Facilitator: Dr Alex Ryan

Associate, Higher Education Academy

Interdisciplinary Sustainability Education: Insights, Momentum and Futures

14th December 2011

MOTTO FOR THE DAY?

“Education for Sustainable development (ESD) is a vision that aims to inclusively empower all people to take charge, cooperate and create a sustainable future.

ESD particularly maintains the importance of culture and society in the transition towards a sustainable future.” UNESCO DESD website

ESD is trans-disciplinary in orientation, viewing every subject as having an important contribution and perspective to bring to the field.

In HE its focus ranges across sustainable economies, resilient communities, business innovation, graduate employability and enhanced life opportunities for all people.

EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ESD)

Purpose: ‘ to help institutions and subject communities develop curricula and pedagogy that will give students the skills and knowledge to live and work sustainably’

Programme of work ESD since 2005 and an ongoing Strategic Priority Theme

Interdisciplinarity and ESD:

- Discussion Series 2006-07

- 8 Funded Projects 2010

THE HEA AND EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/sustainability/sustainability-projects

SUSTAINABILITY LITERACY - BEYOND BOUNDARIES

Building student capabilities to tackle complexity and plural value systems

Creating change with the use of critical thinking and professional reflection

Developing integrated views of social, economic and environmental contexts

Taking a systems approach for multi-agency and inter-professional working

Finding innovative responses to create pathways for future sustainability

Learning how to effectively develop partnerships and engage stakeholders

Exploring and understanding the dialectic between tradition and innovation

INTERDISCIPLINARY ESD: KEY CHALLENGES

Persistent Interdisciplinary T&L challenges:

Student entry points and educational backgrounds vary widely

Sector enabling structures, benchmarks and frameworks are scarce

Educators face substantial challenges due to solo discipline training

Incentives and professional development opportunities are rare

In addition, radical pedagogies favoured for ESD are not well understood or framed in relation to other T&L approaches, nor well established or supported across HE

What do we learn from the projects about how to improve sector capacity?

Building Bridges – cross sectoral collaboration and stakeholder engagement

Tackling Systems – initiatives to work across and between institutions

Developing Tools – articulation of principles and creation of frameworks

INTERDISCIPLINARY ESD: INSIGHTS, MOMENTUM, FUTURES

FINALLY…