Sustainability Leadership Edinburgh Award | Sustainability | Social Responsibility and Sustainability

Turn your sustainability values into action by building the knowledge, skills and confidence to make a difference

What you will gain from the Award

Student at graduation holding Climate Action Sustainable Development Goal 13 card

The Sustainability Leadership Edinburgh Award helps you build the confidence, skills and experience to make a positive difference on the social and environmental issues you care about.

You will learn about sustainability, reflect on your own values and strengths, and be supported to take meaningful action.

The Award recognises that leadership comes in many forms. You do not need to hold a formal role or have all the answers. Leadership can mean listening to others, asking questions, sharing ideas, bringing people together and taking practical steps towards change.

Through the Award, you can develop skills from the University’s Skills for Success framework, including:

communicating ideas clearly;
working well with others;
finding and using information responsibly;
building confidence and independence; and
acting as an engaged global citizen.

You will meet and learn with other students, hear different perspectives and reflect on what sustainable leadership means to you. By the end, you will be better able to describe the skills and experience you have gained, and how you can use them in your studies, future career and wider community.

Students should be able to attend two sessions per semester, one in person and one online, and be able to complete self directed work across the year. This roughly equates to two hours per week.

On completion, you will achieve the Climate and Sustainability Leadership Edinburgh Award, which will be included on your Higher Education Achievement Report.

Edinburgh Award

Benefits of participation

Access to challenge-based learning, events and training
Connect with students from across the University
Develop transferable professional and personal skills
Funding opportunities for student-led projects
Hear from students, graduates and leaders about their experience of driving change
Improve knowledge of climate change and sustainability through short online courses
Join a supportive community of like-minded students
Official recognition for professional development.

Structure of the programme

Introduction and Change Management
Critical Thinking
Sustainable Leadership
Systems Thinking
Reflection and Taking Action

Students will be able to keep in contact with each other between sessions through a Microsoft Teams channel.

Feedback from students

Over 200 students have participated in the programme since 2018 and have shared some insights about their experiences.

Given the circumstances with Covid and the lack of in person participation with my degree, it was very nice to connect with people during the sessions to discuss sustainability with some actual real people!

Helps deepen knowledge of sustainability by connecting you to a group of like-minded people.

Really liked the opportunity to actually apply my communication, organisational and team working skills in practice, and reflect on what I could improve on.

Improved my confidence about my own level of knowledge of sustainability issues and what I can individually do to make a change.

Register for the Climate and Sustainability Leadership Edinburgh Award (open)

Registration for this academic year is now open.

Please complete the registration form using the link below. Once registered, you will be added to the Microsoft Teams channel, where details about upcoming events will be shared.

Registration Form

Deadline: Friday, 2^nd October

Further information

If you have any questions about the programme or need more information, please email SRS.department@ed.ac.uk.

This article was published on Tuesday 1 October 2024