Exploratory study of digital competence predicting sustainable development beliefs and behavior: Evidence for an integrated competence framework among pre-service teachers

Digital competences are increasingly recognized as important enablers of education for sustainable development (SD), particularly through their capacity to facilitate access to learning resources and knowledge, support their effective and critical use, and foster innovation in teaching and learning. In recent decades, the concept of digital competence has increasingly incorporated ethical and sustainability-related dimensions, reflecting the need to use digital technologies in ways that are responsible, inclusive, and sustainable. Against this background, the present exploratory study examined the structure and interrelationships of digital competences and SD competences among 368 pre-service teachers, with particular attention to the extent to which digital competence dimensions predicted SD beliefs and behavior. The findings indicate that digital competence significantly predicted sustainable society beliefs, although the overall explanatory effect was small. In contrast, digital competence did not significantly predict gender equity beliefs. Regarding energy saving behavior (ESB), responsible problem-solving made a statistically significant positive contribution to the individual predictor level; however, the overall regression model did not significantly predict ESB. Taken together, these findings suggest that digital competence and sustainability competence should not be viewed as entirely separate constructs. Rather, they appear to represent increasingly interconnected dimensions of competence that may contribute to responsible participation in contemporary society. At the same time, the relatively small explanatory effects observed in the present study indicate that digital competence alone is insufficient to account for substantial variation in sustainability-related beliefs and behaviors. This highlights the importance of considering digital competence alongside broader personal, social, educational, and contextual factors in efforts to strengthen education for SD.

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