The Beginners’ Guide Embedding Sustainability in Skills Development Sessions: 3 Faculty Linked Learning Developers Kevin Watson: Faculty of Humanities & Social Science Chris Little: Faculty of Health Jayne Eagles: Faculty of Natural Sciences

What we do… Embedded skills development sessions (Away Days) 3-hour sessions Topics chosen by programme links

Away Days – Sustainability focus Politics 16 Students Physiotherapy 40 students Chemistry 45 Students

Politics – 20/2/14: 16 students

Initial Problem: I needed to know what I was talking about.

Sustainability Activities Included An exercise in which students were asked to reflect on how their experience of university helped and hindered their positive contribution to the world (criticism), consideration of what the utopic university might look like (imagination) and consideration of how we might take control of our university life to make positive changes in the world (implementation). An exercise in which students designed an environmental politics module.

What Worked 1.The session successfully combined exploration of the sustainability issues with skills development. 2.The session used examples from the world of politics.

Problems / Challenges 1.Timing – sustainability should have run through the entire event rather than being ‘tagged on’ in the last hour. 2.Lack of full subject embedding meant that the content did not relate to any specific module and was rather superficial. 3.Low turnout.

Physiotherapy 28/2/14 – 40 Students Plan A: Conference event with separate speakers Plan B: Student role play

The session… 30 mins 2 hours Presentation skills debate Stress awareness Prepare and deliver 3 presentations around NHS sustainability Strategy to 3 different audiences Stress awareness Presentation skills debate Sustainable Development Unit. (2014). Sustainable, resilient, healthy people & places: A sustainable development strategy for the NHS, public health and social care system. Strategic needs assessment of existing provision Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB)

Student feedback: Comparison Previous session 18/10/13- Time management, note making and feedback Sustainability themed session: 7.8% reduction in negative feedback (Grades 1/2) 29% increase in positive feedback (Grades 4/5) What students found most useful: Presentations23 Group work5 Linked to my course4 Stress statistics2 Sustainability2

Topics to be covered … Working with others Dealing with difficult people Promoting ‘Green Chemistry’ in the workplace Critical Success Factors … Subject specific materials Challenging and interactive learning exercise

Flash Cards Articles & Case Material

Conclusion Embedding sustainability into skills sessions can work but: 1.It needs to draw on subject-specific content and meet students where they are. 2.The problem of vague definition needs to be countered by specific stories, scenarios and, best of all, experiences.