Accelerating Integration of Sustainability into the Curriculum

Project Goals/Deliverables

Enhance campus-wide coordination for sustainable curriculum collaborations

Increase interest and commitment to sustainability/climate integration in the undergraduate curriculum

Create a flexible framework to support departmental reflection and planning

Develop supportive resources for implementation

Project Team

Laura Deakin, Continuing Lecturer (Chemistry) | Associate Dean of Science, Student Relations (Faculty of Science)

Mathew Thijssen, Director (Sustainability Office)

Johanna Wandel, Associate Professor (Geography and Environmental Management) | Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies (Faculty of Environment)

Project Timeline

2022
1. Sep
  1. Project approved for (Beta) Teaching Innovation Incubator
2023
1. Jan
  1. Project plan developed
2. Mar
  1. Sustainability Curriculum Specialist hired
  2. Preliminary course analysis on sustainability conducted
3. Apr
  1. Working group members recruited
4. May
  1. Working group meetings began
5. Jun
  1. Peer scan of U15 schools and peer leaders completed
  2. Draft framework and toolkit design began
  3. Developed first draft of sustainability integration framework
6. Jul
  1. Working Group members consulted on the framework
7. Aug
  1. Literature review of best practices and theory in the field
8. Oct
  1. Consultations with students and academic support units
  2. Widespread consultations on campus with chairs and associate chairs
2024
1. Mar
  1. Finalized initial toolkit and resource materials
  2. Drafted report with recommendations for implementation
  3. Toolkit website UX testing with CEL support

Project Summary

No career is likely to be unaffected by climate change and sustainability considerations. Our 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 will aim to consider how curriculum offerings could be adapted to allow all students to develop foundational and discipline specific sustainability competencies. Our goals are to create opportunities for collaboration, interdisciplinary work, and shared resources by reaching out to faculty, staff and students to better understand the range of supports programs may need to build these student competencies.

Project Updates

The Accelerating Sustainability into the Curriculum Report is here. The report highlights existing siloed efforts at integrating sustainability principles into education at Waterloo and strong campus support for a more cohesive approach to integrating sustainability into education.

The Accelerating Integration of Sustainability into the Curriculum project shared their findings from their study on integrating sustainability into the curriculum at the University of Waterloo's Teaching and Learning Conference.

The need to incorporate sustainability into post-secondary education is identified and supported by undergraduate students.

The Working Group helping to support the Accelerating Integration of Sustainability into the Curriculum project has wrapped up campus consultations. The project team now moves onto the next phase of the project, preparing a report with key recommendations to share with the campus community about these findings.

Working Group Members

Christine Barbeau, Lecturer (School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability) | Associate Dean, Teaching (Faculty of Environment) | Teaching Fellow (Faculty of Environment)

Julia Burke, Liaison, Faculty of Environment; Accounting & Finance; Political Science; Economics (Centre for Teaching Excellence)

David Ha, Co-Director (Master of Accounting)

Frances Hallen, Student

Nadine Ibrahim, Lecturer (Civil and Environmental Engineering) | Turkstra Chair in Urban Engineering

Shabnam Ivkovic, Director, International Strategic Initiatives (HIRE Waterloo)

Ceileigh McAllister, Student

Maya Morton Ninomiya, Student

Kirsten Müller, Professor & Chair (Biology)

Derek Rayside, Associate Professor (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Michael Waite, Professor (Applied Mathematics)

Diane Williams, Continuing Lecturer (School of Public Health Sciences) | Associate Director, Undergraduate Studies

Project Artifacts

Sustainability in the Curriculum Toolkit

Project details

Status:

Topics:

Project time line

September 27, 2022 to September 27, 2024

Project members

Mathew Thijssen

Abby Loewen

Laura Deakin

Johanna Wandel