BUP Teachers Course 2023-2024

This was the fifth time the course was arranged. This time the course was running from September 2023 to March 2024 and it was organised by the BUP Associated Secretariat and the National Centre in Finland, located at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, Åbo Akademi University. The teachers were PhD Shepherd Urenje from Uppsala University, PhD Cecilia Lundberg, and MSc Sinikka Suomlainen, both from Åbo Akademi University.

The aim of the study process is to support university teachers to integrate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into their teaching and courses to strengthen the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The structure of the course

Each participant develops a so-called 'Change project' during the course. The 'Change project' is based on an already existing course, study program, or a future teaching experience. The idea is to change the content to better integrate ESD. The planning and implementation of the 'Change project' is the main outcome of the course.

During the course, different learning methods were introduced with a focus on e-learning, peer learning, and workshops. As a learning outcome, each participant planned and developed a Change project to improve the integration of ESD in their current or future work. The Change projects were supported by peer reviews via the e-platform and during the workshops. During the workshops, keynotes with a focus on learning in Higher Education at the hosting university were also part of the program.

The course program was built on the following parts:

• E-learning: Introduction of Sustainability and Climate change (Moodle). Planning of the individual project, the so-called Change project.
  
• Workshop (1): Sustainable development with emphasis on learning environments and ESD methodology.
  
• Work with the change project in special interest groups. Documentation and communication via Moodle. Assignments and tasks on Moodle.
  
• Workshop (2): Critical reflection – taking the Change Project forward. The latest phase of the Change projects was presented and discussed.
  

The course corresponds to 5 ECTS credit points (133 hours) at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, Åbo Akademi University, Finland. All participants who have all assignments, including the Change project, approved, and have participated in at least one of the workshops (compensatory task if you were not able to attend more than one workshop), will get a course certificate.

The course 2023-2024

The course got over 70 applications, of which 30 were selected based on their motivation letter and preliminary idea for a Change Project. The participants were also chosen to get as a diverse group as possible, i.e. country, BUP participating universities, and a variety of subjects.

There were a final 25 participants, 23 took part in workshop 1, which was held at Riga Technical University between 27-29 September 2023. In the second workshop at the Warsaw School of Economics, held on 18-19 March 2024, 16 of the participants participated.

This year there were teachers in Higher Education from eight countries, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, and Ukraine, from 20 different BUP participating universities, and approximately 20 different areas of specialty, from urban planning to nursing program and geometry.

As a part of the RESCUU project, the BUP awarded six travel grants to those Ukrainian teachers who got accepted to participate in the course.

Voices of participants

Anastasia Tsvetkova - Participant from Åbo Akademi University

Although I had a solid understanding of sustainability concepts and their practical application in firms, my teaching approach was mostly didactical, focusing on ‘passing on’ my knowledge to students. I expected the course to help me learn new teaching methods that enhance students’ agency in learning, understand how higher education can support sustainable development beyond just teaching sustainability, update my knowledge on recent sustainability developments, and gain insights from diverse teaching experiences and countries.

For me, the best part of the course was the space and time to actually think about how to embed sustainability in my teaching. This was achieved through the two seminars in Riga and Warsaw. Another highlight for me was the crowd – I met so many exceptional people during the course!

From the BUP Teachers Course, I will take away immediate ideas on innovative teaching methods and the value of diverse backgrounds in enriching the learning experience. The course reinforced my belief that we should focus on teaching students the skills they need to solve future sustainability challenges rather than just providing them with ready solutions. Additionally, it highlighted the importance of interdisciplinarity and systems thinking, which has inspired me to create a new course on Innovation and Industrial Change that I will start teaching in autumn 2024 at Åbo Akademi University.

Åsa Devine - Participant from Linnaeus University

I did not have major expectations, but I thought all participants would put in serious efforts into the discussions (such as the critical friends), while in fact only some of the participants did. I have no suggestion for how to ensure strong (e.g. intellectually challenging, open minded, and curious) contributions from all participants however. Other than that I was just intrigued to attend the course to see what I could get out of it and share with others.

The best part of the BUP Teachers Course was to get a chance to be exposed to different ways of thinking about sustainable development in higher education, to meet new interesting people, and to get stimulated to make a change happen within the educational programs where I am involved.

The change project I developed together with my colleague Michaela consisted of a theoretical framework which we have started to use as a frame of reference within the program we are program directors for. It was great to get a chance to dedicate time to develop this framework and focus on pedagogical challenges in order to make positive changes for the future.

Images from the course