1. Meeting the requirement for consideration of ESD
(education for sustainable development) in UWE’s QMEF
(quality management and enhancement framework)
processes
Georgina
Gough
Senior Lecturer in Education for Sustainable Development
21 June 2016

2. for Sustainable Development?
What is Education
for Sustainable Development?
“Education for sustainable development means enabling students to develop the knowledge and understanding, skills and attributes needed to work and live in a way that safeguards environmental, social and economic wellbeing, both in the present and for future generations.”
(QAA-HEA, 2014)

3. What is ESD? The QAA- HEA Guidance encourages students to:
consider what the concepts of global citizenship and environmental stewardship mean in the context of their own discipline
think about issues of social justice and equity, and how these relate to ecological and economic factors
develop a future-facing outlook, learning to think about consequences of actions, and how systems and societies can be adapted to ensure sustainable futures

4. What is Sustainable Development?

5. ESD learning environments
divergent views shared and explored in a safe environment
opportunities for deep and critical reflection on students' own perspectives and what has influenced their thinking and practices
democratic and participatory learning approaches are modelled
interdisciplinary approaches, systems thinking and holistic thinking are encouraged
teaching, learning and assessment activities are linked to real-life concerns
The task of the educator is to provide an environment in which:
divergent views can be shared and explored in a safe environment
there are opportunities for deep and critical reflection on students' own perspectives and what has influenced their thinking and practices in this area
democratic and participatory learning approaches are modelled
interdisciplinary approaches, systems thinking and holistic thinking are encouraged
teaching, learning and assessment activities are linked to real-life concerns.

6. Teaching approaches
Likely to be particularly effective are one, some or all of the following:
case studies
stimulus activities
simulation
experiential project work
problem-based learning

7. UWE’s ESD Commitment
The University will enable all students to explore sustainable development in the context of their discipline
All Departments… will ensure ESD is embedded at the programme level
University will ensure that its staff are trained and developed in their understanding of the underpinning concepts
Recognises that all disciplines must engage but that the extent of engagement can differ

8. ESD?

9. What are the QMEF requirements?
Module report: Should consider the contribution of the module to meeting the ESD aims of the university, the expectations of the QAA –HEA guidance and Chapter B3 of the Quality Code.
Programme report: Should carefully consider the nature and extent of ESD in the delivery of the programme (formal and informal curricula) and present recommendations for enhancement in the following year
Department report: Report should consider the extent to which the provision of the Department is supporting the university’s ESD ambition
Programme approval (and review): The place of ESD in the curriculum of the proposed/revised programme should be considered and made explicit in the documentation and in the provision

10. Where to make ESD explicit:
Module report
Curriculum and assessment design and content: Relevant content, teaching and learning activities, assessment
Faculty priorities: ESD, Sustainability Plan, Graduate Attributes
Best practice (summary)?!

11. Where to make ESD explicit: Programme report
Employability
Curriculum and assessment design and content
PSRB involvement
Sustainable Development: Core modules
PSRB INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROGRAMME (Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies)
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Please highlight where opportunities for students to engage with and reflect upon social, environmental and economic aspects of Sustainable Development (SD) have been provided within the core modules of the programme. You may also wish to comment within the action plan on where enhancement of SD would take place within the next academic year. Please particularly identify any areas you consider to be good practice and enhancement opportunities.

12. Where to make ESD explicit: Departmental report
Sustainable development
Please reflect on opportunities for students to engage with sustainable development across the departmental portfolio particularly identifying any areas you consider to be good practice and enhancement opportunities.

13. Curriculum approval and review: Example statements
‘Currently learning outcomes of the programme which reflect issues within the Sustainable Development Goals agenda include…’
‘ESD is covered in depth in Macroeconomics (30 crs L1 ) and Economic Theory and Policy (30crs L3) with elements in 2 further 15 credit compulsory modules and 2 options. The programme has specific learning outcomes in global citizenship, social and economic consequences of economic growth, social justice and wellbeing and intergenerational implications.’
(continued over)

14. ‘Reference to the following additional resources has also ensured that the programme complies with strategic priorities and relevant policies, as well as shaping and confirming its currency and attractiveness: …
UWE Strategy 2020
UWE QMEF requirements
UWE Access and Widening Participation strategy
UNESCO, QAA and UWE guidance on Education for Sustainable Development
Advice and feedback from industry/employer, external subject specialist, SRSF meetings, current undergraduates, alumni, staff in cognate fields within the faculty, Disability Service, Careers Service and Library Services ‘

15. Programme specification: Educational aims
Sustainability: ‘The programme explores the complex historical and contemporary interrelations of culture, society, economics and politics in and across local, national, regional and global scales. Through its focus on the development of independent, evidence-based, critical thinking (systematic, complex, flexible, self-reflexive), it encourages students to question assumptions, to engage with difference, and to revise and develop opinions, attitudes and knowledges accordingly. Particular modules introduce specific texts and critical-theoretical approaches that are themselves concerned with social, economic and environmental justice, with the diversity of global cultures, and with the imagination of possible futures. Students are also encouraged to volunteer and to engage with PAL and the UWE Bristol Futures Award.’
Throughout the design process, the team was committed to developing a programme that engaged with the complex interrelationships of culture, society, economics and politics (a disciplinary norm within literary studies and film studies). The opportunity to explore aspects of world cinema and world literatures (both Anglophone and in translation) ensures that students productively explore particularity and difference, from the local to the global, and encourages a broad questioning of assumptions, attitudes and opinions.
Certain modules emphasise texts and critical-theoretical approaches which prioritise social, economic and environmental justice, from eco-criticism, feminism, Marxism, postcolonialism, queer theory and utopian studies to more contemporary developments, such as afrofuturism and indigenous futurisms, animal studies, critical race theory, critical science studies, disability studies and the energy humanities. Other modules at each level encourage participation in cultural industries and events, and a strong emphasis is placed on the value of volunteering; students will also be encouraged to participate in PAL and the UWE Bristol Futures Award.
Discussions of aims, objectives and outcomes (for modules, levels and the overall programme) focused on the development of the self-reflective, critical thinking that should underpin both disciplinary knowledge and practical/technical skills development. This work is shared by modules and staged across levels as students are encouraged to develop individually and collectively to research, to assess evidence, and to critique ideas, representations, discourses and practices. Throughout the programme, students are encouraged to recognise culture as material practice with sustainable and unsustainable elements and wide-ranging consequences.
In the later stages of the development process, the Academic Lead met with Dr Georgina Gough (Senior Lecturer in Education for Sustainable Development, FET) to scrutinise the draft documentation for the programme and ensure it met ESD requirements. She described the Team’s efforts as exemplary, and helped us to identify a wider range of our Learning Outcomes in the CDA3 mapping that should be flagged up in terms of ESD.

16. Programme level example:
‘Throughout the design process, the team was committed to developing a programme that engaged with the complex interrelationships of culture, society, economics and politics (a disciplinary norm within literary studies and film studies). The opportunity to explore aspects of world cinema and world literatures (both Anglophone and in translation) ensures that students productively explore particularity and difference, from the local to the global, and encourages a broad questioning of assumptions, attitudes and opinions.’

17. Programme level example:
‘Discussions of aims, objectives and outcomes (for modules, levels and the overall programme) focused on the development of the self-reflective, critical thinking that should underpin both disciplinary knowledge and practical/technical skills development. This work is shared by modules and staged across levels as students are encouraged to develop individually and collectively to research, to assess evidence, and to critique ideas, representations, discourses and practices. Throughout the programme, students are encouraged to recognise culture as material practice with sustainable and unsustainable elements and wide-ranging consequences.’

18. SDGs and UWE programmes/disciplines

19. Workshop exercise Move to one of the following tables:
ESD at module level
ESD at programme level
Sustainable Development and HE
Using the materials on the table, and guided by your table facilitator, complete the provided template for your own teaching and learning activities.

20. Globally Responsible and Future-facing Graduates: WHY and HOW?
Tuesday 12 July R26
Meet colleagues from across UWE
Identify ways in which HE contributes to global change
Discuss benefits to staff and students of engagement in education for sustainable development
Consider opportunities for developing interdisciplinary collaboration
Learn about and support sustainable campus initiatives
12.00 – FREE LUNCH (by registration only)
UN Sustainable Development Goals and HE (discussion)
13.15 – Sustainability at UWE (Sustainable UWE, UWE students and sustainability, Green capital legacy, Informal curriculum, Research, Formal curriculum)
13.45 – SDGs and UWE disciplines (facilitated workshop)
Event wrap up
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