In this virtual forum, participants were invited to discuss, reflect upon, and jointly examine, to what extent courses/programmes in Swedish higher education are oriented towards sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A short initial input lecture was made by professor Arjen Wals on how the SDGs could serve as direction providers for improved quality in higher education. Following Arjen, professor Björn Hassler and professor Peter Dobers talked about and gave examples on the integration of Sustainable Development into courses and programmes at Södertörn University.
In this workshop, the participants reflected on selected courses from the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers, and examined to what extent the courses are oriented towards the sustainable development agendas. The workshop had a dual purpose. On the one hand, it served as a start-up initiative to integrating sustainability into courses with no earlier effort to integrate sustainability. On the other hand, it served to accelerate already existing initiatives to reorient courses towards sustainable development.
In this workshop, the participants reflected on selected courses from the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers, and examined to what extent the courses are oriented towards the sustainable development agendas. The workshop had a dual purpose. On the one hand, it served as a start-up initiative to integrating sustainability into courses with no earlier effort to integrate sustainability. On the other hand, it served to accelerate already existing initiatives to reorient courses towards sustainable development.
This forum was aimed at offering participants the opportunity to engage with various perspectives/approaches to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and pertinent critique around the concept. To this end, research activities from Chalmers and University of Gothenburg were presented followed by group discussion among participants. The discussion was conducted on different themes: curriculum, pedagogy, research and general trends in higher education.
Climate change has remained to be one of the severe threats to humanity. As knowledge sectors, universities play a key role in taking the lead in knowledge production that can contribute to adapting with the impacts of climate disruption. In relation to this, two central aspects of knowledge production areas are curricular/pedagogical offerings and operational/utilization practices. In an effort to facilitating engagement with these two areas at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology, this 5th forum brought together researchers and creates a platform for sharing knowledge and experience around the aforementioned two focuses. The sessions in the forum presenteed a range of themes including: the 2 degree target Paris agreement, curriculum innovation, climate pedagogy and reconnecting with climate through weather. The forum invites both students and staff in the two universities.
Universities, with their broad remit around the creation and dissemination of knowledge and their unique position within society, have a critical role to play in the implementation and achievement of the SDGs. Arguably, none of the SDGs will be achieved without active engagement of universities.
Through their current actions in education and research, the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology have been taking different initiatives to engage with the SDGs. However, for the SDGs to be successful at a wider scale, there is an urgent need for the two universities to play a leading role and accelerate their actions and engagement with the SDGs.
It has been increasingly discussed that sustainability challenges are wicked and complex, and hence critical engagement with the issues requires an interdisciplinary and even transdisciplinary approach to knowledge production and action. This forum was aimed at discussing critical issues pertaining to interdisciplinary approaches and what some scholars call ‘boundary crossing’ to deal with sustainability and sustainable development in higher education at large, and University of Gothenburg and Chalmers as well as societal partners in the Gothenburg region in particular.
At this forum, different examples and cases of how to embrace sustainability within curricula were presented by various staff from different faculties within University of Gothenburg and Chalmers. An example of sustainability course at Wageningen University was also presented by professor Arjen Wals. The forum attracted about 34 participants from different disciplines which created a platform for a productive discussion that yielded multiple ideas that can serve as a source of input for upcoming forums. An idea that stood out in the discussion was the need for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to address sustainability challenges. This led the third forum to focus on how to address sustainability in science and society through boundary crossing and transdisciplinary work.
The overall purpose of this first event was to initiate the platform that brought students, staff, faculties, researchers together and discussed how to address and systematically integrate sustainability within Gothenburg University and Chalmers University of Technology. This first initiative helped to create synergy and familiarity among key actors for future collaboration on sustainability initiatives.
The first half of the forum consisted of inspiring lectures and presentations of good practices by senior staff, student leaders and other active students. The second half allowed participants to brainstorm and closely discuss questions that focus on creating synergy among faculty at both universities by identifying common areas of interest and by maximizing students’ involvement in sustainability.
Kassahun Weldemariam
kassahun.weldemariam@gu.se
