Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) plays a key role in addressing global challenges. This study highlights the key role of collaborative, cooperative and reflective learning in enhancing students' ability to promote sustainable development. In this study, narrative analysis techniques were used to analyse 172 manuscripts with the core keywords 'reflective learning' or 'cooperative learning' or 'collaborative learning' and 'sustainability' or 'sustainable development' and 'education' that resulted from the search in SCOPUS and Web of Science for the period 1994 to 2023 and the paper selection process. These articles provide a comprehensive overview of collaborative and reflective learning in the context of sustainable development. This study demonstrates how critical it is to identify and deal with students' limits in terms of reflection and cooperation. To genuinely contribute to sustainable development, students must not only possess the necessary knowledge, but also embody values and global awareness, thus enabling them to reflect on and evaluate their practical experiences within complex contexts. Despite potential obstacles of individual differences and cooperation challenges, the review emphasises the importance of innovative pedagogical strategies in providing students with engaging educational opportunities that inspire a commitment to advocating for sustainable development. This study highlights the potential of diverse pedagogical programmes in cultivating sustainable competencies and underscores the significance of recognising and overcoming constraints for the effective implementation of education in sustainable development.