Education for sustainable development: 2013

Saturday 5 October 2013

HEFCE Project Legacy

Dear Colleagues

re: HEFCE Leadership, Governance and Management project: Leading Curriculum Change for Sustainability

We would like to share news with you regarding outcomes from the HEFCE LGM-funded UK project on ESD and Quality, which completed in autumn 2012.

At its final meeting, the project’s Expert Advisory Board recommended that the project legacy should be developed through: i) an inter-agency event to promote greater sector-wide collaboration on ESD; ii) contributions as appropriate to QAA’s work to develop guidance and frameworks for ESD; and iii) strategic dissemination of project insights both in the UK and internationally.

In response to this, the following activities have taken place:

QAA’s national guidance on ESD: members of the project team were invited to join the working group convened by QAA and HEA to develop national guidance for teaching staff on ESD - and to present insights from the HEFCE LGM project as part of the external consultation event for this guidance, which takes place on 5^th November in Birmingham.

HEA Conference and UK Teaching and Learning Forums: we hosted a discussion panel at the annual HEA Conference in July, themed around students participation in shaping the curriculum and featuring the HEFCE project work alongside the influential NUS and HEA research findings over the past 3 years into student demand for ESD. This was well attended and most importantly had strong contributions from excellent student panellists: Dom Anderson from the NUS and Mike Williamson from sparqs (Student Participation in Quality Scotland). Project partners have also presented at conferences held by the QAA, Association for Learning and Development in HE, Society for Research into HE, Leadership Foundation for HE, Royal Geographical Society and EAUC.

International Discussions: We had opportunities to bring the project issues to a wider international audience at the World Environmental Education Conference in Marrakech in June, where we organised a roundtable session to debate issues around ESD and quality with perspectives from Greece (with Prof Michael Scoullos) and Spain (with Prof Javier Benayas del Alamo) and a range of contributors from different regions – with lively discussion and plenty of opportunity to share materials and ideas. In addition, Mr Anthony McClaran, CEO of the UK QAA, presented the project at the international quality assurance agencies conference (INQAAHE) in Taiwan this year. The level of international interest in this strategic ESD agenda at both events was notable and the project features in a forthcoming UNU publication on the transformation of HE towards sustainable development linked to the Rio+20 Treaty on HE.

4. New Publication on ESD and Quality: the project team was invited to contribute to a special issue of the Curriculum Journal, titled Education for Sustainable Development as the DESD Approaches 2014: What Have We Achieved and Ways Forward? This article is now published and can be viewed at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09585176.2013.779287. The citation is: Ryan, A & Tilbury, D (2013) “Uncharted waters: voyages for Education for Sustainable Development in the higher education curriculum”, Curriculum Journal Volume 24, Issue 2

The HEFCE project has been part of an increasing and encouraging momentum around ESD in the HE sector in the last few years, with interest growing among all key sector agencies. We look forward to the outcomes of the QAA consultation and other key initiatives such as the NUS Green Fund projects, in helping to raise the stakes in this important area of work.

With best wishes,

Alex and Daniella

On behalf of the HEFCE LGM project team partners:

John Blewitt

Martin Haigh

Harriet Sjerps-Jones

Pauline Ridley

Marie Harder

Professor Daniella Tilbury

Director of Sustainability

Dr Alex Ryan

Associate Director of Sustainability (Academic)

DH204 Dunholme Villa, Park Campus

University of Gloucestershire GL50 2RH

Telephone: 01242 715416 or 01242 577976 (UK)

The future of quality Higher Education includes the Sustainability imperative:

Latest Publication:

Ryan, A & Tilbury, D (2013) “Uncharted waters: voyages for Education for Sustainable Development in the higher education curriculum”

Curriculum Journal, Volume 24, Issue 2: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09585176.2013.779287

Online Resource:

Guide to Quality and Education for Sustainability in HE: http://efsandquality.glos.ac.uk/

David Andrew,
HEA CPD Manager
Senior Tutor

Centre for Academic and Professional Development
Queen Mary University of London

Mile End, London E1 4NS

02078822803

02081446753

Book an appointment with me at http://doodle.com/DavidAndrew

My profiles:

ESD seminars

Influence, Implement, Engage. The triple imperative for ESD in HE
29 November 2013, University of the West of England
Enterprise and Sustainability: future thinking in curricular approaches
9 January 2014, University of Bristol
New to ESD?: Integrating Education for Sustainable Development in Teaching and the Student Experience
22 January 2014, Keele University
The Campus as a Living Laboratory - Exploring place-based approaches to ESD
12 February 2014, Cardiff University
Integrating ‘Sustainability’ within Degree Programmes: Towards a Student Handbook
28 February 2014, University of East Anglia
Food4Thought: A whole university approach to embedding ESD
12 March 2014, Nottingham Trent University
Embedding education for sustainability in a creative and multi-disciplinary context
25 March 2014, Bath Spa University

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Fwd: SRHE:'Higher Education as if the World Mattered'

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	SRHE:'Higher Education as if the World Mattered'
Date:	Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:34:48 +0000
From:	Francois Smit <fsmit@srhe.ac.uk>

‘Higher Education as if the World Mattered’

Paterson’s Land, Moray House School of Education, Holyrood Road, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 8AQ.

Thursday 25^th and Friday 26^th April 2013

organised by

The Higher Education Research Group

(Institute for Education, Community and Society, The University of Edinburgh)

in partnership with

The Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE)

Higher education matters in this world. Indeed, it matters more than ever before in its long history. In the so-called ‘knowledge economy’ and ‘knowledge society’ higher education is high on every government’s agenda.

This conference will seek to explore social justice in and through higher education by examining recent policies and practices in relation to six broad strands of higher education: Research and knowledge mobilisation; Curriculum; Pedagogy; Access and participation; Institutional leadership; Quality and educational development.

Over the two days paper presenters and keynote speakers will seek to analyse the assumptions underpinning policy and practice, arrive at judgements about the extent to which the world is seen to matter and offer suggestions on how things could be different from how they are. Running across these six strands are concerns related to internationalisation, funding, and lifelong learning.

Keynote Speakers

Professor Melanie Walker, Free State University, SA

Professor Monica McLean, University of Nottingham, UK

Professor Jon Nixon, Senior Research Fellow, Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIE), and Honorary Professor, University of Sheffield, UK

Professor Ray Land, Durham University, UK

Conference Registration

To book a place please visit http://www.srhe.ac.uk/events/details.asp?eid=77

The fees (£140) include all refreshments during the day on both days (excluding dinner) and the conference programme.

Yours sincerely

Francois Smit

SRHE Event Manager

Society for Research into Higher Education

73 Collier Street

London N1 9BE

Telephone 0207 427 2350

Fax number 0207 278 1135

srheoffice@srhe.ac.uk

http://www.srhe.ac.uk

David Andrew,
Head of Academic Practice
Senior Tutor

The Learning Institute
Queen Mary, University of London