Sustainability Report 2023/24: our progressEducation for Sustainability

Strathclyde is home to a significant number of research groups focused on reducing environmental impact and managing a just transition towards a fairer and greener future. Our role as Scotland Hub lead for the UK Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) allows us to lead from the front lines of Sustainability focused work and build connections between academia and industry.

Our New Strategic Vision

In 2023, Strathclyde committed to formally placing Education for Sustainable Development at the heart of our curricula, which was later made formal by its inclusion in the University Strategy Strathclyde 2030 as KPI 15: Sustainable Development.

All education programmes have programme level learning outcomes related to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). These should encompass integration of the UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development skills and competencies, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and appropriate pedagogical methods.

This signals our commitment to giving our students the necessary skills and competencies to think about the world around them and the implications of their personal and professional decisions on people and the planet. To help deliver this ambition, the University’s Education Strategic Committee approved a University-wide action plan in December 2023.

Embedding ESD in the curriculum

Following our new strategic commitment, a significant focus this year for embedding ESD in the curriculum has been on building a resource base to support faculties in the adoption of this goal.

Mapping & baselining

Taking inspiration from the Education & Training Foundation (ETF) tool for Green Skills, our Centre for Sustainable Development worked with colleagues across faculties and Strathclyde Inspire to develop a simple mapping tool to baseline how well ESD, Entrepreneurship & Enterprise, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), are embedded across our curricula.

The mapping tool will be launched at departmental level for all degree programmes in 2024/25 to help us understand where our curricula is already embedding ESD, and where there are opportunities to include this further.

ESD Resource Hub

This year, we developed an internal SharePoint Hub to accommodate training and support materials for mainstreaming ESD, with dedicated sub-pages showing how to access and effectively use the ESD mapping tool and providing case studies to facilitate embedding ESD in teaching and learning.

The hub provides a starting point for staff and students to engage with ESD through asynchronous, self-led support with videos, micro CPD series and resource links.

Staff can access our ESD Resource Hub on Sharepoint.

Training Beyond the curriculum

We recognise the importance of training our staff, and providing upskilling opportunities to external partners, to improve understanding and engagement with sustainability in their day-to-day roles.

Throughout the 2023-24 academic year, we improved and expanded existing courses for staff, delivered training through our Executive Education department, and supported extra-curricular challenges on sustainable development for students through the Strathclyde Inspire Exploring Entrepreneurship Challenge (EEC).

  • our ‘Introduction to Sustainable Development’ course expanded in 2023-24 to become our Sustainability Learning Passport - a platform which enables staff and students to engage in a variety of both credit and non-credit bearing opportunities related to sustainability. It now includes more content on climate action and directs participants to sign up to person workshops and credit bearing classes
  • funding from the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council helped the Strathclyde Executive Education Development (SEED) deliver a module on SDG policy and practice to 20 participants from a diverse range of sectors including energy electrification start-ups, sustainable housing, and new SMEs
  • we supported this year's Exploring Entrepreneurship Challenge by co-delivering a workshop in each semester helping students to understand sustainability fundamentals, the SDGs and the Scottish context for each. The EEC engaged a total of 156 students, with representation from all four faculties, and the collaboration has strengthened the EEC’s ability to connect learning through entrepreneurship with meaningful, sustainability-focused outcomes