Date post: | 29-Dec-2015 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | gerald-parsons |
View: | 217 times |
Download: | 0 times |
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
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 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)