Abstract
Finding ways to bring sustainability into the curriculum in meaningful ways is a challenge faced by universities worldwide. This paper explores how one UK university is responding by developing a futures perspective which can be applied both within and across disciplines. A variety of small scale projects have been initiated across the university including course innovation, one-off conferences, community engagement and international links. This approach is underpinned by clearly articulated principles and aims to build the capacity of staff and students. The examples presented illustrate the richness of the responses from different discipline areas. It is argued that building relationships has a key role in promoting long term institutional change and that staff development is crucial in initiating change. Deeper analysis using ideas drawn from social learning theory suggest that structures need to be able to embrace multiple perspectives and be organically responsive. This paper will be of particular interest to those who are interested in understanding processes which have the potential to embed sustainability thinking on a lasting level, rather than simply meeting short term targets and outcomes.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Booth T, Ainscow M (2010) Index for inclusion: developing learning and participation in schools. Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, Bristol, UK, p 190
Cotton D, Sterling S, Neal V, Winter J (eds) (2012) Putting the ‘S’ into ED—education for sustainable development in educational developments. Staff and Educational Development Association, London, UK, p 38
Deleuze G, Guattari F (1999) A thousand plateaus: capitalism and schizophrenia, London, UK, Athlone, p 687
Jones P, Selby D, Sterling S (2010) Sustainability education: perspectives and practice across higher education. Earthscan, London, UK 364 p
Knight P (2005) Unsustainable developments, The Guardian, 8 February. Available at http://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/feb/08/highereducation.administration (Last Accessed 29 Mar 2014)
Lovelock J (2007) The revenge of gaia, London, UK, Penguin, p 222
McCoshan A (2013) Reflections on the impact of green Academy at canterbury christ church, unpublished internally commissioned report, p 8
Rittel HWJ, Webber MM (1973) Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sci 4:155–169
Scoffham S, Buckley Sander J, Bracewell J (2014) Developing a sustainability mindset: a collaborative approach to staff development. In: Education for sustainable development and global citizenship: good practice case studies in higher education, Higher Education Academy Available at http://bit.ly/14Yyggc (Last Accessed 29 Mar 2014)
Stirling S (2000) Sustainable education: revisioning learning and change. Green Books, Totnes, Devon, UK, p 96
UNESCO (2005) Guidelines and recommendations for re-orientating teacher education to address sustainability, Available at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001433/143370e.pdf (Last Accessed 29 Mar 2014)
Wenger E (1998) Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p 318
WWF (2012) Living planet report 2012, Available at http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report/2012_lpr/ (Last Accessed 29 Mar 2014)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Scoffham, S., Kemp, N. (2015). It’s Contagious! Developing Sustainability Perspectives in Academic Life at a UK University. In: Leal Filho, W., Azeiteiro, U., Caeiro, S., Alves, F. (eds) Integrating Sustainability Thinking in Science and Engineering Curricula. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09474-8_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09474-8_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-09473-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-09474-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)