Sustainability Co-Design Project

About

This initiative supported Concordia’s Sustainability in the Curriculum under the Sustainability Action Plan. The Sustainability Co-Design project was an opportunity to answer the students’ call to target those issues important to them and have all participants benefit from a renewed teaching and learning experience. 

When embedding sustainability in course curricula, various constraints including workload challenges and the uncertainty of where or how to start could present barriers. The CTL was interested in reducing these barriers, and this project was specifically meant for programs that wanted to enhance their courses with a sustainability lens. 

The project is based on a Student as Partners collaboration model, with undergraduate and graduate students working collaboratively with faculty to redesign a unit or develop an instructional module in their course. The co-design teams received support from a curricular developer for sustainability at the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovation in Teaching and Learning (VPITL) and from an instructional designer at the CTL. Furthermore, students and faculty were guided by sustainability mentors, Concordia faculty who are deeply engaged with sustainability.

Results and impacts

• Eight editions of the co-design project resulted in 15 redesigned courses.
• For participating faculty: support in re-designing courses, gained fresh perspectives from students, and revitalized their teaching.
• For participating students: 100% of participating students grasped basic course design and understood professors' viewpoints. Students found the experience unforgettable and wonderful.
• For all participants: High satisfaction – cathartic and lasting impact.
• Co-design teams: Enhanced project-based learning. 
• Enrolled students: Novel learning via revamped teaching, sustainability-discipline interconnections. 
• Impact on curriculum: 30% to 60% increase in sustainability content integration, average redesign of 5+ learning outcomes, inclusion of multiple Sustainable Development Goals.

Quotes

• "Student partners were amazing, they had so many valuable ideas and put in a lot of work to make this project a success." – Faculty member
• "Exchange of ideas was the best thing, openness to new ideas and pushing the limits of the conventional" – Student
• "Very helpful CTL team; inspiring mentor; loved working in team with student partners!" – Faculty member

Sustainability Sparks: Faculty resources for infusing sustainability in the curriculum

During this webinar in 2024, interested faculty, staff, and students were invited to dive into what education for sustainability can mean and explore innovative teaching methods for sustainability across disciplines. This was also the opportunity to discover the Sustainability Co-Design Project, a collaborative effort where students and educators partner to integrate sustainability into courses. We learned from past teams, were inspired, and participated in a dynamic Q&A session for interdisciplinary insights.  

Speakers

• Education for sustainability: Florence Grüter
• Fundamentals of Instructional Design (ETEC 650): Sana Ahmad and Rasleen Kaur
• Facilitating Individual & Group Learning Processes (AHSC 680): Dr. Ann-Louise Howard and Christiane Stilson
• Laboratory Studies in Biodiversity (BIOL 227): Alannis Suarez
• Software Design Methodologies (SOEN 6461): Dr. Yann-Gaël Guéhéneuc, Laurent Voisard and Nicolas C. Rousse