An approach to embedding sustainability into undergraduate curriculum: Macquarie University, Australia case study (original) (raw)
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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.
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A decisive factor for achieving a culture of sustainability is university training for future professionals. The aim of this article is to bring new elements to the process of reorienting university studies towards sustainability. Presented here is the ACES model (Curriculum Greening of Higher Education, acronym in Spanish), which is the result of a project involving a network of 11 European and Latin American universities. The methodology of the project is based on participatory action research. The ACES model is defined by 10 characteristics, detailed in this article, which can orientate a diagnosis of the level of curriculum greening and the design and application of the strategies and actions in order to facilitate incorporating the sustainability dimension in higher education. The potentialities and limitations found are also discussed. The ACES model has started a process for reorienting higher education studies towards sustainability.
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Academic education is to be understood as the mirror image of societal and historic processes, which are the basis for analysing and enhancing the development and shaping of society (Fischer/ Michelsen 2000: 168). Due to the inescapable questions of globalism and sustainability, academic institutions are facing the difficult challenge of re-adjusting their targets and objectives. Academia needs to include specialised expert knowledge in problem-oriented, systemic and integrated processes and approaches, not only in research but also in teaching. For this purpose, academia first needs to create the necessary interdisciplinary research and teaching structures. Students need to be familiarised with the changeability of complex systems in order to be able to adequately perceive and understand society and its developments.
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International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
Purpose -Higher education institutions increasingly have gained momentum in integrating sustainability into university curricula. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the approval, implementation and management process of the new university-wide, general education requirement in sustainability at the University of Vermont (UVM). The intent is to provide a case study to inform other institutions seeking to create similar university-wide sustainability requirements.
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Abstract: Education for sustainability (EfS) refers to education that builds the knowledge, skills and dispositions for living sustainably. It is bringing sustainability--for some time a prominent concern within higher education--firmly within the fold of teaching and learning, a key aspect of universities' core business. Is EfS an unstoppable juggernaut in higher education? The short answer is no; it is one of a gamut of policy considerations universities that currently face. This review has made it clear, however, that EfS is a vehicle for infusing ...
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A growing body of evidence shows that infusing sustainability into undergraduate courses and programs can simultaneously benefit institutional goals, student learning outcomes, and society at large. In addition to being a globally relevant and urgent topic, sustainability can enhance learning of disciplinary concepts and development of broad 21st-century competencies. The authors examine the rationale for infusing sustainability into undergraduate teaching and learning and conclude by offering examples and resources for doing so.
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Sustainability degree programs in higher education have proliferated with the emergence of sustainability as a recognized academic field. This study evaluated the curricula of English-language programs granting degrees in sustainability by analyzing 27 bachelor's and 27 master's sustainability programs based on their (1) curricular structure, in terms of the proportion of core versus elective courses, (2) breadth of the core courses, which were classified into one of ten disciplinary categories, and (3) specific disciplinary content of core course subjects. We found that core courses made up the majority of both curricula, although bachelor's programs were more flexible than master's. Within these core courses, sustainability and social sciences were found in more than 85 % of both bachelor's and master's programs, as were natural sciences at the bachelor's level. Less than half of sustainability master's programs required a natural science course, which on average made up just 2 % of required course credits. No text was widely used in core sustainability courses. Our findings demonstrate that there is a wide divergence between the content of programs granting degrees in sustainability; many do not appear to be achieving the integration of natural and social sciences proposed in the literature. We believe that some shared foundations between programs is necessary for sustainability to develop into a mature scientific program that is recognizable across universities and understood by academics, employers, and civil society, and is effective in training the next generation of sustainability scholars and scientists.
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