Embedding Sustainability in Teaching

The Leeds University Network for Sustainability in HE (LUNSHE) has been developed to provide a community for educators at the University to learn, discover and share best practice in embedding sustainability in the curriculum. Meetings take place monthly during term time and are open to all interested staff.

Employers are increasingly seeing environmental and climate literacy as critical in addressing the challenges they face around inter-related social, economic and environmental challenges. This is impacting future employment roles and societal needs.

The Sustainable Curriculum programme has contributed to the development of the Leeds Skills Matrix (internal link only) and provided a list of sustainability skills and definitions. This model supports staff in exploring the skills value of degree programmes and how sustainability skills sit within this.

The Leeds Skills Matrix is part of the Careers Service led Surfacing Skills Project.

Work is underway to map sustainability in the existing curriculum, including through projects led by Student Sustainability Architects. This approach is designed to identify where there sustainability is already present, and where there are opportunities to further embed sustainability into existing and new modules.

Examples of embedding sustainability in the curriculum include:

• The School of Medicine have integrated sustainability into their Population Health module through developing a course on Planetary Health.
• Leeds University Business School (LUBS) students have integrated sustainability into the Commercial & Professional Skills Module.
• The School of Chemical & Process Engineering have integrated sustainability into the year one design projects undertaken by students

All students have the opportunity to study sustainability within their projects and dissertations, and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals provide a wide ranging context for student sustainability research. Our list of research project ideas provides inspiration for students considering their dissertation or major project topics. We also run a student dissertation survey designed to understand the range of sustainability linked dissertations undertaken at the University.

The Leeds Living Lab programme can support students to undertake research which uses our campus and community as a test bed. One example of this is Gabi Kiryluk's climate themed interactive digital final year project which was installed on campus during Climate Week 2023.

Students can also gain experience in presenting their research at the annual Student Sustainability Research Conference.

Student placements offer the opportunity both to develop student sustainability and professional skills, and to benefit the organisations they work within. Placement opportunities can be internal within the Univeristy, for example the Sustainability service internship programme, or at external organisations such as the student placement at Open Source Arts during which a University of Leeds student developed their net zero carbon roadmap.

Increasingly sustainability and equality, inclusion and diversity are represented within the criterion used by the external accrediting bodies we work with.

Leeds University Business School (LUBS) have demonstrated their commitment to embedding sustainability as signatories of Principles of Responsible Management and responding to requirements from the Association to Advance Collegiate Business Schools and other accrediting bodies.

The Quality Assurance Agency work with subject specialists to prepare subject specific benchmark statements that outline, 'what graduates might reasonably be expected to know, do and understand at the end of their studies'.

These are being revised to reflect wider social goals of equality, diversity and inclusivity; Education for Sustainable Development; requirements of disabled students; and enterprise and entrepreneurship.

We have a set of Sustainability Induction units in Minerva for staff and students: our Introduction to Sustainability, this takes approximately 1 hour and will introduce learners to sustainability definitions, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the global challenges they represent. For a more in depth exploration of sustainability issues and information on how the university is responding we also offer our Sustainability in Practice unit and a separate unit specifically on our Environmental Management System. All are non-credit bearing and available as self-led learning material.