In Summer 2018, DMU’s Education for Sustainable Development Forum consulted with colleagues on what it could look like if DMU successfully put Education for the Sustainable Development Goals at the heart of the learning experience at the university. Thirty staff from a range of roles attended a workshop and over 50 staff responded to an online survey.
The consultation aimed to explore an ambitious vision for embedded sustainable development learning, identify activities that could work towards that vision and explore current practice related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The report and supporting evidence can be downloaded below.
Key Findings
The main findings from this work are not binding, as further consultation will be carried out over coming months to develop specific plans.
Some conclusions drawn were an overall vision statement (see below), four principles for how to tackle this work (making sustainability education Integrated, Distinctive, Embedded and Ambitious) and three main areas of activity: the Taught Curriculum, Co-curricular Activities and Events; and ‘Be the Change’ (focussed on DMU walking the talk on sustainable development, and linking this to learning).
Our vision?
DMU is a Higher Education sector leader in Education for the Sustainable Development Goals (ESDG), enabling and inspiring students, staff and our wider community to collectively learn about and act on the SDGs, now and in the future
The consultation generated over 200 suggested activities which can be used in future as a repository of ideas for further work. These included developing a certificate award for students, staff and alumni to recognise learning and action on sustainability, providing SeeD Grants for SDGs to support staff/student-led projects and supporting staff to engage further via training and a network of SDG champions.
It also highlighted strong support amongst respondents for DMU’s adoption of the SDG agenda, and a wide range of existing practice that addresses the SDGs via Teaching and Research.
Next Steps
The conversation with staff and students is very much ongoing to explore how DMU acts on its strategic commitments via our strategic plan and learning, teaching and assessment strategy to put sustainable development at the heart of the DMU experience.
Contact with the ESD Forum on sustainability@dmu.ac.uk to share your thinking on how embedded sustainability education could be done at DMU and the opportunities or challenges linked to your role.
Download the report here:
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