Staff development, training and resources - Words of Wisdom

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Educators can perceive a lack of knowledge or expertise as a barrier to embedding environmental sustainability in their teaching, especially in discipline areas not traditionally linked to the environment (Ralph and Stubbs, 2014). Professional development programmes are, therefore, essential in supporting educators to achieve ‘a common language and understanding’ of the role they can play in environmental education (Reid and Petocz, 2006). For example, educators might be supported to explore the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a framework developed by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) to support academics in the goal of preparing students for the professional and societal challenges they will face in the future. ESD focuses on competencies, such as critical thinking and participatory learning, which encourage educators to take a holistic, interdisciplinary, and innovative approach to sustainability in their teaching and curriculum design.

It is acknowledged that ‘ESD professional development is a long-term practice’, which requires adequate support - both promotion and resourcing - from senior leadership figures if it is to bring about long-lasting institutional change (Mulà, 2017).

Examples of staff development resources:

·       Sustainable pedagogies (The Open University)

·       Learning Design Sustainability Crib Sheets (The Open University)

·       QAA Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) guidance (Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education)

·       Leading Practice Publication: Professional development of university educators (University Educators for Sustainable Development)

References

Mulà, I. et al. (2017) ‘Catalysing Change in Higher Education for Sustainable Development: A review of professional development initiatives for university educators’, International journal of sustainability in higher education, 18(5), pp. 798–820. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-03-2017-0043.

QAA. (2021) ‘Education for sustainable development guidance’, pp.1-51. Available at: file:///C:/Users/njd288/Work%20Folders/Downloads/education-for-sustainable-development-guidance%20(1).pdf.

Ralph, M. and Stubbs, W. (2014) ‘Integrating environmental sustainability into universities’, Higher education, 67(1), pp. 71–90. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-013-9641-9.

Reid, A. and Petocz, P. (2006) ‘University lecturers’ understanding of sustainability’, Higher education, 51(1), pp. 105–123. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6379-4.

UE4SD. (2015). Leading Practice Publication: Professional development of university educators on Education for Sustainable Development in European countries. Editors: Kapitulčinová, D., Dlouhá, J., Ryan, A., Dlouhý, J., Barton, A., Mader, M., Tilbury, D., Mulà, I., Benayas, J., Alba, D., Mader, C., Michelsen, G., Vintar Mally, K. Charles University in Prague, Prague, 136 pp. Available at: https://ue4sd.glos.ac.uk/downloads/UE4SD_Leading_Practice_Publication.pdf.

United Nations. (2025). ‘The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025’. Available at: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2025/.

Developing action focused resources that connect institutional frameworks with sustainability competencies

The Learning Design Team developed a series of sustainability skills cards (available freely here) that were informed by student feedback.  Students from the University's voluntary Curriculum Design Student Panel provided insights about the language used and their perception of what they felt the different competencies meant. This work has been published in a peer reviewed book chapter. 

The cards are integrated into learning design support for modules at the Open University. They have been used to support the development of activities and learning outcomes. The cards take the language of the UNESCO's sustainability competencies and turn the competencies into actionable statements that can be used or adapted in the design of new learning experiences. The cards also show the explicit links to existing institutional frameworks such as employability and digital information literacy. This work was highly commended at the Green Gown Awards 2023. 

Author: The Open University's Responsible Futures Audit 2024

Embedding sustainability within the Open University’s Inclusive Curriculum Tool

The Inclusive Curriculum tool (ICT) is, at its simplest, a reflective tool to support colleagues to consider if the course material that they are creating embodies EDIA principles and Sustainability in the context of assessment and the broader learner journey. The ICT's three aims:

1. To make material accessible to diverse groups of students (not just in terms of accessibility for disabled students but also in terms of the language and images used)
2. To represent diverse groups of students in the material
3. To equip students to participate in a global and diverse world

The ICT is designed to support deeper consideration and discussion of inclusion when designing and creating learning materials or reviewing existing module material. The ICT is not a checklist. It provides prompts to help colleagues reflect but does not give answers. Guidance Notes with examples are included for the prompts and there is space for colleagues to record issues that they notice about the course material they are reflecting on, suggest actions, and note good practice as they work through their learning materials. Examples of two of the prompts can be found within the linked example.

Author: The Open University's Responsible Futures Audit 2024

Supporting staff to connect with sustainability using a development session and crib sheets

The Open University Learning Design team ran staff development sessions which supported colleagues to begin to consider their relationship to sustainability. Staff were encouraged to consider questions like: 'What do you understand by sustainability?' and 'How might we support embedding sustainability in our context?'. The informal session was structured to identify priority areas for future staff development and support. From the session the team prioritised the creation of  'crib sheets' to support colleagues to engage with existing sustainability resources and connect with the UNESCO competency framework. The crib sheets summarise the aim of each resource and include suggestions of when and how to use them. Both the crib sheets and resources are available to reuse or adapt on a creative commons licence. 

Author: The Open University's Responsible Futures Audit 2024