The European Union has become the international driving force in promoting sustainability and environmental awareness. This initiative, which is being carried out in various sectors, needs to be supported by education for sustainable development that instils in future technicians and engineers the values demanded by current society. Critical environmental education seeks to develop students' critical thinking so that they become aware of the causes and implications of environmental and social problems. This methodology encourages students to reflect on the core problem areas in order to promote sustainable development, addressing issues such as the circular economy, product life cycle analysis and responsible design, among others. Thus, in besides learning to identify these problems in their professional environment, students are encouraged to become active agents in the search for sustainability and to propose solutions to improve the current situation.

Business Administration and Management students are called upon to make decisions that combine economic growth and environmental responsibility in their future working environment. In this sense, the subject of Strategic Management is key in the training of future graduates, addressing issues of great interest to society such as Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Ethics. At the Polytechnic University of Madrid, for eight years now, Double Degrees in Engineering and Business have been taught that address this education for sustainability in their syllabus. In this study, an educational experience is proposed to be carried out in a university semester applying the project-based learning methodology in the subject of Strategic Management. This methodology is especially useful in university environments as it is committed to learning by competences, as students are faced with real or simulated issues that they must investigate, analyse and solve, which makes learning more meaningful and relevant. Thus, it is committed to the development of highly demanded skills such as: the development of critical thinking, teamwork, problem solving, learning autonomy and creativity.

Thus, the work shows the planning of a semester subject in which the project-based learning methodology has been integrated. Although the experience is contextualised in a fourth-year course, the guidelines for implementing this type of active methodologies in other subjects and educational levels are presented. The description of the experience shows the planning of the sessions taking into consideration the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and focusing on learning by competences. In this way, the development of ‘soft skills’ and environmental awareness in business environments is used as a guiding thread, showing a progressive evaluation system adapted to the student. It also sets out the necessary guidelines for coordinating the work groups and the distribution of the classroom sessions, together with their timing. With all this, the proposal presented can serve as a basis for future teachers interested in the application of this methodology and offers an alternative for working on education for sustainable development, which is currently highly demanded.

Keywords: Education for sustainability, project-based learning (PBL), university teaching, educational competences, critical thinking.