New Sustainability and Climate Change Course Launched

A new introductory sustainability and climate change course has been launched for all students and staff at the University of Leeds, helping them to get started with understanding some of the biggest challenges facing society. 

Developed as part of the Sustainable Curriculum principle of the University’s Climate Plan, the course is available on Minerva and takes around an hour to complete. It is designed to be a first step into learning about sustainability and climate change. 

The course gives students from any discipline or background a grounding in sustainability, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as an understanding of climate science. It has been included in a suite of student sustainability induction resources that are available to all students. 

Access the course now

 

Dr Jonas Cromwell, who developed the course, said: 

The 'Introduction to Sustainability module' was developed in response to the University’s Climate Plan commitments, particularly the core principle of providing a Sustainable Curriculum - which seeks to enable all our students to have the opportunity to study, research, work and participate in sustainability as part of their studies. It makes this learning opportunity available to all students as we aim to equip them with the knowledge that they need as global citizens ready to tackle global issues. 

The Sustainable Curriculum programme is working to embed sustainability in teaching and learning across the University, so that students can understand sustainability in the context of the subject they are studying. Its delivery is integrated within the University’s wider Curriculum Redefined programme and stretches across its three pillars – your course, your future, our world. 

The new introductory course will ensure students are well equipped to take advantage of the wider opportunities available through the Sustainable Curriculum, which include elective Discovery modules, undertaking their own sustainability linked projects and research, the annual Student Sustainability Research Conference and other co and extra curricular opportunities. 

Sustainable Curriculum Project Manager Clare Jackson added: 

We recognise more and more that students want to learn about how sustainability topics relate to their discipline as well as the interconnection across environmental, economic and social global challenges. The new module is also available to staff, benefiting those who are new to exploring how their subject area relates to the UN SDGs.

Support for teaching staff includes the Leeds University Network for Sustainability in Higher Education (LUNSHE) which holds monthly network meetings. The meetings give the opportunity to meet the Sustainable Curriculum programme team and to network with colleagues with differing levels of experience and approaches to embedding sustainability within teaching.  

 

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United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

We use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to guide our activity. Our work on Sustainable Curriculum is linked to all of the SDGs, including:

• Goal 4: Quality Education
• Goal 13: Climate Action

Find out more about our impact on the SDGs.