Concordia open-access web resource series encourages sustainability education
Florence Gruter: “Educating students about these issues helps create responsible citizens who can positively impact their communities.” | Photo by Markus Spiske via Unsplash
Concordia is at the forefront of a new web resource series created to support sustainability learning worldwide.
Developed as a collaboration between the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and the Office of the Vice-Provost of Innovation in Teaching and Learning, the series will help support the development and incorporation of sustainability learning outcomes, activities and assessments across the university and beyond. The Education for Sustainability resources are directly aligned with the Sustainability Action Plan 2020–2025 for the curriculum.
Identifying opportunities to infuse sustainability into curriculum, supporting faculty who seek to integrate these into their courses and showcasing their successes, the resources include a space dedicated to promoting activities that support the furthering of sustainability in the curriculum.
Turning ideas into action
Florence Grüter formerly held the position of curriculum developer for sustainability at Concordia. During her two-year role, she worked closely with the CTL on developing the education for sustainability resources.
In winter 2024, under the guidance of Sandra Gabriele, vice-provost of innovation in teaching and learning, Grüter and her collaborators published a pressbook on education for sustainability: A guide to embedding education for sustainability in higher education courses.
“This project had been in the works for a while,” Grüter explains. “With two years of experience under my belt, input from faculty experts and the help of my incredible colleagues Josephine Guan and Ariel Harlap, I was finally able to turn ideas into action.
“What started as a simple PDF primer grew into an interactive pressbook and open educational resource. Now it’s out there, supporting educators worldwide and helping achieve the UN’s target 4.7 for sustainability education by 2030!”
How to integrate sustainability
The new resources directly contribute to Concordia’s Sustainability in Curriculum Plan by demonstrating to faculty how sustainability may intersect with their disciplines and providing up-to-date content on incorporating these considerations into their curriculum.
The sustainability-in-education resources are organized into three components:
- The pressbook, a “how-to guide” showcasing sustainability in education — what it is, its benefits and how to embrace it
- Sustainability co-design stories and case studies, blog-format stories and one-pagers synthesizing the impact, successes and challenges of several participating teams in the Sustainability Co-Design Project
- The faculty co-created content, a collection of contributions by faculty members detailing different learning materials that support teaching sustainability
Julie Johnston, manager for curriculum innovation and development, was part of the coordinating team on the education for sustainability project. “We are very proud of the progress that Concordia has made toward achieving the goals set out in the Sustainability for the Curriculum Plan,” she says.
“Through the contributions of faculty members dedicated to sustainability at Concordia and the support of Florence Grüter as curriculum developer for sustainability, we have been able to create high-quality, open-access resources to help educators worldwide integrate sustainability into their teaching.”
“The resources encapsulate everything I’ve learned and implemented on the job — transformed into interactive, reusable resources,” Grüter adds. “These web resources are my legacy in this role, and I’m so proud and excited to share them with the world!”
She says she is especially proud of the engagement generated by the sustainability pressbook.
“Interaction with the book has been fantastic. Returning visitors and downloads show that it is a valuable reference, and its reach is impressive — primarily within Canada, but also across the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa.”
Why integrate sustainability
Grüter encourages faculty to add sustainability to their curriculum as a means to enhance professional growth. As she explains, implementing some of these sustainability resources can help foster a more engaging and interactive classroom experience that connects coursework to real-world challenges, making lessons feel more relevant to students.
“Educating students about these issues helps create responsible citizens who can positively impact their communities,” Grüter points out. “This also supports Concordia’s goals with respect to prioritizing sustainability.”
Promoting interdisciplinary work and implementing sustainability in education presents opportunities to collaborate with a network of like-minded educators. The yearly conference hosted (or co-hosted) by the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability is one such networking opportunity.
This yearly conference encourages students to further their learning and present their work. Faculty across disciplines are also encouraged to participate — to engage in interdisciplinary discussions, learn from top researchers and network with their peers in sustainability research.
The next conference will be held March 17 to 21, 2025, in collaboration with Concordia’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Faculty of Arts and Science. Several members of the Faculty Interest Group on Education for Sustainability are expected to attend this iteration and will likely present the new web resources.
The case studies from the sustainablity co-design project, faculty co-created content for teaching sustainability and guide to embedding education for sustainability in higher education courses are all available online.
Learn more about the upcoming conference.
