Project Summary
Businesses, institutions, NGOs, and even individuals are frequently asked or even required to consider the climate and environmental impacts of their decisions. Ultimately, no career is likely to be unaffected by climate change and sustainability considerations. Graduates need core competencies and discipline-specific knowledge of climate change and sustainability if they are to be global citizens prepared to “thrive in an age of rapid change”.
This project, supported through the Beta Teaching Innovation Incubator, will identify ways in which these competencies can be integrated across the curriculum for undergraduate students.
Goals and Deliverables
The core outcomes of the project will be:
- To research, consult on, and develop a flexible framework through which climate and sustainability competencies can be integrated into any program of study as they are relevant, and
- To identify processes and tools to support program administrators, chairs, instructors, and central support units to utilize the framework
Through these outcomes, it is also expected that the project will help build communities of practice and support around these outcomes, and lead to lessons that can be shared across other topics for which there may be need for core knowledge, skills, and competencies among all graduates.
Notably, the project is not intended to develop curriculum directly. It is, in this initial stage, identifying pathways and frameworks for how to do so in discipline-relevant ways, such that individual faculties, departments, and instructors can utilize these best practices in ongoing curriculum development and review processes.
Who is Involved in the Project?
The project will take a highly consultative approach, and will be led through a Working Group that consists of representatives from the Sustainability Office, Centre for Teaching Excellence, Co-operative Education, select instructors and program administrators from all six faculties, student government, and student-at-large representatives. After the Working Group is populated, membership will be displayed here.
If you are interested in joining the Working Group as a faculty or student representative, please submit a brief expression of interest by March 24th at 5pm.
Project Timelines
The project will take place over approximately 12 months, from Spring 2023 through Winter 2024. More detailed phasing and timelines for consultations and other opportunities to provide input will be made available as the project plan is finalized in Winter 2023.
