How can higher education incorporate sustainability into its teaching practices?

For Spring 2024, I have enrolled in a three credit course called HEADS241 which focuses on Higher Education Didactics for Sustainability. As part of this course, I will be required to write a personal reflection note on a regular basis throughout the semester. In this note, I will share my thoughts and insights on the topics covered in the course. This is my first reflection note, and I will be sharing what I learned from Topic 1.

The Council of Europe has set four main objectives for higher education that emphasise the importance of educational institutions contributing towards sustainable participation in the workforce, preparing students for life as active and responsible citizens in democratic societies, fostering personal development, and promoting teaching, learning, and research based on a broad and advanced knowledge base (Council of Europe, 2007). However, despite these objectives, education for sustainable development is often neglected within educational institutions, and there needs to be more clarity among professors and lecturers on how to incorporate it into their teaching.

Workshop - Gameshow 2019

In 2019, while teaching a lesson on responsible content creation and using transformational learning techniques to create a gameshow, a student made a profound statement that stuck with me. He expressed that school is pivotal in shaping our core values and morals in life, which should be our curriculum's primary focus. I could not agree more. However, I have been grappling with the challenge of effectively imparting these critical lessons to our students. 

As a participant in the HEDS241 course, I was deeply impressed by the initial topic of connecting with the world and one another.

Hopwood et al.'s (2005) article on different views regarding sustainability brought to light the diverse interpretations of sustainable development that people have. In addition, the webinar with Dougald Hine (2024) was very inspirational to me. I think what he said about the word sustainability made me rethink how I talk about the subject. Hine reminded us that the word sustainability means to sustain something. He also stated that the SDGs actually encourage business as usual and a focus on maintaining the status quo. This made me consider whether we are focusing on what we need to do for everything to continue to be as it is now.

In my opinion, to prevent a potential future collapse or crisis, it is imperative that we bring about a transformation in our society and our relationship with the environment. Focusing solely on reform measures may not be sufficient, as many of the challenges we face are deeply rooted in the existing economic and power structures that prioritize profits over human well-being and environmental sustainability. Therefore, it is essential that we work towards creating a more equitable and sustainable world that takes into account the needs of all living beings and the planet we call home.

Given the pressing urgency of the matter at hand, how can we empower and uplift our students and colleagues with effective and respectful education?

I published a story on LinkedIn, inspired partly by Permaculture designer David Holmgren (2021), were I used retrospective storytelling to breathe life into possible future scenarios for the industry I work with. The text is me trying to find out how to inspire change in the film and audiovisual industry. 

After delving into the literature and attending Topic 1's seminar, I am inspired to devise a potential solution. Hopwood et al.'s (2005) "Mapping of views on sustainable development" is a useful resource for starting conversations with students and colleagues due to the breadth and complexity of the topic. 

It would be interesting to test and promote reflection on whether we can implement sustainable development and different conceptions of sustainability in higher education by encouraging academics to engage in artistic research (AR) and teaching practices.

The video essay is a teaching and learning method that fosters creativity and imagination. Producing a video essay involves a thoughtful and deliberate approach to selecting, arranging, and presenting different angles, beliefs or research on sustainable development. Together with Hopwood etal.'s article on different views on Sustainability students could explore the subject from their perspective.

I have read an article by Estrella Sendras (2020) discussing video essays in film education and believe her thoughts on curating and transforming film education through video essays are transferable to the complexity of implementing sustainability in higher education and could help address fundamental challenges for humanity and open broader possibilities in clarifying the meaning to us now and for the future.  

In her work, Sendras (2020) argues that the video essay can change the hierarchical educational system. She notes that video essays are increasingly accepted in film magazines, which indicates a growing awareness of the role of artistic research in decolonising the academy.

Video essays can create a collaborative and inclusive research environment that promotes, as Sendra says, a polyphonic discourse on sustainable development. These essays can facilitate a better understanding and constructive dialogue around the conceptual aspects of sustainable development. Additionally, they provide a platform for bridging the gap between students and researchers and allow for a more nuanced exploration of the subject matter beyond the limitations of written texts. By leveraging the power of audiovisual media, video essays can challenge the privileged position of textual content and open up new avenues for learning and exchange. This approach can also facilitate active learning, where students become co-producers of knowledge and co-curators of global stories of sustainability informed by their diverse backgrounds. 

References 

Sendra, E. (2020). Video Essays: Curating and Transforming Film Education through Artistic Research. International Journal of Film and Media Arts Vol. 5 No. 2 (2020): GEECT Special Issue: Mapping Artistic Research in Film. 

Hine, D. (2024) . HEDS241_Topic 1 intro webinar. Karlstads Universitet.

Holmgren, D. (2008). Future Scenarios: Mapping the Cultural Implications of Peak Oil and Climate Change. 

Hopwood, B., Mellor, M., & O’Brien, G. (2005). Sustainable development: mapping different approachesLinks to an external site. Sustainable Development, 13(1):38–52.