Authors : Petchuekeu Noupowo Wilfrid; Mahamat Talba; Makoal Bambourbo Raoul; Dr. Bwemba Charles; Dr. Youssoufa S.; Ndongo Jean Paul

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 7 - July

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/yc6dbkvk

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/4z2zf45h

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26jul1756

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : More than three decades after the Brundtland Report, sustainable architecture has evolved from a corrective response to energy crises toward a holistic paradigm engaging landscape, spatial experience and human cognition. Yet contemporary environmental education facilities still struggle to translate this evolution into spatial devices capable of transforming abstract ecological knowledge into a lived, embodied understanding of ecological processes. This article presents a systematic literature review structured around three interconnected axes: the theoretical and technical foundations of sustainable architecture and its operational pillars; the typology and territorial implications of contemporary environmental challenges and the responsibilities they assign to the design disciplines; and the theoretical framework of immersive and experiential learning as an architectural principle. Drawing on architectural theory, environmental psychology, museology and pedagogy, and supported by a comparative analysis of three international precedents, the Eden Project, Dino's Park and Ludogaia, the review identifies a persistent gap in the literature: the difficulty of reconciling scientific rigor, sensory immersion and contextual relevance, particularly within tropical climatic and cultural settings such as Cameroon. The article establishes four operative principles, sensory engagement, spatial narrative, experiential transmission and environmental performance, that ground the conceptual and programmatic basis for an immersive pedagogical park capable of reconnecting users with ecological processes and reinforcing environmental awareness in the Cameroonian context.

Keywords : Sustainable Architecture; Immersive Learning; Environmental Education; Pedagogical Park; Bioclimatic Design; Experiential Learning; Ecological Literacy; Tropical Architecture.

References :

1. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction, Nairobi: UNEP, 2022.
2. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report, Geneva: World Meteorological Organization, 2022.
3. J. Rockstrom et al., "A safe operating space for humanity," Nature, vol. 461, no. 7263, pp. 472-475, 2009.
4. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2005.
5. R. T. T. Forman, Land Mosaics: The Ecology of Landscapes and Regions, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
6. J. A. Foley et al., "Global consequences of land use," Science, vol. 309, no. 5734, pp. 570-574, 2005.
7. P. Newman and J. Kenworthy, Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence, Washington, DC: Island Press, 1999.
8. UN-Habitat, World Cities Report 2022: Envisaging the Future of Cities, Nairobi: United Nations Human Settlements Programme, 2022.
9. R. Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 2008.
10. T. Beatley, Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2011.
11. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Rethinking Urban Growth and Territorial Development, Paris: OECD Publishing, 2018.
12. I. L. McHarg, Design with Nature, New York: Natural History Press, 1969.
13. S. Guy and G. Farmer, "Reinterpreting sustainable architecture: The place of technology," Journal of Architectural Education, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 140-148, 2001.
14. J. Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, 3rd ed., Chichester: Wiley, 2012.
15. C. Dede, "Immersive interfaces for engagement and learning," Science, vol. 323, no. 5910, pp. 66-69, 2009.
16. M. Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York: Harper and Row, 1990.
17. D. A. Kolb, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1984.
18. J. J. Gibson, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979.
19. L. Vygotsky, Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978.
20. J. Piaget, The Origins of Intelligence in Children, New York: International Universities Press, 1952.
21. F. Choay, Pour une anthropologie de l'espace, Paris: Seuil, 2006.
22. G. Deleuze and F. Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987.
23. UNESCO, Education for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning Objectives, Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 2017.
24. K. Lynch, The Image of the City, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1960.
25. G. H. Riviere, La museologie selon Georges Henri Riviere, Paris: Dunod, 1989.
26. M. Gottdiener, The Theming of America: American Dreams, Media Fantasies, and Themed Environments, 2nd ed., Boulder: Westview Press, 2001.
27. R. Oldenburg, The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community, New York: Paragon House, 1989.
28. J. Houssaye, Le triangle pedagogique: theorie et pratiques de l'education scolaire, Bern: Peter Lang, 2000.
29. S. Kaplan, "The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework," Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 169-182, 1995.
30. International Union of Architects (UIA), UIA Declaration on Sustainable Development and Building Culture, Paris: UIA, 2017.