Integrating Sustainability Across University Curricula: Creating a Dynamic Pan-Disciplinary Framework and Open-Source Materials

Higher education must play a key role in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by preparing graduates to embark on a lifelong, life-wide and life-deep learning journey to face the emergent challenges of the twenty-first century. Embedding sustainability into co-curriculum and/or hidden curriculum can create momentum, culture change and good practice. The integration of SDGs within core university curricula often appears compartmentalised with varying degrees of prioritisation by programmes or disciplines, often lacking transdisciplinary perspectives. However, the systematic embedding of sustainability concepts across core curricula has potential to foster development of globally minded, critically thinking, and action-oriented citizens across all societal sectors.

We offer a case study on teaching and learning enhancements at University College Cork (UCC) to increase systematic integration of sustainability concepts and competencies within higher education curricula, enabled by vertical strategy coherence. Enhancements were based on a systematic consultation with academic staff, students, and community stakeholders resulting in a web-based open-source toolkit including a dynamic pan-disciplinary framework to support academic staff regardless of their skills level. Online content includes mapping tools to realise SDG connections with curriculum and research, and a digital library of resources supporting further curriculum development, were curated and created in the Irish context. Additionally, a series of workshops was interwoven with toolkit resources and offered within UCC and across Ireland, Europe, and Latin America and the project’s overall development was an iterative co-creative process. Both online toolkit and workshops align with the Transformative Sustainability Learning framework and value the SDGs as a robust heuristic for discussions on broader topics of sustainability. Initial findings suggest the improvements in ESD coverage across the curricula coincided with the SDG Toolkit project.