propose a cyclical model—Awareness Awakening–Value Co-creation–Impact Reflection—that positions C-E-I collaboration as an internal educational mechanism supporting iterative problem framing, value validation, and impact reflection. This study is among the first to conceptualize C-E-I collaboration as an internal educational mechanism for sustainability-oriented learning in VET, offering design implications for higher education institutions seeking to institutionalize ESD in practice-based entrepreneurship education.
Keywords: Education for sustainable development (ESD), Entrepreneurshipeducation, higher education, makerspaces, Multi-stakeholder collaboration, Pedagogical design, sustainability-oriented learning, Vocational education and training (VET)
Received: 27 Dec 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Qi, Zhao and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xinyi Qi
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