Education for Sustainable Development – what are you doing?
The role of universities in contributing to a sustainable future has been quite clear since Agenda 21 – our shared prosperity is at risk if we do not find more sustainable ways of living and working. Universities have an important role to play through research, developing a greener campus, in the community and through the learning we provide.
At BU, we have taken our contribution seriously. We have made great strides in the environmental management of our estates, in line with BU 2018 to “ensure our environmental credentials are held in high esteem.” We also have some excellent research that focuses on issues of unsustainability and the identification of possible solutions. We have academics building capacity in the community.
BUT how well are we doing in the curriculum and extra-curricular sphere? What is our practice? Where are the excellent initiatives?
There should be lots of examples by now, as BU 2018 also states, that we shall “ensure that graduates develop a global perspective and understand the need for sustainable development by seeking to embed sustainable development across the curriculum.” It comments on our “holistic approach to SD” and emphasises that we are “inspiring our students and staff to enrich the world.”
So, in essence, it would be good to surface examples of how we are addressing the sustainable development goals of BU 2018, within the curriculum. We want to illustrate practice and highlight excellence. We did consider auditing the curriculum but have decided on a ‘Faculty competition approach’ instead!
We are asking each Faculty to enter case studies (no limit as to how many but it would be good to have several from each) showing how you are embedding sustainable development into the curriculum and are preparing learners to live and work sustainably.
There is a prize (per Faculty) – £75 for the winner, £25 for the runner up to be gifted to the charity of your choice. Please see the application template and guidance that goes with it. Let’s see which Faculty can generate the most responses!
