Quick-start guide for embedding sustainability
This guide is intended to offer support to educators interested in integrating sustainability education into their course. The six steps below will take you through an evidence-based process to sustainability-inclusive courses.
On this page:
Choose your focus
Select a sustainability topic or a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) that aligns seamlessly with your course content.
- Start small and incrementally, closely relating to core course content, to prevent overwhelm for yourself and students.
- Use the UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs – Learning Objectives—if you wish to tie your course content to global sustainability initiatives like the SDGs.
- Address one or more of the three pillars of sustainability—Environment, Society and Economy. Introducing a fourth pillar, Technology, might engage fields within STEM.
- Connect sustainability issues relatable for students, focusing on real-world issues they encounter daily.
Plan how students engage
Consider the following instructional objectives when embedding a sustainability lens into your course:
| Engage the Cognitive Domain | Deepen awareness of the three pillars of sustainability and their interdependencies. |
| Engage the Affective (Socio-emotional) Domain | Emphasize inner capabilities like self-awareness, self-reflection, and respect for all life forms. Foster effective communication and negotiation skills with diverse individuals worldwide. |
| Engage the Behavioural Domain | Equip students with action competencies to become change agents and sustainable decision-makers. Encourage active engagement as a means to reducing eco-anxiety. |
| Engage the Sustainability Competencies | Highlight sustainability competencies applicable in academic and professional settings: Systems thinking, Futures thinking, Values thinking, Strategies thinking, Implementation, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Integration competencies. Refer to existing frameworks listed in the Resource section below for key competencies. |
Write student-friendly learning outcomes
Ensure your chosen sustainability focus is reflected in your learning outcome(s).
- Specify desired proficiency levels for student knowledge, values, and skills. Connect them back to the instructional objectives in step 2. Consider how you can allow your students to think, feel, and do.
- Write measurable and observable learning outcomes. For further information, please refer to this Teaching Academy guide on writing learning outcomes.
An example of a student-friendly learning outcome with a sustainability lens explained:
Example: Engineering
Learning Outcome: By the end of the course, students can discuss the application of engineering theories and methodologies in solving practical problems, such as structures design or electrical systems development, while demonstrating awareness of personal perspectives and their potential influence on design decisions within broader societal contexts.
- The instructional objectives encompass both affective and cognitive domains. Through discussion, students practice effective communication and negotiation skills, employing their cognitive abilities to comprehend how engineering theories inform solutions. By showcasing awareness of personal perspectives and their potential impact on decisions, students cultivate inner capabilities such as self-awareness, bridging affective exploration with cognitive development.
- This learning outcome addresses both technological and social aspects of sustainability. Discussions explore issues like accessibility, safety, and equity, aiming for solutions that improve communities’ quality of life. Engineers, recognizing personal biases such as cultural, gender, or socioeconomic biases, discuss applications that mitigate unintended consequences and promote equitable outcomes.
- Additionally, students identify structures and electrical systems that optimize resources and reduce project costs, falling within the economic pillar, while integrating environmental considerations, preserving natural resources and ecosystems. By interrogating this relationship with all the pillars of sustainability, students are engaging the cognitive domain.
Did you know? About 55% of Concordia faculty provide students with opportunities to take action towards achieving the SDGs in their courses, as per our recent mapping exercise at Concordia (2024). Let’s inspire more student action!
Here’s a sample learning outcome focusing on the behavioural domain:
Example: Environmental Studies
By engaging in literature review and critical analysis, students evaluate the multifaceted impacts of environmental issues, develop criteria to assess their severity, and formulate potential mitigation strategies. Based on this, students create a policy brief aimed at relevant stakeholders, including government officials, NGOs, and industry leaders, for dissemination and advocacy.
Revamp or create modules or lessons
- Redesign module(s) or lesson(s) around sustainability-focused learning outcome(s) defined in step 3.
- Develop a culminating project or assignment that promotes the sustainability-focused learning outcome(s), ensuring it enables students to demonstrate their learning effectively.
- Create new or revise teaching resources and activities to ensure students understand the specific content and can practice/perform the newly acquired skills.
- Align assessment methods and teaching resources to the sustainability-related learning outcome(s).
- Plan feedback opportunities to deepen student learning and align teaching materials with Universal Design for Learning practices as much as possible.
Here is an example of a redesigned learning activity and assessment for the previous Engineering learning outcome:
Example: Engineering
- Learning outcome: By the end of the course, students can discuss the application of engineering theories and methodologies in solving practical problems, such as structures design or electrical systems development, while demonstrating awareness of personal perspectives and their potential influence on design decisions within broader societal contexts.
- Learning activity: Case Study Analysis and Group Discussion. Students analyze real-world engineering case studies in groups, identifying engineering theories, personal biases, and societal impacts. Groups engage in facilitated discussions to share findings, serving as peer feedback.
- Assessment: Group Presentations and Societal Impact Report. Groups present their case study, considering technical feasibility (structural analysis, material selection, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact assessment) and societal impacts (economic, political, cultural, or environmental factors). Additionally, students write an individual Societal Impact Report, reflecting on personal or societal influences on design decisions, such as cultural background, personal values, and ethical considerations.
Adapt to a learner-centred approach
Shift from traditional teaching methods towards encouraging students to critically engage with the topic using scenarios, contexts, and examples that are relatable to them. Plan collaborative, learner-centred activities to increase student engagement with sustainability topics and develop a growth mindset.
Research in sustainability education advocates for these pedagogical approaches:
| Critical reflection supporting transformative learning | Focuses on questioning assumptions and developing new perspectives. Increases understanding of sustainability’s complexities and encourages deep self-examination to foster profound personal growth. |
| Action-oriented pedagogy | Emphasizes hands-on experiences where students take action, make decisions, or solve problems in real or simulated contexts. Empowers students towards concrete measures and to consider the tangible consequences of such actions. |
| Experiential pedagogy | Encourages students to actively engage with sustainability issues and to reflect on their learning process. Activates learning through direct experience, reflection, and conceptualization. The Office of Experiential Learning has a multitude of resources to guide educators on how to embed experiential learning in courses. |
| Interactive pedagogy | Focuses on communication and collaboration between students and with the educator serving as a facilitator. Activates learning through knowledge sharing and interaction while enhancing understanding and retention. |
| Inter- and trans-disciplinary learning | Integrates knowledge across disciplines towards a more holistic understanding. Students incorporate frameworks and concepts from multiple disciplines to examine sustainability’s interconnectedness, while developing comprehensive problem-solving skills. |
| Problem-orientation approaches (e.g., problem-based learning) | Focuses on real-world problems to drive learning. Leads students to tackle sustainability challenges, developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills. If you have an issue focused on Tiohtiá:ke / Greater Montreal Area, CityStudio can support you. |
| Participation, peer-learning, and collaboration | Emphasizes active involvement and teamwork. Students learn from peers, fostering diverse perspectives and collective action. For guidance on how to form groups, consult our Active Learning resources. |
| Place-based and Project-based learning | Connects learning to local contexts and real-life projects. Students address sustainability issues in their community through projects, promoting practical application. They engage in land-based activities to ignite their sense of place or love for it. You might consider consulting CityStudio to help connect you with community partners, or the Indigenous Decolonization Hub for resources on land-based pedagogy. |
Apply success factors for teaching sustainability
Research demonstrates the following key elements for highly effective sustainability teaching and learning:
- Keep it light. Incorporate success stories into sustainability discussions to prevent climate anxiety and maintain engagement.
- Think outside the silo. Foster interdisciplinary learning by inviting guest speakers from a range of disciplines and consulting professionals during field trips.
- Reflect on impact. Ask students how they can use what they are learning to make the world a better place, combining increased agency with a reflection on quality of life.
- Empower students. Let students analyze empirical data for themselves, helping them understand the complexity of issues.
- Promote community engagement. Facilitate collaborative, real-world problem-solving projects so students can support each other and help their communities become more sustainable.
- Incite action! Integrate actionable elements to connect course material with students’ personal lives and promote reflection while taking action.
Resources
Sustainability competencies frameworks
The following frameworks may be helpful models to understand sustainability competencies and successfully connect them to your course.
- GCSE Proposal Statement on Key Competencies in Sustainability
- Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development
- ASU’s 6 Key Competencies in Sustainability
- Learning to transform the world: key competencies in education for sustainable development
Integrating course content
- Education for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning objectives : This guide for education professionals details practically how to work on achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the use of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). It identifies learning objectives and suggests topics and learning activities for each SDG.
- Concordia’s Library Research Guide for Sustainability: This page offers sustainability research resources to students, staff, and faculty. It includes databases, books, films, and journals, as well as online tools and resources to help you in your sustainability research.
- InTeGrate Teaching Materials: Search this curriculum repository for classroom-ready peer reviewed teaching materials per sustainability topic or academic subject. Includes lesson plans for various disciplines but especially strong on geosciences and STEM.
A sustainability-inclusive course incorporates a unit or module on sustainability or a sustainability challenge, includes one or more sustainability-focused activities, or integrates sustainability challenges, issues, and concepts throughout the course.
an individual or group who actively works to initiate, facilitate, and drive positive and sustainable change within their communities, organizations, or broader society. They play a pivotal role in driving the transition towards a more sustainable and equitable world, working at the intersection of education, advocacy, policy, and action.
“Eco-anxiety is the distress caused by climate change where people are becoming anxious about their future (Coffey et al., 2021, p.1)”. The term "eco-anxiety" usually refers to climate change-oriented anxiety (Kurth & Pihkala, 2022). However, for Kurth & Pihkala (2022, p.1), “the label “eco-anxiety” may be best understood as referring to a family of distinct, but related, ecological emotions”. The authors also discuss “a specific form of eco-anxiety, “practical eco-anxiety,” or “the unease that one experiences when thinking about how to respond to ecological threats like climate change. Given the daunting complexity of these situations, one is uncertain about what the best course of actions is; one’s resulting anxiety not only sensitizes one to these challenges, but also prompts the cognitive engagement and motivation that can help one address them (2022, p.1)”.
Can also be referred to as ‘student-centred’ learning or pedagogy. This educational approach prioritizes the needs and interests of the learner and encourages them to take a more active role in the learning process through interactive, experiential and collaboration.
