Sustainability-Across-the-Curriculum Audit at George Brown College (original) (raw)
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Book Review: Curricula for sustainability in higher education
Sustainability is a complex subject in which there is no universally agreed upon definition of what it means to be sustainable. Many view sustainability from the lens of sustainable development which was coined in the Brundtland Report as " development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs " (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). 2005 to 2014 was established as the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development with the goal of incorporating sustainable development values, standards, and practices into all facets of education (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, 1992). As the field of sustainability and sustainability education continues to evolve there is an ongoing need for literature to equip teachers and educators with strategies to implement sustainability curriculum into their courses. The purpose of Curricula for Sustainability in Higher Education was to provide administrators, teachers and students an introduction to the diversity and interdisciplinary nature of sustainability education by presenting research and curriculum advances in the field. Sustainability in higher education is a complex and interdisciplinary phenomenon (Viegas et al., 2016). The editor and authors of this book presented a collection of sustainability curricula for higher education as examples of relevant approaches. The effective utilization of multiple authors and perspectives, various research, and different approaches to address the question of how to incorporate sustainability into the curriculum throughout this book helped to validate the idea that curriculum for sustainability in higher education is an interdisciplinary and diverse subject. With over 30 years of research and teaching experiences in manufacturing, materials and mechanical engineering, management/industrial engineering and higher education for Sustainability/Engineering Education the editor, Davim is a good example of the diversity of knowledge and experience within the field of sustainability. Davim (2017) organized the book thematically, using six themes or parts to explore and highlight the diversity and interdisiplinarity of sustainability in higher education. Each part, or what this review will refer to as chapters, presented diverse examples that illustrated various aspects of curriculum for sustainability in higher education. Chapter 1, Education for Sustainable Development and Its Role in the Promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals (Garcia, da Silva, Simas Carvalho, & de Andrade Guerra) explored education for sustainable development and how it can contribute in the attainment of the sustainable development goals that were conceived at the Rio +20 Summit (United Nations, 2012). The reviewed literature and discussions utilized throughout this chapter did a good job of demonstrating of how education could be utilized as a tool in the achievement of each of the 17 sustainable development goals. According to de Haan (2006), education and sustainable development are interdependent with one another. The authors of this chapter also argued that educational institutions should be utilized as platforms to explore, debate and assess sustainability challenges that deal with societal, environmental and economic disparities. Umoh (2010) also emphasized the importance of education in the process of balancing these sustainability pillars. Chapter 2, Explicit Economics: Addressing Conscious Consumption for Sustainability (Venkatesan) illustrated how our current market and economy allows the consumer to disregard the impact their consumptive habitats are having on the welfare of others. The author affirmed that this approach " promotes the perception that price alone is indicative of the true cost of a good " (p. 30). Brown (2009) compared this market behavior of providing incomplete information on the actual cost of products to a Ponzi scheme where we are meeting current demands in part by overconsuming the earth's natural capital and setting ourselves up for an eventual collapse when these assets are depleted. This chapter was concluded with a motivational argument that the best way to achieve economic sustainability is to empower conscious consumption at the individual level through education and the development of sustainable social norms. Chapter 3, Greening Networks: Mapping Sustainability Beyond Institutional Boundaries (Vellani & Nanjee) effectively highlighted the importance of partnerships and collaboration when attempting to expand sustainability. Three case studies focusing on researchers and non-government organizations, professional associations, and students and staff collaborations were presented within this chapter. The authors of this chapter used these efforts as examples of how silos between disciplines and professions can be seen as barriers to sustainability and should be broken down.
The Development of ‘Learning for Sustainability’ Core Competencies
Over the last several years, there has been increased interest within communities, schools, and government to promote behavior that will yield a positive future impact on the world. The sustainability “movement” has aimed to educate people around the globe on the interconnectedness of industry, environment, and human behavior and stimulate improved quality of life through measures of environmental education and preservation, and social justice. As the campus sustainability movement has grown, a gap still exists in which many academic institutions focus more on the “greening” of the campus rather than a more immersive approach of infusing sustainability across the curriculum and building deep campus cultures of sustainability; without addressing this latter technique, we are putting less emphasis on communication and motivation to produce meaningful behavior change. Many authors have highlighted the importance of education for sustainability and the role of higher education in training students and future educators to disseminate this critical knowledge. A better understanding of human capacities, capabilities, and competencies for facilitating this societal transformation towards sustainability, along with an improved understanding of how we can promote their development through learning, are both crucial to the success of this venture. The following paper profiles the goals and findings of a workshop presented at the 2013 AASHE conference regarding the development of “Learning for Sustainability Core Competencies."
In 2012 La Trobe University decided that every undergraduate student, across every discipline, would have significant and assessed experience of Sustainability Education (SE). The plan for achieving full coverage of SE at La Trobe was reported at a previous World Symposium for Sustainable Development in Higher Education conference (Hocking and Riddle in Aiming for full coverage— integrating sustainability education into all undergraduate courses at La Trobe University, Australia: achievements, lessons learnt and barriers addressed. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp. 479–493, 2015). Since then, implementing the plan has involved: adopting a university-wide definition of SE; aligned with international definitions, and adaptable within each discipline; establishing a process for tracking subjects and courses that have successfully incorporated SE; and providing education development support for staff, using strategies developed for each discipline context (Hocking in Soc Educ 2015 33(2):26–38, 2015). Across the Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce (ASSC) College (a type of super-faculty), SE has been incorporated in 38 subjects, covering 90% of courses, across all disciplines. Promoting breadth has not compromised depth of development. Two example are: (1) a new common core subject for all Business Degree students called Sustainability; (2) SE is now in five core and elective subjects in the School of Education, increasing the likelihood that students will to encounter SE more than once in education-related degree programs. These outcomes have depended on framing SE as an educational issue, integrated with other university education development initiatives, and taking whole-of-institution approaches that have involved and provided coordination of stakeholders at all levels.