Support for teaching sustainability

This guidance that was produced with input from across the UK higher education sector, including that of our own academic and chair of Learning for Sustainability Scotland Pete Higgins, provides direction for teaching practice to meaningfully support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

To summarize educators should:

1. Baseline existing provision
2. Incorporate the SDGs across content.
3. Use pedagogies to deliver content that develop UNESCO competencies for sustainable development.
4. Monitor and evaluate progress including student voice.

Download the QAA guidance [external]

Based at the University, Learning for Sustainability Scotland is one of the United Nations University Regional Centres of Expertise for Education for Sustainable Development.

They are a collection of networks that work across the education sector to deliver learning for sustainability to local and regional communities. They have been fundamental to Scotland’s world-leading commitment to addressing sustainability in educational policy.

Explore their resources and opportunities to get involved.

Learning for Sustainability Scotland [external]

Sustainability is core to the Curriculum Transformation Project. It aims to:

• Generate an outstanding educational experience for students.
• Increase our impact in how teaching is administered and supported, and
• Create greater alignment with institutional strategic priorities such as that in strategy 2030 to ‘make the world a better place, to ensure that our actions and activities deliver positive change locally, regionally and globally.’

An Environmental Sustainability in Curriculum working sub-group was set up as part of the project which will produce recommendations around teaching sustainability. These will be shared in the Community of Practice above.

Curriculum Transformation Hub [SharePoint]

Strategy 2030 ​​​​​

Confidence in knowledge is often a barrier to embedding sustainability in teaching practice.

Fortunately, there is training on offer for staff and students to improve confidence in communicating about sustainable issues:

• Carbon Literacy Training takes place over a day and provides an understanding of climate science and the impact of actions in terms of carbon emissions.
• Introduction to Sustainability is an hour-long online training that provides insight into what the University is doing as part of its commitment to sustainability.

Carbon Literacy Training

Introduction to Sustainability