Rate My Professor Cuesta Claros

Andrea Cuesta Claros is an Assistant Lecturer in Sustainable Development Education at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Faculty of Science, Monash University. She leads teaching units in the Master of Environment and Sustainability program, including ENS5020 - Perspectives on Sustainability, ENS5350 - Circular Economy: Principles and Solutions, and BEX3150 - Sustainability Practice and Organisations. Cuesta Claros holds a PhD in Sustainable Development from Monash University (2024), with her thesis examining Transforming Universities: Perspectives on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Role of Universities. She also earned an MSc in Creative Sustainability (Built Environment) from Aalto University (2018) and a BEng in Innovation and Design from Universidad Panamericana (2013).

Her research focuses on co-designing sustainability curricula with students and nature, sustainability-related futures of universities, and co-creative approaches for knowledge generation and integration. Expertise areas include Sustainable Development Goals, Sustainability in Higher Education, Sustainability Perspectives, Curriculum Co-Design, and More-than-Human Sustainability. Key peer-reviewed publications comprise "Uncovering perspectives on SDG integration for university transformations" co-authored with G. Bonar, S. Malekpour, R. Raven, and T. Kestin (International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 2024), "Are the sustainable development goals transforming universities? – An analysis of steering effects and depth of change" (Earth System Governance, 2023), "Understanding the roles of universities for sustainable development transformations: a framing analysis of university models" (Sustainable Development, 2022), and "Transformative localization to accelerate the 2030 Agenda" (Nature Sustainability, 2024). She has been invited as a keynote speaker at SDG Research Day, University of Porto (2024), and Adams Sustainability Celebration, University of Toronto (2023), and presented at various seminars. The recipient of the Monash Silver Jubilee PhD Scholarship (2020), her career includes research at the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, consultancy at Demos Helsinki, social innovation facilitation in Latin America, and manufacturing engineering roles in Mexico and the US.