17勛圖

“Education for Sustainable Development empowers people with the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and behaviours to live in a way that is good for the environment, economy, and society”. 

As a result of the commitment to embedding sustainable development within our teaching and learning experience we have improved our standing in key national metrics. The ESD rating in the  has increased year on year from 23% to 95% settling on 100% since the inception of the ESD working group. The University was also recognised as THE Sustainable University of the year 2025.

ESD Key Principles:

We have developed 4 key ESD principles, designed to support University strategic aims regarding sustainability. They also reflect evolving data themes around student expectation and the implications for practice. Each one is designed to underpin a whole university approach to Sustainable Development, embedded within the educational experience and subject curriculum. Any and all ESD activity should help demonstrate how ESD practice is:

The principles can be found within the ESD vision statement. They are also located in the Overview Guidance document along with some practical considerations for anyone looking to embed ESD. 

Data and the Student Experience:

Sustainability is increasingly important to students and therefore HEI’s. Understanding student expectations enables us to refine our approach, and provide a meaningful student experience focussed on development. Getting the approach right could be central to our continued success.

The collected by Students Organising for Sustainability (SoS), shows us that engagement with the subject curriculum is THE key way of meaningfully engaging students with sustainability. Data for  shows that:

• 91% of students think that their place of study should actively incorporate and promote sustainable development

• 84% would like to see sustainable development actively incorporated and promoted through all subjects

• 93% feel it is important for students to graduate with the knowledge and skills required to address sustainability challenges

The expectations students hold regarding their experience of the subject curriculum also directly impacts the shape of subsequent feedback metrics like the NSS. These numbers challenge preconceptions about which subjects are expected to address sustainability. The data also highlights trends in student choice and motivation for selecting place and subjects of study.

ESD and Sustainability:

Sustainability is one of the key principles outlined in the , with the aim of helping us “act together, using our collective skills and diversity, to deliver a better world through the transformational power of quality education and research”.

 (ESD) is one of six sustainability strands designed to approach sustainability from a necessarily wide set of perspectives. Each perspective leans toward particular initiatives. However, ESD is the only strand directly focussed on embedding sustainability within the subject curriculum; the only guaranteed point of contact with students and our main order of business as an HEI.

To successfully embed ESD across the institution we need a shared vocabulary. ESD can be a broad topic. Likewise, UoR offers a wide set of varied subject disciplines. We need to utilise established international frameworks to provide a foundation for programme and module designers to explore their own unique ESD innovations.

We recommend you start by highlighting:

• UNSDG’s: What subject topics are ESD?
• Skills: What skills aredeveloped as a result of engagement with the curriculum?
• Pedagogy: What teaching strategies you use to encourage development aligned with the UNSDG’s

Identify your ESD activity. Establish how it aligns to the UNSDG’s. Highlight the skills/competencies that are developed.

It is a good idea to use the STEAP process to keep track of progress and impact.

Embedding ESD: How to…..

“Education for Sustainable Development - the process of creating curriculum structures and subject-relevant content to support sustainable development”

So how do we do this? If your teaching aligns with any of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals UNSDG’s you are likely embedding sustainable development. It is recommended that you make this as explicit as possible.

UNESCO Competencies:

If your teaching results in students developing sustainability oriented skills and competencies it is even more likely you are embedding ESD. 

The UNESCO competency framework breaks skills down in to ways of thinking, practicing and being. These skills are also transferable, and linked to employability. 

If your teaching is aligned to a UNSDG, and results in the development of specific skills/competencies you are in a position to demonstrate that you are positively impacting the student experience in very tangible and practical ways. 

You can find more guidance and information on the UNSDG’s, and the competencies, as well as some useful practical guidance in the following locations

Opportunity:

There is an opportunity to use ESD as an organising principle; providing meaningful case studies, applying subject knowledge to address real world challenges. As a result, ESD aligns with but is not limited to employability and the development of skills, authentic teaching and assessment, diversity and inclusion, and impact and evaluation. 

Department Workshops:

We have developed a workshop intended for use at department away days. The sessions are designed to highlight our approach and generate discussion. The aim is to encourage colleagues to think about how they embed ESD and how this can be communicated and constructively aligned. The discussions ideally lead to colleagues contributing their own good practice examples disseminated on this page. A PDF of the is available here.

Examples of Embedded ESD:

It is important to share and disseminate good practice. We have devised a template to help colleagues present their work most effectively.

The and companion guide are available at these links. They are to be used and revised in whichever way best represents your examples and your disciplinary context. This way we can showcase the breadth of activity across the institution and provide a resource for colleagues hoping to do something similar.

Please feel free to complete the template to represent your own practice in context. Download, revise and send examples to Aaron Cooper. Completed templates will be uploaded here:

 Dr. Mara Oliva. Associate Professor: History: 

Dr. Rhianedd Smith. Director of Academic Learning and Engagement: Museums and Collections: 

Good Practice Videos:

In order to demonstrate that ESD is embedded across programmes in line with our 4 key principles we have filmed successful case studies. These are intended to compliment the Good Practice PPT templates above

We have two initial case studies

1. Typography
2. Education

These case studies showcase how ESD has been embedded from a pedagogical perspective to enhance the student experience. This is then accompanied by evidence of student testimony and UNSDG aligned outputs and skill development. Both case studies will be ready for dissemination in Sept 2025.

ESD Community of Practice: Details to be added

Please contact Aaron Cooper aaron.cooper@reading.ac.uk or Jo-Anna Reed Johnson j.a.reedjohnson@reading.ac.uk if you have any questions