Overview
The course Higher Education Didactics for Sustainability (HEDS) aims to empower educators, pedagogical developers, and others involved in curriculum design in higher education to integrate sustainability into teaching practice. The course is designed using a problem-based learning approach, which engages learners in small groups to collaborate – through discussion, experience sharing, and collective learning – to explore tools and competencies needed to foster a more sustainable world through education.
The course language is English and conducted entirely online, providing you with the opportunity to engage with course materials and collaborate with international peers. To fully participate, you’ll need access to a computer and a stable internet connection. The course primarily utilizes Zoom for virtual meetings and may incorporate other digital tools based on the needs of each group.
The course runs January – April 2025, equivalent to 80-hours full-time work. Upon successful completion, participants will receive a certificate, with pedagogical merit or credit determined by your home university.
Content
The course advances understanding of pedagogical frameworks like Education for Sustainability (EFS) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), by fostering a collaborative and collective learning environment that combines theoretical knowledge with practical examples. Through literature, discussions, and group work, you’ll explore how these frameworks can be effectively implemented in your educational settings.
The course contains four modules:
- Making Sense of Sustainability: Explores foundational questions about sustainability, including underpinning principles and paradigms, aiming to deepen understanding of why the incorporation of sustainability is crucial in higher education curriculum.
- Competencies, Frameworks, and Curriculum: Introduces key sustainability competencies such as systems thinking, values thinking, and problem-solving, which can be integrated into existing course or programme curriculum.
- Didactical Models for Teaching and Learning Sustainability: Considers various didactic models – like holism, pluralism, and transdisciplinarity – relating these approaches to teaching and learning for sustainability in various disciplines.
- The Future Role of the University: Prompts learners to reflect on the evolving role of universities in relation to future scenarios and grand challenges. Discussions will focus on how universities can prepare students to meet the needs of the future, while considering our ethical responsibilities as educators and academics.
Intended Learning Outcomes
After the completion of the course all participants should be able to:
- Critically reflect on the principles and paradigms underpinning the concept of sustainability, exploring its implications for educational practice and curricular design.
- Apply and evaluate the sustainability competencies framework in the planning and implementation of teaching activities, considering their integration into existing curricula.
- Integrate and critique didactical models like holism, pluralism, and transdisciplinarity, considering how different disciplines may approach teaching and learning using these models.
- Reflectively explore and assess the role of universities in relation to future scenarios, contemplating the ethical implications and responsibilities of higher education institutions in fostering sustainability.
While these intended learning outcomes motivate our exploration of content in the above modules, we encourage learners to consider these outcomes as a starting point of your own journey. We believe in the value of self-directed learning and encourage you to adapt and apply the course content to your unique context, considering your professional responsibility, teaching style, personality, and personal values.
Expectations
The course is equivalent to 80-hours full-time work, approx. 6 hours per week. Each week include active participation in two problem-based learning group meetings, one full-class seminar, and individual study.
The course embodies the values of presence, care, honesty, respect, and engagement. Given the nature of the course, attendance, active participation, and adherence to these values is a must for you and your peers to benefit from the collaborative problem-based learning approach.
How to Register
Register here before December 8
The course has a limited number of course participants. Each partner university has an allocated number of participants, with the remaining vacancies available for teachers in higher education, regardless of location or discipline.
The partner universities include: Karlstad University, Swe (KAU), Linköping University, Swe (LiU), Mid Sweden University, Swe (MIUN), Lund University, Swe (LU), Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, (INN), Malmö University, (MaU), Halmstad University (HH) and Kristianstad University (HKR).
Next Steps
Once you are admitted, you will receive an email with more details and an invitation to our collaborative learning environment on Canvas. The Canvas course resides at Karlstad University.
If you are an employee at Karlstad University, you can login with KauID – kau.se
If you are employed at another university, you will receive a guest account and need to log in here
For Questions
For more information or general inquiries, contact course coordinator Markus Schneider, markus.schneider@kau.se
Contact person(s) at each partner university:
Karlstad University: anna.mogren@kau.se
Halmstad University:
Mid Sweden University: alexis.engstrom@miun.se
Linköping University: per.sanden@liu.se
Kristianstad University: johan.landgren@hkr.se
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences: arna.arnadottir@inn.no
Lund University:
Malmö University: