An inclusive approach to sustainability education
“Isn’t there a risk that efforts towards sustainability can exclude some of our students?”
“Shouldn’t we be focusing on dealing with inequality now rather than a far-off future?”
“Do we have time for sustainability as well as the demands of ensuring our teaching materials are inclusive?”
“Sustainability education with its focus on field trips is ableist”.
These are just some of the questions and objections raised when introducing the Sustainable Curriculum in an academic environment. These are legitimate questions, after all tackling sustainability challenges often means considering trade-offs. However, we can address these if we focus on a values-led approach and ensure all needs and perspectives are considered in our approach to embedding sustainability across the curriculum.
In the Leeds Sustainable Curriculum programme, we aim to provide our students with the knowledge and skills they need to have a positive impact in the world and to contribute solutions in our local community, and globally in an equitable and just way.
In promoting education for sustainable development, our aim is not to compete for academic attention with ethics or skills agendas across higher education such as inter-cultural awareness, inclusivity, or decolonisation. We aim to promote an integrated approach to curriculum design and student experience that builds on shared principles and approaches from complementary themes, and that equips students to deal with local and global challenges, now and in the future.
This means embedding sustainability across all programmes, across all disciplines, and providing opportunities for all students. The UN (United Nations) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include specific goals on equality (SDG5 on gender inequality and SDG10 on reducing inequalities), and an element of SDG8 aims to ensure that workplaces respect human rights and promote decent work. SDG16 focused on peace, justice and strong institutions is often side-lined, but is strongly connected to inclusivity, both with respect to our students and varied worldviews and backgrounds, with a focus on individuals and also the institutional and cultural context in which they are embedded. We see the SDGs as an integrated package that aims to ‘leave no one behind’ and recognising and the interdependence of environmental integrity, social justice, equality, and economic prosperity across all the goals.
Developing inclusive sustainability education practice
However committed we might be to these sustainability goals, there are challenges for educators in ensuring that we are inclusive in our practice.
If we are to be inclusive, we need to ensure that all students have an opportunity to develop the skills that are important for sustainable futures. This means that when developing and engaging in education for sustainability, we must make sure that all students feel able to participate and engage with the learning and activities and that we do not make assumptions about background knowledge or experiences, e.g. implying that all participants have travelled beyond their home area or have easy access to equipment.
We have six institutional priorities for inclusivity and accessibility at the University of Leeds.
- Respond to the 2010 Equality Act for Disabled Students
- Enable an accessible & welcoming Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
- Embed inclusive assessment practices
- Incorporate decolonial education principles
- Create meaningful connections
- Create psychologically safe spaces
We have considerable progress with accessibility of sustainability education. For example, where field trips are core to learning outcomes inclusive sustainability education practice starts by designing the activities and selecting the location to ensure that people with all physical abilities can participate, as in this geology field course example, or providing relevant equipment such as walking boots or rain-proof jackets. Recognising that challenges related to field trips do not always relate to physical challenges, we could also develop activities that take students to more familiar locations to develop skills of enquiry such as city-based experiential learning activities that are less expensive and more flexible for people with limited spare time.
However, what about sustainability education more broadly and in relation to other aspects of inclusive pedagogical practice?
In 2024-25 we led a series of workshops to build up insights into how sustainability pedagogies can be designed and delivered inclusively, with a focus on institutional priorities 4, 5 and 6.
The first of these was with the network of School Academic Leads for Inclusive Pedagogies (SALIPs), followed by sessions at the Student Success and Student Education Conferences. This first workshop began by exploring participants’ understanding of sustainability pedagogies. We reminded colleagues of the nine sustainability skills in the Leeds Skills Matrix and then had a conversation about the about the foundation of skills for sustainable development as set out in UNESCO’s guide to learning objectives for education for sustainable development. This has three elements:
- Ways of Thinking: systems thinking, future thinking and critical thinking: the head
- Ways of Practising: strategic, collaborative and integrated problem solving: the hands
- Ways of Being: being self-aware and recognising values: the heart
We have found the ‘head, hands, heart’ model as a useful way of thinking about which of the sustainability skills have a particular affinity with inclusivity pedagogy.
If we focus on ‘ways of being’, the connection between sustainability education and pedagogies to promote decolonisation and inclusivity are particularly strong. So, being reflective of our own position, of who we are in the world as educators, is a great starting point for a more sustainable, inclusive and decolonial curriculum.
As a colleague said, “I think there is so much crossover with inclusive practice ... and also it can be a decolonization agenda as well because we have to think about our kind of positionality in terms of what we might think is kind of right, or just or, what needs to happen in parts of the world”. These sentiments were echoed by another colleague: “we need to be a lot more explicit with students about why we teach what we teach”. Reflective practice is important for both staff and students.
Insights from Inclusive Sustainability Education workshops
To think about what sustainability education means for inclusive practice we considered the extent to which the skills development pedagogies proposed in relation to sustainability problems may exclude some students based on cultural, physical neurological or other characteristics. This led to the subsequent workshops focusing on curriculum development ideas that came from a starting point of student strengths.
In our workshops we focused on the design of a group activity focused on solving a sustainability problem (See below). We asked participants to design the delivery of this activity and assessment in a way that everyone in the class is able to participate equitably and develop the sustainability skills need for the task.
Case study used in the workshops
A group of 6 final year students have been set an interdisciplinary project on the theme of enacting climate justice within Leeds
- Each participant in the project develops their own case study that relates to the theme.
- Assessment is based on jointly written introduction, short individual essay, and group presentation that synthesizes the learning from the case studies.
Work in your group focusing on skill development that is inclusive of the needs and identities of the students.
- Identify 2-3 sustainability skills that are relevant to the task
- How can these be developed inclusively?
We recognised that the kind of collaborative and interactive activity can be a challenge where students feel that their language skills, neurodiversity or shyness mean that they can’t contribute. As educators we need to design these activities carefully and focus on the varied roles that make group work a success and make the experience less intimidating so that all contributions are valued.
The participants were reminded about some design tips developed by SALIPs, developed through empathy mapping of student personas reflecting their aspirations, contexts and insights they might contribute (Figure 1). Empathy mapping prompted discussion of students' strengths and the need to need to focus on strengths, not challenges. Recognising that openness towards difference from the outset is important in curriculum design and delivery led to the generation of curriculum development ideas.
Some suggestions for designing inclusive activities
This kind of active learning group task is typical of sustainability education as it aims to highlight the importance of considering multiple perspectives to tackle a ‘wicked problem’. Wicked problems are characterised by there being no simple solutions, with interventions then raising their own challenges. The open-ended nature of the task, and the skills required – especially the need for negotiation and compromise – can raise challenges for students, especially those with protected characteristics or that may come from atypical backgrounds. See here for further guidance on group work in a way that recognises cultural dominance.
Our participants identified a range of approaches to ensure that the design of this kind of sustainability education activity is inclusive.
First colleagues considered the logistics of the activity and assessment, e.g. approach to group formation, timing of the activity, and rooms, and the need for check in points.
The case study was purposefully set up as a level 3 activity to encourage participants to think about how to scaffold the development of relevant skills throughout their degree. Participants generated ideas for building skills in collaboration, including how they internalised good practice for group interactions, recognising roles through practice in earlier years.
Beyond the mechanics of collaborative working, there needs to be some consideration of the role of interdisciplinary working by working in mixed-discipline teams early in the programme, for example on smaller projects. They highlighted the need for students to develop a shared core sustainability literacy that encompasses diverse perspectives.
With respect to systems thinking, it was suggested that in level 1 students are introduced to the idea by considering their lived experience. In level 2 develop richer pictures of systems and move from concepts and case studies to examples of action, analysing what happens next. Then in level 3, then they are more ready to develop their own solutions. Similarly for futures orientation thinking, in level 1, they suggested starting by engaging with existing scenarios, for example considering how does climate change impact different communities differently? This could be followed in level 2 by imagining scenarios in level 2. In level 3 they could develop their approach to anticipatory or future thinking by reflecting on uncertainty.
Partnership working across Educational Enhancement themes
Across the Leeds Skills Matrix the importance of collaboration and critical thinking shines through the different skills domains. This means that we need to support students in developing skills to critique and challenge the dominant ideas and structures that shape our society and direct us to ways of being that are damaging the earth.
This means that when working on the Leeds Sustainable Curriculum we can and should view this in conjunction with other complementary themes such as decolonisation and the hidden curriculum to enrich our practice and foster an equitable approach to sustainability. In fact, a recent study suggested that ‘sustainability curriculum can also be learned through DEI’, or diversity, equality and inclusivity, activities, because ‘DEI is vital to creative problem-solving, activating the diversity in a classroom to advance student learning of sustainability should be the aim’ (p.2).
To further these goals relating to an inclusive approach to sustainability education, and to connect this with other aspects of social justice across education practice at the University, the Sustainable Curriculum Team is working closely with the teams across the university who are working on the Access and Student Success Strategy, to create a sense of belonging, decolonise the curriculum and ensure that our teaching practices are inclusive. For example, we worked together to create this guide: "How might we ensure that students feel seen, respected and valued" .
We need to develop an inclusive approach to sustainable curriculum in a way that enables future thinking that leads to hopefulness, action and social change, not despair, anxiety and inertia. The Eco-Hope Project here at Leeds, co-developed by staff and students and with social enterprise Nifty Sustainability, reflects the call for a ‘pedagogy of hope’ by Doug Bourn (2021) who argues for ‘a way forward that shows that change is possible’ through teaching and learning that gives some indications as to what can be achieved.
Further resources and links
Work on a Just Transition brings together climate change and social justice, see work at Leeds
Find out more about decolonial education at Leeds here.
Project on Neurodivergence and Sustainability - Neurodivergence, Climate Action, and Eco Hope showcase link here on YouTube
Inclusivity & Accessibility (SharePoint site) covering all aspects of inclusive learning and teaching, belonging and decolonising. The site is organised to align with the UK Professional Standards Framework for Higher Education
Teach & Support Learning: Group Work (from Inclusivity & Accessibility SharePoint site)
by Anne Tallontire, Jenny Brady, Ariana Phillips-Hutton, September 2025
We use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to guide our activity. Our work on the Sustainable Curriculum is linked to the following SDGs:
- Goal 4: Quality Education
- Goal 5: Gender Equality
- Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
Find out more about our impact on the SDGs.
