Global leaders are gathering this month for the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Whilst governments and organisations discuss climate commitments and seek consensus on how to coordinate efforts at a global level, we’re bringing the important theme of sustainability into the UTS Learning Design Meetup for our final session of the year.
What does COP27 have to do with learning design?
Academic institutions play a critical role in the long-term focus on sustainability, driving research, informing and influencing the discussion on climate change policy and practice. Just as importantly, higher education institutions are guiding the learning experiences of the next generation of innovators, researchers and leaders of climate solutions.
We’re seeing an increasing focus on sustainability across a range of learning experiences, guided by frameworks such as Accelerating Education for the SDGs in universities, from the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. During a recent event for Global Goals Week, UTS Sustainable Development Goals Project Manager Alex Fransen explained what the UN SDGs mean for us, including how UTS currently ranks against the 17 SDGs, and how we can start to align curriculum with these.
Celebrating our sustainability stories so far
As we look to support innovation and integration of sustainability into learning and teaching, we want to recognise how far we’ve already come, from the achievements of the UTS Business School and TD School’s award-winning Industry Innovation Project, to the reflections of our academics on nature, future and society and the real-world application of sustainability in subjects and disciplines.
Join us for an interactive online panel discussion where we shine a light on just a few of these initiatives across our university context, and be inspired to consider your own goals for learning and teaching as you plan for the year ahead.
?? We’d also love to hear from you, even if you can’t join us on the day. Please take 2 minutes to tell us:
- If you are integrating sustainability into your own learning and teaching work
- Barriers to integrating sustainability in learning and teaching
- Any examples of how you’re bringing sustainability into learning design and curriculum
We’ll share the results at the Meetup on Tuesday 22 November, 11am-12pm. If you would like to join this online session, please contact Mais Fatayer for more information. To be part of ongoing discussions on all things Learning Design, please join the conversation in the UTS Learning Design Meetup Teams channel.