Resources for educators
Looking to inspire your students to act sustainably? Keen to embed sustainability into your courses and ensure students leave university with the Graduate Attributes that will set them up for success? Our ambition is to integrate sustainability principles both within and alongside the curriculum in a discipline-specific and interdisciplinary way, to ensure our students are well-equipped to tackle global challenges for the future to be the next climate-literate citizens and sustainability leaders.
To achieve this, we are with our educators every step of the way to support green leadership and promote sustainable thinking and behaviours across our campuses.
Our three Birmingham Sustainability Education principles were developed to support the eight core sustainability competencies as outlined by UNESCO (2017).
Our teaching and learning strategy has three core principles for Sustainability Education that are the minimum expectations (the Birmingham standard) required. The three core principles are:
- Aid all students in understanding the significance of sustainability, specifically in relation to their discipline, enabling them to become climate-conscious citizens of the future.
- Provide students with further opportunities to develop the skills necessary to tackle the multifaceted and interconnected challenges of the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainability.
- Empower students to engage in action-oriented and participatory learning, reflect on their responsibilities and act as a voice for sustainability within their wider community.
At the University of Birmingham, our ambition is to nurture a new generation of climate-conscious citizens. We want to ensure our graduates have the knowledge, skills and tools to lead change, and to bring a breadth of perspective and expertise to a challenging area that crosses social, economic and environmental boundaries. My role as the Academic Director of Sustainability Education is to work with peers, colleagues and students within the University to ensure Education for Sustainability is firmly embedded into our Teaching and Learning Strategy, and supports the activity of our wider sustainability pillar of the University’s 2030 strategy.
Important tools and resources for educators
We are committed to ensuring that all our students receive a comprehensive education in sustainability. Staff engaged in teaching and learning are supported with access to a range of resources and expertise relating to sustainability education:
- All staff engaged in teaching are expected to align with the University’s Sustainability Education principles to ensure that the minimum Birmingham standards for education are met and that sustainability education is integrated into all degree programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Teaching and Learning handbook (Sustainability Education) links to the principles and resources/examples of good practice.
- University staff are invited to join the Sustainability Education Community of Practice to support their work, staff can e-mail to express an interest in joining the network and gain access to resources, case studies, and attend workshops. Staff can also access a series of MicroCPD videos further showcasing examples of good practice.
- As one of our Graduate Attributes, the ability for students to be able to demonstrate the skills and knowledge to be sustainability-focused is a core competency, one increasingly sought by employers. It is therefore essential that all staff are aware of how their own teaching can support this and ways to enable students to understand the role of their discipline and others in developing a more sustainable future for all. Graduate Attributes information and resources.
- Education for Sustainability (EfS) is an approach to teaching and learning that highlights the principles and practices of sustainability. The focus of Education for Sustainability is the development of the skills, knowledge and motivation to engage with sustainability, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in particular to understand the interconnections between the three pillars of sustainability to ensure long-term ecological balance, social equity and economical resilience. Quality Assurance Processes: programme proposals and modifications to degree programmes and modules incorporate information about how and where EfS and the SDGs are integrated. Programmes undergoing curriculum review will also find guidance to embed sustainability via the Curriculum in Practice support pages.
Engaging with the experts
A number of University of Birmingham Schools and Departments engage with external bodies to support the embedding of sustainability within their modules and there are many examples of where programmes engage with external stakeholders directly to support their curriculum e.g. through setting challenges, giving lectures, supporting with trips and taking part in panel discussions.
- The Birmingham Business School is a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Business Management (PRME).
- The School of Chemistry developed their BSc Chemistry with Sustainability and MSc Sustainable Chemistry with Beyond Benign, an external Green Chemistry Education organisation.
- We are also a corporate partner with ISEP (Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals) and our Climate Change, Adaptation and Policy MSc is accredited by them.
- We are proud to be a member of EAUC - the leading body for sustainability in the post-16 education sector in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Encouraging co-creation with our students
We strongly support the co-creation of sustainability education initiatives with students and have multiple examples of successful projects in this space. Students have helped develop training courses, run competitions and undertaken research surveying fellow students and staff about their experiences of sustainability education through our Education Enhancement Fund, BISCA internships and the Year in Civic Leadership.
Sharing our knowledge in sustainability
As the country’s first civic university, we take our responsibility to contribute to our local region and wider society very seriously. We do not gatekeep, we share knowledge, swap ideas and engage people outside of the University wherever possible to help build a better world.
We support educators in other sectors, including primary, secondary and FE level through workshops and the provision of classroom resources, in addition to providing in-person sessions or visits to campus. We also engage with several wider networks to share good practice such as the Greening Education Partnership through UNESCO as well as our EUniWell partners and other Higher Education institutions around the world.
Get involved
If you are keen to go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to championing sustainability at the University of Birmingham and beyond, there is a wealth of opportunities for collaboration and leadership in this space on our Get Involved page.
Staff can undertake funded pedagogical research and practice projects through our Education Enhancement Fund (EEF). All University academics undertaking their Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education now receive specific training in sustainability education.
All University of Birmingham educators are also encouraged to share their experience and passion for sustainability by taking part in the Climate Ambassadors Scheme; the scheme matches volunteers with local nurseries, schools and colleges to bring climate education to life.