EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ESD)

Brian ChalkleyDirector of Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for

Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES)University of Plymouth

Stephen SterlingCentre for Sustainable Futures (ESD CETL)

University of Plymouth

Workshop at University of Northampton3rd May 2007

OUR KEY QUESTIONS

• What is ESD’s present position in UK HE?

• Why engage with the ESD agenda?

• What is currently being done at Northampton?

• What steps are being taken in other HEIs?

• What more could you consider doing?

Question 1 WHAT IS THE CURRENT POSITION?

• Small number of courses focused on SD

• ESD quite strong in a few disciplines

• But most QAA Benchmarks are silent

• ESD is absent from most L&T strategies

• Most UK graduates are not “sustainability literate”

• But ………. new surge of interest!

THE NEW SURGE OF INTEREST

• Evidence of planetary deterioration

• HEFCE’s SD Strategy

• UN Decade for ESD (2005-15)

• HE Academy, CETLs and Ecoversity

• Recognition that HE’s previous failings must be remedied

HEFCE’s NEW SD STRATEGY

• Embed principles of SD across HE

• Develop appropriate curricula

• Build new SD research programmes

• Reduce HE’s ecological footprint

HEFCE’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AMBITION

“Our vision is that within the next ten

years, the higher education sector

will be recognised as a major

contributor to society’s efforts to

achieve sustainability”

HEFCE’s PRIORITY

“The greatest contribution higher

education has to make to

sustainable development is by

enabling students to develop new

skills and knowledge”

THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACADEMY

Through its 24 Subject Centres the Academy will:

• Raise awareness of ESD in the subjects/disciplines

• Provide support and guidance for academic staff (capacity building)

• Produce ESD teaching resources• Share good practice (conferences, websites,

etc.)• Work with other organisations

THE TWO ESD CENTRES FOR EXCELLENCE (CETLs)

They will develop a Plymouth

whole-University

approach to SD

involving all students

and staff and all areas

of the Institutions’ work.

They will provide

models for other

Universities to follow.

Kingston

BRADFORD’S ECOVERSITY

Working towards

• sustainable education

• a healthy environment

• social well-being• a thriving

economy

RECOGNITION OF PREVIOUS EDUCATIONAL FAILINGS

“the volume of education has increased, yet so have the dangers of ecological catastrophe. If still more education is to save us, it will have to be education of a very different kind”

Schumacher

EDUCATION AND THE PLANET

“The destruction of the planet is not the

work of ignorant people. Rather it is

largely the result of work by people with

BAs, BScs, LLBs, MBAs and PhDs.”

David Orr

Question 2WHY SHOULD UNIVERSITIES

ENGAGE WITH THIS AGENDA?

• Involvement with major global/national issue• Education of tomorrow’s leaders, citizens

and employer(e)s• Growing business interest in CSR and SD• Marketing and recruitment (student interest)• HEFCE’s SD Strategy• Capitalising on existing expertise at

Northampton

WHAT/HOW ARE YOU CURRENTLY DOING?

It’s time for Audit!

Question 3WHAT IS CURRENTLY BEING DONE AT

NORTHAMPTON? A QUIZ• Does SD feature in your mission or your

corporate plan?• Does the University have an SD strategy?• Is ESD part of your L & T strategy?• How strongly does SD feature in courses and

curricula?• What proportion of your students would

know how : a) to ‘green’ an organisation? b) to assess their own ecological footprint?

Question 4WHAT STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN

ELSEWHERE IN HE?

THE FOUR C MODEL

• Curriculum: Knowledge, skills and values

• Community: Regional partnerships

• Campus: buildings, energy, waste

• Culture: new perspectives and priorities

ESD INITIATIVES

• SD and L & T policies

• Course approval/review procedures

• Staff development (capacity building)

• Exhibitions, public lectures, displays and competitions

• Student Union activities

• Audits and champions

COURSES AND CURRICULA

• New programmes

• New modules

• New “podules” (infusionism)

• Generic modules (electives)

• Cross-disciplinary events

• ESD in PDP

2020

Geographical Research:

Principles

&

Practice

20

Option

20

Option Option

20

Sustainability:

Policy & Practice

Geography & Employability

TERM1

TERM2

Fieldwork in Geography

20

BA/BSc Hons Geography (Plymouth)

Year 2

A SUBJECT-BASED MODULE (Plymouth)

Sustainability: policy and practiceAIMS: to examine issues involved in

(a) Translating SD principles into policy

(b) Encouraging organisations to adopt SD practices

CONTENT: SD in government, business and the voluntary sector. Corporate Social Responsibility and “greening organisations”

ESD AND PEDAGOGY

• Student-centred

• Interactive

• Holistic

• Action research

• Interdisciplinary

ESD ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES

• Sociology eg consumerism

• Architecture eg low energy design

• Engineering eg sea defences

• Economics eg Stern Report

• Philosophy eg ethics and nature

ESD IN MORE DISCIPLINES

• Business eg corporate social responsibility

• Languages eg SD in France, China, etc.

• History eg role of environment• Computing eg IT and energy saving• English eg ecoliteracy

SO, IN SUMMARY

• ESD may be an idea whose time has come

• It poses professional and personal challenges

• There are plenty of opportunities in the GEES disciplines and more widely across HE

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“Higher education institutions bear a profound

Moral responsibility to increase the awareness,

knowledge, skills and values needed to create

a just and sustainable society”

(Tony Cortese, 1992)

“(The HEFCE SD Strategy) is one of the most

pernicious and dangerous circulars ever to be

issued…… it is not the job of universities to

promote a particular political orthodoxy”

(Peter Knight, 2005)

SO, NOW IT’S TIME FOR (Fair Trade?) COFFEE

And soon its time for : DISCUSSION AND ACTION PLANNING