Embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Within the Curriculum of UK Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs): Strategic Priorities

Abstract

Higher Education is recognised as having a significant role to play in achieving sustainable development, through its teaching and research, its business operations and community engagement and through the sustainability of its buildings (HEFCE in Sustainable Development in Higher Education 2014). The UK Government, e.g. through its funding councils and the United Nations e.g. through the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), have provided considerable encouragement and support for Higher Education Institutions to embrace this agenda. This paper provides a critical commentary on the strategic importance that higher education institutions themselves have placed on sustainability in recent years. It builds on Sterling and Scott’s (Environmental Education Research 14(4):386–398, 2008) paper which noted that although good progress had been made in promoting sustainability within campus management activities and to some extent research, very little had been done to re-orientate HEIs curriculum. They suggest that the curriculum dimension suffered from a lack of incentive to engage, inadequate leadership from UK HEIs main funding body (HEFCE) and the autonomous nature of teaching and learning. Most importantly however, their review identified that sustainability principles had largely not permeated institutions visions, ethos and practice, and suggest that without this, real transformation of all aspects of HEIs operations and practices may not be possible. This study investigates whether this vital shift is now taking place. The research involved a qualitative document analysis of 128 UK HEIs strategic or corporate plans to explore which and how aspects of sustainability are explicitly mentioned and to what extent ESD is being prioritised across institutions. Findings show that the main focus across HEIs still remains campus greening and the embedding of sustainability within the curriculum is often still not included as an explicit part of HEI’s strategic priorities. In short, the potential for higher education to contribute to sustainable development is not yet being fully realised. The study also identified what appears to be several existing missed opportunities to strategically advance sustainability in HEIs.