Centre for Sustainable Futuresat the University of Plymouth

ESD CETLwww.plymouth.ac.uk/cetl/esd

Dr Stephen Sterling

Schumacher Reader in Education for Sustainability

Quote 1: ‘Reinventing the university’

‘…it is pre-eminently in the universities that we should be thinking hardest about the implications of this whole world-system for our common life and its future, and bringing the best of our available intelligence to bear on the necessary changes. If not there, where? If that’s not the business of universities in the early twenty-first century, what on earth are they for?’

-John Foster, 2007

From review of Michael M’Gonigle’s Planet U: Reinventing the University

‘My perception that universities have pretty well isolated themselves from society, through their academic detachment, and that’s the way they’ve made themselves rather irrelevant to current issues of sustainability, which are absolutely critical. ….

And…so I’ve felt that university education has to go radically localised, in the sense of integrating student learning with the local community. Universities have to become dedicated in service to their community…..

…that’s something that I see emerging quite strongly now…this is going to radicalise University education, and make it relevant.’

- Academic, University of Plymouth, 2005

Quote 2: ‘Make it relevant’

Centre for Sustainable Futures Has a mandate for transforming the University of

Plymouth into an institution modelling university-wide excellence in SD/ESD

Aims to have all students engage critically with sustainability agendas and their personal, ethical, professional and personal implications

Seeks to embed ESD into curriculum, learning and teaching across all schools

Undertakes pedagogical and institutional change research so development is research-informed

Aims to play a key role nationally by engaging with HEIs, Higher Education Academy and Subject Centres, HEFCE, EAUC etc

20 Centre Fellows across Schools and Faculties

Campus Community Curriculum

Key structures

Fora

Centre FellowsCore team

DirectorAsst DirectorReader

Research Fellow

Centre Manager

Three Research Assistants

Support staff

Student placements

Steering Group

Reps across UP and external partners

IWG

Interdisciplinary curriculum working group

Environment Committee

Wave model of change

Curriculum

CommunityCampus

Culture

Whole systems approach

To enhance student and staff experience through embedding sustainability across

the curriculum

To embed sustainability

practice across the UoP campus

To contribute to the regional sustainability

agenda through university / community

partnerships

To engage with a cultural backcloth and

attendant practices that feed

unsustainability

The four C model

What are your ‘unique selling points’?

• Only CETL set up specifically to engage in whole system change

• Working to crack the ‘curriculum nut’

• Research emphasis – research ‘about’ and ‘as’ change- nine strands, evaluation and meta research

• Four ‘C’ model

• Centre Fellow model

• Implementing systemic change approach

• Student support

• Chancellery support

• Links with other CETLS – proposed ‘Plymouth Academy’

• Partnership with Schumacher College

What research, tools and otherresources have been created through the Plymouth CSF CETL and how can the sector access these?

• Sustainability policy

• Generic module

• L&T framework

• Staff Wiki resource

• Research tools: student/staff perceptions; curriculum audit

• Website

How is your CETL engaging with the wider HEI community?

Links with:

• Regional networking – Partner colleges; SW ESD Coalition; HE SW Academy network

• HE Academy ESD Project and Joint Link Group

• Papers and articles, book forthcoming, CPD workshops, conference presentations

• Links to HEFCE, EAUC, Forum etc

• International links – IMESD, UNESCO, GHESP, OECD, Tbilisi plus 30 conference etc

How will the wider HE sector become more sustainable as a result of the Plymouth CSF CETL?

• Dissemination – website, papers, seminars, conferences etc

• HE Academy ESD Project staff link: module, framework, strategy, conference inputs etc

• Staff Wiki resource

• Joint projects/initiatives – Bradford, Manchester, Concordia etc

• CPD

• Feeding into HEFCE Strategic Review and follow-up

Centre for Sustainable FuturesKirkby LodgeUniversity of PlymouthDrake CircusDevon PL4 8AA

01752 238890

csf@plymouth.ac.uk

ESD CETLwww.plymouth.ac.uk/cetl/esd

Building the future…!