Staff and students from across the University have been working to further embed climate and sustainability within learning and teaching. Through these efforts, graduates from the University go on and make an impact and contribute to positive change throughout their careers, across a wide variety of roles, disciplines, sectors, and communities. The size of the University’s student community means the potential collective impacts of graduates can be significant. This academic year, over thirteen thousand students graduated from the University. This included:over 2,000 students who graduated in health professions119 students who graduated with a qualification that entitled them to teach at primary school levelover 700 students graduated in law-related coursesand over 200 students graduated in agriculture-related disciplines. Students as Change Agents Image Students as Change Agents (SaChA) is an example of a University-wide programme that provides students with exposure to different learning and thinking styles which will benefit their personal and professional development.An exciting challenge-based programme, SaChA brings together students from different subjects to tackle real-world problems with a wider social, environmental, or economic impact. All the challenges are hosted by external organisations and are all framed around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Over 300 students participated in the programme this year addressing the following challenge questions. How can the music industry in post-Covid Scotland create jobs and economic growth? Hosted by the Scottish Music Industry Association.How can we present a global index on child welfare so that governments take meaningful action? Hosted by the United Nations Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children.What can housing associations do to prevent fuel poverty? LINK.How can we tackle overconsumption in fashion? Pivot Earth.How can we build a fair and welcoming Scotland for refugees and asylum seekers? Scottish Refugee Council.How can Scotland prevent lives from being harmed by alcohol? Alcohol Focus Scotland.How could Journeys within our Community go further in supporting Cambodian youth in contributing to the sustainable development of their society? Journeys within our community.How can Scotland move beyond awareness raising and have the fair-trade concept instilled in the public consciousness and buying practices? Scottish Fairtrade Forum.The SaChA Programme has received positive feedback from students, including achieving an 86 per cent satisfaction rate and 90 per cent said they would recommend the programme to their friends. The programme has empowered students to address 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals to date. Students as Change AgentsCurriculum Transformation A short-life working group on Embedding Environmental Sustainability and Climate in Curricula met three times across the academic year as part of the University Curriculum Transformation Programme.This group was chaired by Sandy Tudhope, University Lead on Climate Responsibility and Sustainability. The group reported to the Curriculum Transformation Programme Board in November 2021 and made recommendations for the Edinburgh Student Vision and Curriculum Design Principles that would enable all learners to engage deeply with climate and sustainability. Several quick wins were identified by the group to support climate and sustainability learning and teaching activities. This led to securing funding to redevelop the interdisciplinary, fully online postgraduate and undergraduate Sustainability and Social Responsibility courses.With the University’s commitment to addressing the twin climate and biodiversity crises, there was a need to offer all students the opportunity to study these areas in more depth and in so doing develop the skills necessary to address these complex challenges within their careers and futures beyond the University. The aim was to achieve a course structure, content and capacity to intake, teach and assess increased numbers of students.Both the fully online postgraduate and undergraduate Sustainability and Social Responsibility courses were reviewed to ensure the course structure, content and staffing requirements were capable of intaking, teaching and assessing an increased number of students. The review and rebuild was completed and the course was successfully taught in Semester 2 January to April 2022. Going forward further work will be undertaken to map climate and sustainability across the curriculum, supporting efforts to identify opportunities to embed these crucial topics within learning and teaching and the Curriculum Transformation Project. Curriculum Transformation ProgrammeOnline coursesThe University has several relevant short online courses, which are open to all. This includes Massive Open Online Courses on Climate Solutions, Carbon Capture and Storage, Sustainable Global Food Systems, Nitrogen (available in several languages) and Critical Thinking in Global Challenges. The Learning for a Sustainable Future short online course was delivered in parallel with the COP26 Conference in November 2021, offering learners an opportunity to examine what COP26 was, why it was important and reflect on how they could add their voice to the call for collective action for a sustainable future. By the end of the year, over 7,000 people has participated in the course. Short online coursesCareers for a Sustainable FutureDuring November 2022 the University hosted a month-long campaign promoting Careers for a Sustainable Future. The aim of the campaign was to support students and graduates to find out more about a career that has a positive environmental impact and/or fights climate change. The campaign also sought to provide information, inspiration, and advice. Over 400 students attended events as part of the campaign. This included events with alumni and employers, as well as a range of training sessions on communication skills, carbon literacy and work experience. Due to the success of the campaign and the student interest in sustainability careers, this will now be delivered annually. Sustainability & the environment This article was published on 2024-10-01