Creating a more just and sustainable society through education

1. Creating a more just and sustainable society through education De Montfort University, 27 June 2019 Quinn Runkle, Education for Sustainable Development Programme Manager, Department for Sustainability

2. Aims for today Share with you the interest and demand from students to include sustainability in their learning; Explain what this demand actually looks like; Demonstrate how sustainability can embedded across many disciplines; And say why this matters for students, our universities, and wider society.

3. What do students want? c50,000 student respondents over the last 8 years https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/our-research/our-research/skills-and-sustainable-development

4. Students around the world express their concern about climate change UK International Governments from across the world should do whatever it takes to address climate change I am concerned about the effects of climate change I would vote for a Government that increased action to tackle climate change Climate change will negatively affect me and my lifestyle Q. How concerned, if at all, are you about climate change? [Responses shown for very or fairly concerned] * Statistically significant change over the previous quarter (at the 95% confidence level) Base : In brackets Balance: No response or not concerned

6. When we’re talking about sustainability, what do we mean…?

7. Research on student understanding of and interest in the SDGs Tracking questions included in NUS TOTUM omnibus survey, more SDGs added monthly https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/our-research/our-research-reports/student-opinion-sustainable-development-goals In the UK: 67% hadn't heard of the SDGs prior to answering a survey about them, but 61% say they would like to learn more about the SDGs. 81% agree that the government should actively lead and support achievement of the SDGs. Goal 13, climate action, is seen as the most important goal, and climate change is reported as being the most important issue facing the world today.

8. If we’re going to achieve the SDGs, what sort of graduates do we need?

9. “Sustainable development should be taught about early on, especially for people of our age who are still learning, so we go out into the world with a set of expectation and know what isn’t right and needs to be changed. Many things in the past have not been designed or developed with sustainability in mind, and teaching us this might be a good way to encourage change.” Student, 2018 NUS Skills Survey

10. Education for sustainable development vs. education about sustainable development Education for sustainable development is the process of equipping students with 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. Higher Education Academy & Quality Assurance Agency guidance on ESD (2014) “Education for Sustainable Development helps the citizens of the world to learn their way to a more sustainable future.” UN Decade of ESD 2005-2014

11. To what extent are students experiencing teaching and learning on sustainability skills in higher education?

12. SDG Teach-In 17th – 21st February 2020 19 institutions 206 educators 17,521 students An annual international campaignfor academics to pledge to include the SDGs in their teaching, learning, and assessment. #SDGTeachIn

13. Embedding sustainability through all parts of the student learning experience

14. Making sustainability relevant to the discipline and meaningful for students #SustainabilityAtoZ

15. Making sustainability relevant to the discipline and meaningful for students #SustainabilityAtoZ

16. Making sustainability relevant to the discipline and meaningful for students #SustainabilityAtoZ

17. Making sustainability relevant to the discipline and meaningful for students #SustainabilityAtoZ

18. NTU’s Future Thinking Strategy

19. Bristol Futures Strategy “If a university genuinely teaches how to engage with ideas, then the outcome is a certain kind of creative resilience, and adaptability to different kinds of situation and challenge. The kinds of students who emerge from this sort of university will be precisely those who are not just ready for a particular profession and workplace but ‘career-ready’, or perhaps rather ‘life-ready’. They will be adaptable, confident, knowledgeable, cognitively and practically resilient and innovative, and aware of their social responsibilities as citizens of contemporary, globalized societies.” University of Bristol, Bristol Futures paper presented to Senate Feb 2016

20. University of Winchester’s Curriculum Audit Measuring the SDGs and ESD pedagogies across all modules

22. Looking beyond time in education, students show a desire to work for companies that perform strongly in relation to sustainable developmentMore broadly, respondents also show a strong demand for action on climate change International UK 15% 5% 61% would accept a salary 15% lower than average to work in a company with a good social and environmental record 61% would accept a salary 15% lower than average to work in a job that contributes to positive social and environmental change 88% would accept a salary 5% lower than average to work in a company with a good social and environmental record Q: Assuming all other factors are equal, please select which option you think that you would choose. Weighted base: In brackets next to each question. Balance: No response

23. Employer perceptions of sustainability skills IEMA: https://www.iema.net/policy/sustainability-skills-in-infrastructure.pdf 75% of employers believe that a broad based sustainability skills gap exists (out of 900 global businesses). Only 13 per cent of companies are fully confident that they have the skills to successfully compete in the sustainable economy.

25. Thank you! To keep in touch: www.nus.org.uk/sustainability @NUS_Sustainable Quinn Runkle quinn.runkle@nus.org.uk @quinn_runkle