Academic Freedom, Bureaucracy and Procedures: The Challenge of Curriculum Development for Sustainability

Abstract

In 2013, a group of colleagues at Nottingham Trent University (NTU)—a large UK HEI—was tasked with embedding sustainability throughout the institution. The options available to us were manifold, as were the challenges. In this chapter, we discuss these challenges and how we addressed them. This involved delivering an internal online course in four sessions, offered to all NTU students (over 25,000), addressing the main elements of sustainability using relevant issues in nearly 100 disciplines, from Astrophysics to Business to Decorative Arts. After completing the online course, our students have the opportunity to submit an assignment in order to obtain the Sustainability in Practice (SiP) certificate in addition to their degree. The assignment requires them to create either a video, a poster or a mood board, in which they reflect how their discipline engages with food and sustainability. In the next iteration, the focus of the assignment will switch to how their discipline helps to solve sustainability challenges. As we enter our third year of operation, this and other improvements will be highlighted, along with the underlying rationale.