Professional, Methodical and Didactical Facets of ESD in a Masters Course Curriculum—A Case Study from Germany

Abstract

Universities are expected to contribute to transforming societies towards sustainable development by proving transdisciplinary knowledge and to educate and prepare students for their future roles as decision-makers, entrepreneurs, and academics. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the integration of sustainability aspects into a master course program at a German university, to share experiences and to inform and motivate other educators to also “walk the talk”. The article provides insight into the approach taken to integrate sustainability aspects into the didactical concept such as the instrument of learning diaries or the implementation of problem-based learning modules. Furthermore the article introduces the specific way of quality assurance and evaluation which is used to structure the continual improvement of the master courses. It is shown on one hand, that the combination of all of these elements is necessary to ensure ESD in a holistic way. On the other hand this demands high standards of the lecturers, which is why a didactic consulting partnership was established to accompany this process with various offers for self-improvement, which are finally presented. Highlights of the papers are: a set of competencies of a sustainability manager and an overview to related modules in the study program, a description on pedagogical and didactical instruments (learning diaries, PBL related instruments such as case study work and theory-praxis transfers, colloquia with industry partners), insights into the approach of quality assurance and continual improvement (i.e. evaluation, several formats of didactical consultations).