Disciplinary Integration in Research and Teaching to Promote Sustainability Models

As contained in the Copernicus Charter (1994): “Universities educate most of the people who develop and manage society’s institutions. For this reason, universities bear profound responsibilities to increase the awareness, knowledge, technologies and tools to create an environmentally sustainable future.” (www.copernicus-campus.org).

Similarly, the Talloires Declaration (1992) states that: “Universities and equivalent institutions of higher education train the coming generations of citizens and have expertise in all fields of research, both in technology as well as in the natural, human and social sciences. It is consequently their duty to propagate environmental literacy and to promote the practice of environmental ethics in society, in accordance with the principles set out in the Magna Carta of European Universities and subsequent university declarations, and along the lines of the UNCED (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) recommendations for environment and development education.”
(www.ulsf.org/programs_talloires.html)

Within this international framework that establishes the benchmarks for developing programmes to promote sustainability, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has launched a funding scheme to further curriculum greening in institutions of higher education. The purpose of government backing is to enable universities in the United Kingdom to become leaders in sustainability education by applying innovative teaching programmes.

The Kingston University curriculum greening plan views Architecture and related disciplines as fields of knowledge that will play a key role in promoting sustainability. The construction sector produces 50 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions in the United Kingdom, which illustrates the importance of this area of activity in promoting sustainability. These data emphasise the need for syllabuses of future professionals to include a set of values to promote sustainability and the skills required to provide them with an interprofessional perspective.

The current educational model for built environment professions does not stimulate these bonds and generally provides them with a short-term mentality that focuses on immediate financial profit. Instead, professionals should be familiar with central concepts to gain a comprehensive understanding of how human needs can be balanced with an environmental and social perspective.

The Steering Group for Sustainability (SGS) was set up in 2002 as a university group that helps to steer sustainability work within the institution. The group is representative of the university’s diversity, including members of six faculties, the university service area and Kingston student union. Its areas of activity focus on the environmental management of the campus and processes to introduce sustainability criteria in teaching and research.

In 2003 a programme was launched to introduce the concept of sustainability in the curriculum with the purpose of reforming syllabuses as of 2005 to coincide with the UNESCO Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

In 2005 the project received funding from HEFCE after taking part in a competitive bid process. Kingston University was initially awarded €204.394, and another €510.986 was granted per year for five years. Funding will go to setting up the S-CAIPE as a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. This centre is one of the 74 centres for excellence in teaching and learning in the country, although it is the only one that focuses on promoting sustainable development. This peculiarity will confirm its role as a leading centre in the field of sustainability for institutions of higher education.

The first phase of the project has now come to an end following the completion of preliminary studies and the approval of the curricular reform, which will be introduced during the 2006-2007 academic year.

he evaluation process is expected for summer 2006 when the project will have been effectively underway for 12 months. One of the main requirements to ensure the success of the initiative is for it to become self-funded in five years once HEFCE funding comes to an end.

This research has yielded some very interesting results that will be used to incorporate the sustainability curriculum into syllabuses. For example, 48% of the academics that were interviewed considered it necessary to include a minimum of one module with an explicit focus on sustainability in the curriculum.

2005; active