Motivation
Sustainability is one of the three pillars of Radboud University's educational vision. Its integration into education has been established as a strategic goal. Nevertheless, students currently still feel uncertain about how they can make a meaningful impact. Surveys show that they would like more connection between course material and social issues, for example. Teachers indicate that they need more systematic support in integrating sustainability into their education, so that it is not an optional or separate theme. It is a challenge we face together: how can teachers be better supported to integrate sustainability structurally and effectively into their education?
Project goals
Sandra and colleagues' (from the Special Interest Group Sustainability) innovation project focuses on providing university-wide guidelines to strengthen the sustainability education the university is striving for. Simply highlighting the Sustainable Development Goals is not enough for this. Teachers must be supported in developing the necessary skills, knowledge, attitude and motivation in students. By deploying the framework university-wide, sustainability becomes an integral and valuable part of education at Radboud University.
Sustainability skills
The Radboud University Sustainability Competence Framework is being developed to provide teachers with practical tools for promoting sustainability competences in students. This framework translates the university's strategic and educational goals into teaching practice. It supports students in forming their own opinions based on scientific evidence and key competences such as critical thinking. It allows teachers to work more specifically on their students' future-oriented competences, while students learn to better reflect on their role in social issues within their discipline.
Plan of action
Sandra is developing the framework in collaboration with a project team and a sounding board group consisting of teachers, students and professionals from various faculties. Together, they formulate concrete learning objectives for sustainability competences. The project team is responsible for developing the competence framework, while the sounding board group provides feedback and advice. Next, the framework is visualised by a designer and a plan for its dissemination is drawn up. The framework is then applied and tested in the courses of the project members, with interim advice and feedback from the sounding board. Based on this input, it is further optimised. Finally, its usability is evaluated through surveys of teachers and students.