Education for sustainable development case studies

Annie East, has been working with albert consortium, the sustainable arm of BAFTA, to ensure students are trained in applied skills for a sustainable media industry. Annie and Bafta albert pushed forward with the concept of creating a partnership of radical collaboration from other higher education institutions to enable students on media programmes to have the best opportunity to engage with concepts and practice around sustainable development in media practice. As a result 2018 saw Bournemouth University being one of the founding partners of albert in Education Partnership along with Salford University, National Film and Television School, Learning On Screen, Confetti Institute at Nottingham University, Sheffield Hallam University, Glasgow Caledonian University.

Expanding with new partners all the time, the vision of the albert in education partnership is to: provide the education community, staff and graduates, with the opportunity to learn about environmentally responsible working practices and its professional relevance to help contribute towards the transformation of the film and television industry. 

The partnership has created teaching resources and has rolled out albert certified teaching and learning materials that will be available to Bournemouth University and all partners. Working with educationalists and media practitioners, the materials are designed to allow educators the agency to deliver those resources using traditional lecture/seminar approach or through a flipped classroom approach. This flexibility provides opportunities for students across the HE sector to graduate from albert certified course units into an industry where they can continue to champion and lead on sustainable media initiatives. This academic year, over 100 students were trained in sustainable film production.

Elsewhere in the Media Production Department, Principle Lecturer, James Fair has been working with La Temps Presse, a French film festival, who launch BA Film’s Film Language assessment; a short film with no dialogue that relates to one of the 17 UN Sustainable Practice goals. This global agenda, externally validated, really challenges the students with a real-world task from the moment they arrive in university. This fulfils the vision of inspiring our staff and students to enrich the world.

Find out more about the albert in Education Partnership.

Ethics have been at the heart of Fiona's teaching for many years, including in Relationship Marketing which brings a future-facing outlook to organisations’ practice of marketing. Fiona saw an opportunity to encourage her students, returning from placement, to place sustainability at the heart of their education and ultimately to inform their practice as graduates. Her delivery addressed the UNSDGs, their link to ethical Relationship Marketing and examples of how the SDGs are being communicated including the Togetherband strategy. Fiona foregrounded SDG12 Responsible Consumption & Production but encouraged students to consider additional SDGs which might relate to their chosen context.   

Surprisingly just two students had worked with the goals on their placement; the majority of the 94-strong cohort entered their final year unaware of the SDGs. Yet in this unit, 90% of students placed sustainability at the heart of their assessment and it was clear that a far higher proportion of students than in previous years chose to focus on ethical/sustainable practices within their assessment. Over 50 students chose to answer the SDG-focused exam question and the standard of response was good and a number of RM students chose to focus their dissertation on sustainability, many valuing the opportunity to learn about the SDGs and their implications for Relationship Marketing practice. 

"Prior to the RM unit I honestly had no idea on what the UNSDGs were, I am so glad we covered this as now I am so aware of what they are and how to use them within my work and daily life. I have also noticed how other units have slowed intertwined them, however not as much as you did. I’m glad this was a core part of the unit as sustainability and our environment is so important and I’m glad now I have a clear understanding on them."

Student feedback on Fiona's unit

Fiona was a winner of our Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development Award 2020.

The main assessment of Stacy Wall's final year option for BA Communications students had students working in pairs to identify an issue, cause or problem affecting the local community organisation or charity. Students were tasked with developing a Portfolio of Community and Digital Engagement (including a 2-3 minute multi-media piece) to target the issue specific to their selected organisation. Regional organisations were recruited for the student collaborations, working closely with Bournemouth University Social Enterprise Forum (BUSEF) to find partners that had both the passion and resources to develop opportunities for student digital engagement projects. The unit assessment was framed by outlining the connection of each of the projects to UN Sustainable Development Goals. This year six of the UN’s SDG’s were addressed (1, 11, 13, 14, 15 & 16) through our recruited partner organisations. During the term, workshop activities were developed and guest speakers arranged, to further develop students’ knowledge of their specific organisation/issue and related SDG.  

The student and organisation-focused pedagogical approach to the CDE unit lead to the successful development of nine Community Digital Engagement Portfolios. The culmination of student work was featured during a Community Showcase Event at the end of the term. Participating organisations were all invited to the event where students presented their digital interventions and three minute multi-media videos to local organisations during their scheduled ten-minute presentations. Students co-created the brief for the project and developed digital engagement interventions that aimed to improve engagement with their target community members. The Community Showcase revealed the impact of student projects on both the local community and the students themselves. The highly emotive presentations delivered by students were all well received by organisation key members. Student digital interventions have been featured on organisational websites and social media platforms. Multimedia videos have also been featured on websites, social media platforms, and student LinkedIn posts. Additionally, student developed videos have been featured at local events and conferences which have been met with a positive reception and accolades shared with BU’s External Community Engagement Manager. Each student team was connected with a reliable organisational contact, academic and professional resources, a team of dedicated colleagues with a range of expertise, and a tutor who believed that they could make a difference. Each student at the end of the unit thanked Stacy for the unique opportunity the unit provided to make a difference in the local community. Many students continue to volunteer with their partner organisations – they continue to make an impact on society by finding ways to help organisations better engage with their target community.    

Stacy was a winner of our Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development Award 2020.

To meet our responsibilities to the industry in which they aspire to work as well as to the world in which they will live, Rutherford's comprehensive redesign of the MA Advertising programme is a response to three important trends: 

1. The demand by consumers that brands and organisations make meaningful changes to address our world’s urgent social and environmental challenges,
2. The demand by brands and agencies for graduates who are able to design strategies and materials that respond creatively and effectively to these challenges, and
3. The demand by university applicants for courses that prepare them for careers in which they can ‘make a difference’.    The redesigned programme presents and contextualises the theories, knowledge(s) and skills necessary for a successful career in advertising as a means to change the attitudes and behaviours which now threaten our mental, social and natural environment.

Advertisers acknowledge our role in promoting unthinking consumerism, the results of which now threaten our mental and natural environment. Just as advertising practitioners use expertise to lead and encourage audiences to ‘imagine’ the benefit(s) to be had by buying a product or using its services, by engaging with the UN SDGs, the redesigned programme encourages aspiring practitioners to ‘re-image’ how advertising can be used to challenge – and to change – the attitudes and behaviours which now threaten our social and natural environment. Therefore, in addition to the knowledge and skills to use advertising to address urgent social and environmental challenges, the programme also provides students with the ability to articulate – and advocate for – strategies which better serve both the public good and the client’s long term success.

“As valuable as advertising is economically, it is perhaps more valuable in persuading people to act in new ways for the greater good - sustainability is in many ways a marketing challenge. Rutherford’s revised programme is refreshingly bold and exactly right.”

Rory Sutherland – Vice Chairman, Ogilvy   

“This is a programme designed for an age of purpose. It reflects the ‘now’ in marketing – agile and contemporary. I think this programme will be an inspiration to others. Well done.”

Dr Chris Arnold – Creative Partner & Founder and author of ‘Ethical Marketing & The New Consumer’  

Rutherford was a finalist in our Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development Award 2020.

Sustainability is one of the two core themes running across the learning, teaching and assessment of Dr Roman Gerodimos's Level 5 unit, which is shared across 3 Undergraduate programmes. The curriculum covers a range of SDG-related topics including food and water, poverty, the environment, and the global institutions such as the UN with case studies from all over the world.

The second assignment is a Reflective Mind Map in which students select those elements of each week’s multimedia content that they found most important or interesting, identify key challenges facing sustainability, demonstrate linkages and interdependence between global current affairs and areas of the world, and to identify individuals driving global change in the world today – structuring all this content visually on a large mind map. Students gave high praise for the unit and many excelled in the assignment

This was the first year that I designed and used this assignment and it has been a great success. Students loved it because it gave them space and creative freedom to raise sustainability-related issues that they feel passionate about, but also to reflect on what they’ve learned from each week of teaching, and to do that visually. The assignment design was also praised by the second-marker, by my PREP reviewers, and by the external examiner.  Many students excelled in this assignment, clearly putting a lot of work in selecting and curating content, reflecting on their own learning and highlighting global interdependence through specific examples across weeks of teaching, as well as visually designing some fantastic mind maps that could easily be published in leading journalism outlets.  Marking this assignment has been one of the most rewarding pedagogic experiences in recent years.

Roman

Roman further shares his advice for fellow academics trying to embed ESD: 

 Over the years I’ve found that theory or conceptual models only work best through specific real-world examples, case studies and applications, and in our attempt to encourage students to engage with theory – which is basically accumulated knowledge – we sometimes forget the importance of students engaging with local context: basic facts about the history, geography, personalities, politics and international relations affecting an issue or region. So I think that starting with a specific event, incident, case study or real-world incident and then using that as an entry point into deeper conceptual or theoretical discussions can be much more effective.  I also think that visual assignments (infographics, mind and concept maps, photo essays – all of which I’ve used in this unit in the past) are really great ways of linking the global to the local, but also encouraging students to engage with ‘big’ issues in tangible ways.  

Roman was a winner in our Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development Award 2021.

The Cultural Psychology unit discusses behavioural differences across cultures and theories to explain these differences. It explicitly addresses six UN SDGs within lectures, seminars, open discussions, and assessments, in a cross-cultural and globalised context. Interconnected topics including socialisation and development, cultural norm and multicultural contact, interpersonal/group relationships, gender differences and equality, justice, mental health, morality, motivation, self-identity and personality, social/emotional wellbeing, sexual and cyber behaviour, and bilingualism.

It urges students to critically think about the diversity of the human mind in the increasingly international societal environment and the implausibility of having a simplified standard for human behaviour. In all these learning activities, a particular emphasis is placed on real-life situations, encouraging and inspiring students to think about the learning and implications from the perspectives of their and other people’s daily lives so they will be better equipped to face multiple cultures in the future.

Students were actively engaged in learning, debates and open discussions embedded in real-life scenarios with aims of developing a holistic view of human behaviour across cultures and embedding diversity and equality in daily thinking. Some discussion was focused on future solutions of global challenges while respecting diverse social values and norms. Going beyond and complementing the teaching materials, the students provided real-life experiences to theoretical discussion and demonstrated excellent understanding of research and critical application of theoretical thinking to real-life issues.   

“Cultural psychology has teaching dedicated to learning about the rule of law and our justice system. This has truly opened my eyes to the experiences of others and how they are unfairly treated. The wider context of this is so important and we need to ensure we are doing more in our justice system and society, so despite characteristics like ethnicity, cultural background and class, everyone is treated the same.”   

“I think SDG 3 is very important, especially in cultural psychology, because it opened our eyes to mental health issues or even physical health issues that are only experienced in specific cultures. This topic is especially important as it reminds us that we are all different and we should always keep an open mind with other people, as we never know what they might be struggling with or how they might be interpreting our communication. We live in a more culturally diverse world more than ever and this unit is essential for future psychologists to get the most out of their careers in my opinion.”   

Student feedback

Xun He (unit leader), Bernhard Angele, Chloe Skipper, Eleonora Vagnoni, Jacqui Taylor, Rachel Skinner, Sarah Hodge were winners of the Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development Award 2021. 

Ben has been teaching sustainable design at all levels of our design and engineering courses since 2007, including the Level 6 unit Future Trends & Sustainability. This unit is focused on sustainable product design and uses a practical product dismantling exercise and specific software skills to support learning. The students are asked to dismantle a household product (e.g. Toaster, Kettle) to see how it has been made, the materials used, how this affects the recyclability of the product and then use a Life Cycle Analysis software to measure the carbon footprint of the product during all stages of its life. This model is then used as a base to reduce the environmental impact of the product, closely informed by lecture materials and design philosophies such as Cradle to Cradle, zero waste, and factor 4.  

The unit is focussed on developing both real skills and the contextual knowledge that designers and engineers need to tackle the climate crisis. Students are introduced to a range of environmental issues and taught how each is measured and quantified to give the specific impact of a product or activity. The students then take apart a household item and measure the Carbon and Waste impact throughout the products life using the EduPack software. Once this is complete the students are taught a wide range of sustainable design approaches and use these to look at ways to reduce the impact of the product. Depending on the type of product and the way that it is used this could involve changes to the materials, manufacturing, methods, fuel/energy use, or disposal. Students finish the unit with both the knowledge and the specific software skills they need to improve the sustainability of any product. 

Sustainability theories include the interlocking nature of sustainability and the 3 pillars, with discussion of how social aspects are affected by the products that we design, and that these human factors are also a key part of truly sustainable design. We also discuss global context, inequality and the implications of the mass adoption of the 'western' lifestyle. One key message within the unit is that almost all of the worlds environmental issues can be traced back to the products that we use, and how we use them, but that conversely many of the solutions to the climate crisis are also new products that fulfil consumer needs with far lower environmental impacts. To paraphrase 'The Simpsons', it can be said that 'designers are both the cause of, and the solution to, all the worlds problems'. Framing the discussion in this way encourages the students to feel that they are an integral part of the solution to the problem, rather than being powerless bystanders 

The skills taught within this unit and the related L7 Life Cycle Management have been highly praised by students and employers as presenting genuinely useful skills that allow them to design more sustainably. The 'best' design for a product depends on a huge number of variables so it is crucial that the students are taught the skills needed to measure the impact and to decide the best approach for themselves based on the data rather than to insist on a given design methodology. This approach has proved very successful and is now being used as the basis for further extending sustainable design teaching into all our final year project units from the 2022/23 academic year.  In addition to many positive comments from students, MUSE, and employers the sustainability teaching on the course has been recognised at the prestigious New Designers show where PDF student Angela Piazza won the Design District London Award for her final year project which draws directly on the skills learned within the unit.

Repositioning to align his delivery to BU academic principles include introduction of interactive keynotes, practice-based activities and laboratory experimentations, Zulfiqar has been providing opportunities for students to engage and participate in his research within the context of their units through the analyses of energy related topics. Students were given a brief to analyse current energy mix and carbon emission data, energy outlook and COP26, synthesise key findings and suggest solutions in a group activity. This was then developed into “energy needs and environmental sustainability” themed discussions, presentations and reports. This has enabled students to study wider national and global contexts of their unit, enhance their experience of presenting their findings and writing research articles, which in turn will make significant contributions to their employability and competitiveness. Students learn technological and engineering principles through theoretical contents, students are made aware of global significance of their unit through analysing BP Energy Outlook and by following developments in the UNFCCC COPs, which take place in semester 1.

In the 2021/22 delivery, students were set a task (research) to present their work on global challenges by following key COP26 updates within the context of their unit, teaching and learning at BU, in terms of carbon emission challenges and the international significance of their unit’s contents. A workshop was organised for students to present their work in groups of 3-5 students. This workshop was also attended by BU Post-Graduate Researchers, and other BU staff including the BU Sustainability Team. In addition to learning engineering and technological elements of the unit, students had the opportunity to interact with BU wide staff and students who have interests in these global issues and offer a diverse range of expertise.

The above mentioned work is followed by 3 experimental labs which enable students to bridge the gap between theory and practice, grow confidence to solve industry problems of global significance and engage with major international developments within the context of their unit. In turn, their employability within industries which are at the forefront of global initiatives and solving problems within the context of wider UNSDGs has been enhanced.

“It is important that students are enabled to bridge the gap between theory and practice, with enhanced skill set and knowledge to solve industry problems with confidence which are of global significance, engage with major international developments within the context of global issues and initiatives such as UNSDGs and COP to bring environmental, societal, economic, academic and non-academic impacts for the future generations to come. I have been championing research informed education which is at the heart of BU2025 Fusion Strategic Plan. Enhancing students’ learning and teaching experience through research-informed education in sustainable development including key global energy issues within the context of UNSDGs is a key priority for me to enable students to solve real world problems and deliver socio-economic, environmental and academic impacts around the globe. I was absolutely delighted when I was presented with the Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development Award 2022.”

Professor Khan on winning the EESD Award 2022

Dr Mehran Koohgilani also teaches on engineerings units and was the runner up in the EESD Award 2022. His units cover the history of the fossil fuels and the impacts that it has had on our world, using sector-approved frameworks with regards to relevant topics including electric cars, global energy uses and the exploitation of world resources by large corporations. 

Mehran teaches units across Levels 4, 5 and 7. He teaches the global perspective of his topic through case studies, real-time examples from news clips, company information, the latest published reports and appropriate podcasts with an aim to separate pseudo sciences and social media from fact. This perspective is discussed as a matter of interest with students and encourage them to look deeper and bring more information with them.

Dr Jane Henriksen-Bulmer, Principal Academic in Computer Science, collaborated with British Aerospace Systems (BAE) in Christchurch to develop an assignment for her L6 students.

BAE acted as the client, and the task was to solve a real-world problem. Students were required to come up with a business feasibility proposal for a digital solution that will enable BAE to improve sustainability within their supply chain. Throughout the assignment, students were provided with links and materials to help them get ideas and to investigate what solutions are already out there. At the end of semester students presented their ideas and value propositions to BAE.

This unit covered materials, tools and techniques for how to create and validate a value proposition and business case for a new product or service, value proposition design, market segmentation and customer profiling, creating a business plan, analysing the marketplace and sector, market sizing, finance and entrepreneurship.

In 2025, Dr Debora Almeida worked with the BU Sustainability Team to roll out the new Carbon Literacy for Healthcare Toolkit. This short course gives students the opportunity to explore the critical link between climate change and healthcare, and how they can contribute to shaping a low carbon NHS that delivers exceptional care with safeguarding the health of future generations. This course was integrated into the programme content for BSc Operational Department Practice students. It involves 3 hours on online learning, followed by a 3-hour in person workshop.

The roll out of this new toolkit, designed specifically for staff and students entering the healthcare sector, marks an exciting next step on our journey to embedding climate education and action into our institution, and to facilitating a cultural shift towards a zero-carbon society. 

Our intention at BU is to work closely with academic colleagues to embed the Carbon Literacy for Healthcare course into more programmes. This will help to ensure our students enter the healthcare sector with the knowledge and skills they need to contribute to a net zero NHS. If you are interested, email: [email protected].

Dr Debora Almeida said, “The Carbon Literacy for Healthcare training was delivered as part of our curriculum through a well-organised and straightforward process. With some pre-planning, integration of content into one of the units, and protected time allocated for students to complete their e-learning, the initiative ran smoothly and achieved strong uptake from the majority of the cohort. I would highly recommend that other programmes follow the approach taken by the ODP team and offer their students the opportunity to become Carbon Literate. This can be a very important step toward embedding sustainability in healthcare education”.

The MSc Green Economy programme is a distance learning course designed to teach exclusively about sustainable development and how it can be achieved. Students learn about a range of topics including carbon management, renewable energy, biodiversity and social justice. All 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals are embedded into the curriculum. Critical thinking is at the heart of the programme but students also develop problem solving skills, comprehension of scientific information and data and professional skills through a work-based placement. Students are encouraged to analyse, interpret and evaluate data and research in order to debate global issues. 

Kathy Hodder, Rick Stafford and Paul Kneller lead the Wildlife Protection course which is designed to raise awareness of the interconnectedness of human wellbeing and biodiversity, covering wicked problems of extreme poverty in biodiverse parts of the world and the challenges facing good governance and concluding with inspirational examples of conservationists who have changed the world, such as Wangari Maathai, whose green belt movement epitomises successful application of SDGs. 

Students engage well with the complexities of this unit. In 2020-21 the team introduced an online field trip to Madagascar. The students were able to interact with staff from Ranomafana National Park and gain both ecological and cultural insights that wouldn't be possible without that interaction. 

ESD underpins everything that we do in some way. Students will engage if we have engaging ways of illustrating the relevance for the topic. For instance, in this unit, many students initially have a fortress mentality wanting to protect wildlife at all costs and so it is rewarding to work with them on the need to consider the human element too. 

Unit leaders

Professor Melanie Klinkner and Dr Jonathan Whittle worked to integrate student involvement in the Rapid Response Research Project: an education and research project concentrating on Ukraine speaking to UN SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. In the context of the ongoing armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, mass graves are seemingly becoming synonymous with the possible commission of war crimes. LLM Public International Law students study international human rights; international humanitarian law and international criminal law – all relevant to the topic of war, rights protection and the rule of law. The purpose of the project is for two LLM students to catalogue, in real-time, mass graves reported in Ukraine. In doing so, they are tracking what protection and investigation, if any, is afforded to mass grave sites capturing relevant information in relation to the effective identification and return of mortal remains as well as evidence collection for prosecutorial purposes.

The method adopted for the project comprises of open source research in media outlets, including social media, also through the help of google translate function on the subject of mass graves. Open Source investigation has been hailed as key to documenting war crimes in Ukraine assisting accountability and justice measures. Of course, states are under the duty to investigate human rights breaches, there is a duty to protect civilians also during armed conflict and war graves are subject to protection. Work to document and interrogate the reporting of mass graves constitutes a first step toward protection and investigation, the upholding of the Rule of Law and general awareness raising.

“This project is about providing information on how mass graves are reported, preserved and its evidential value in line with existing laws on digital and open source investigation, it remains an honour to be a part of it."

LLM Public International Law student Chiedozie Chukwujiuba Nwagu, who is supporting the project

Read more about this project here.

Leading the development of a new concept – Responsible Project Management (RPM) - Karen raises awareness of sustainability and empowers project management practitioners, educators, researchers and professional bodies to improve their practice. Projects deliver change across the globe and are worth billions annually.   

RPM combines project management and sustainability by proposing the SDGs as a framework for better decision-making and project managers as advocates for beneficial change in business and society.  The Guide she co-created with practitioners and researchers is now being used as an educational resource and inspiration for dialogue in the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Palestine and Vietnam. Success of RPM is encouraging Karen to challenge colleagues to transform their education and research by using sustainability as a lens rather than an add-on to their disciplines. Re-thinking of many existing business models is urgent, and Karen embeds this line of thinking throughout project management courses at BU.

Karen is a co-chair of our Sustainability Academic Network, and was highly commended in the Green Gown Awards 2019. 

The new Masters in Business Administration (MBA) programme was underpinned by the UN SDGs . Commended by the revalidation panel for “Incorporating sustainability and responsibility into the curriculum”, many assignments were sustainability focussed and for their final projects, around half of the students chose to focus on the SDGs.

The new MBA programme is underpinned by the UN SDGs and represents “a real shift in thinking” within the business sector. This ethos was commended by the revalidation panel for “Incorporating sustainability and responsibility into the curriculum through units such as ‘Developing Sustainable Strategies’ and ‘Leading and Managing Change in Socially Responsible Organisations”.  Assignments within these units are ESD inclusive e.g. formulating a 5 year sustainable development plan, whilst another requesting a management report, analysing the business environment in electric vehicles market (meeting goals 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17).  The Shaping the Future of Work unit considers contemporary trends/issues disrupting/shaping our workplace covering areas such as AI/unconscious bias, universal credit and purposeful work (meeting goals: 1,4,5,8,9,10,12,16,17).  Projects and Guest lectures include expectations on sustainability in the coffee market; diversity at AFC Bournemouth and self-management at Lush.

The MBA Programme Team were a winner of our Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development Award 2020.

The judges commented: “Being the only group to enter this competition, the work of the MBA programme team is a leading example of how departments can work collaboratively to embed the SDGs in their teaching, not just as an add-on but as an integral part of the programme delivery and outcomes.” 

Dr Sukanya Ayatakshi-Endow strongly believes in the power of enterprise in changing society. Through her unit, students are expected to work, in groups, with local socially focused businesses supporting them on their business model/planning needs, with the networking facilitated via the BU Social Entrepreneurs Forum which was set up to support our students' engagement with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

In the unit, students were introduced to global challenges and, via BU Social Entrepreneurs Forum, connected to projects within Dorset which met the UN SDGs. Please see link. In addition, they celebrated the very first BU Global Entrepreneurship Week highlighting the focus on SDG5 Gender Equality through a panel comprising of women entrepreneurs including those who travelled all the way from Brazil and a micro finance, micro granting event called BH Soup. 

Student testimonials highlighted that the unit has opened their eyes to global challenges and as a result, many were designing ventures that fit the needs of the society and the environment. Sukanya has had countless local socially focused businesses approach us to work with them, via student projects, on UN SDGs within their business plans and further their sustainability agenda, and many businesses worked with said what an impact the students have. 

You can read more here.

Sukanya was a winner of our Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development Award 2020.

Louise Preget developed an online unit which develops students' skills in sustainable, responsible and ethical management practice within an institutional and global context. Critical reflection is encouraged via analysis of corporate practice, TED talks, discussion forums and assessments that require researching a corporations ethical stance in regards to CSR & sustainability. Topics taught include ethical decision making, responsible global business practice such as ethical supply chains, and responsible governance and academic content through a series of recorded lectures integrated topics such as climate change and sustainable innovation into the curriculum. The coursework enabled deeper and transformative learning which gave them autonomy to tackle actual scenarios where irresponsible practices were demonstrated by a corporation and then in the second assignment to explore best practice and industry solutions for more sustainable ethical practice. Discussions then enabled them to understand their own values in relation to others and the corporate world. 

Louise highlights a key impact being the development of the students knowledge that for business to act in a responsible and sustainable way, it required significant change to insitutions but also to individuals who work within them. Although a small cohort, 100% of students were engaged and felt that they were developing as responsible business leaders.  

Louise was a winner of our Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development Award 2020.

Dr Camila Devis-Rozental, Susanne Clarke and Laura Roper explore specific areas of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). They deliver lectures and seminars on social and corporate responsibility, after which students developed a social responsibility statement for their business simulation and explained how they were meeting the UNSDGs. Sessions were also delivered on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), one of those with invited speakers with activities exploring the difference between equality and equity, socio-emotional intelligence, a strength-based questionnaire and the Myers Briggs questionnaire to reflect on student wellbeing. Other activities included a privilege virtual walk to learn about intersectionality and their own privilege, where students drew a flower with petals representing the areas within their privilege important to them, being presented with a persona with multiple characteristics to explore how they support them as allies to minimise microagressions and remove barriers and creating an advert for a company demonstrating their social responsibility. 

"I believe that this is very important to all of the students as learning the importance of diversity, kindness, team work and purpose has helped in developing meaningful relationships and encouraged students to engage and feel like part of a team" 

Camila

Steve Richards embeds the UNSDGs in his Level 5 unit, Destination Development and Management. Its learning objectives include: 

• Demonstrate a critical understanding of development in a destination context, and how tourism can contribute to meeting sustainable development goals.
• Be aware of a range of issues that may need to be addressed in the future development of tourism destinations.   

​To allow for critical thinking, the evolution of the concept of development is covered, showing how it has changed from a focus on economic growth, to a multi-dimensional concept. For their first assignment, students choose an SDG and consider how tourism can contribute to meeting it, using an holistic approach highlighting linkages between goals. For their second assignment, systems thinking and a future-facing approach is used, where students apply resilience thinking and scenario analysis to develop viable and inclusive solutions for a tourism destination to bounce back better after the pandemic. This was reflected in the positive MUSE feedback (averaging 91% across all questions).

Students engaged well with the topic and enjoyed learning about the SDGs. As students selected their own SDGs they could develop their own interests further, and this led to surprisingly engaging seminar sessions on zoom with students debating the issues. Two students who were not enrolled in the unit even attended the sessions as they heard from fellow students about the subject and wanted to learn as well. This topic seems to have sparked a genuine interest amongst some students. Several students signed up for a conference organised by the Business Travel Association on gender quality in the travel industry, and some have asked whether they can conduct a consultancy project linked to the SDGs in their final year. From my perspective, I found watching the videos the student submitted, and the passion they shared, to be the most rewarding assignment I have ever set.  

Steve

The Marketing and Strategy is one of the biggest units taught at Postgraduate level in the Business School, and Samreen Ashraf and her colleagues keep UN SDGs at the core of its teaching and assessment. They have enabled our students to critically reflect upon the existing CSR strategies of real-life companies to recommend them future facing strategies by addressing one or more UN SDG. This assessment also encourages students to develop their system thinking since it takes into account the differences and similarities in the application of these CSR marketing strategies based on their country of operation. Students are required to compare the application of their proposed CSR marketing strategies in two countries of their own choice. This is done by applying a range of holistic frameworks such as marketing mix (product, place, price and promotion), cultural theories, macro and microenvironment tools and drawing their discussion from the CSR theories. 

"Seeing students utilising the knowledge gained through this subject in their work post study and sharing the examples with us is fulfilling to see. We strongly recommend colleagues to include UNSDG goals in their curriculum. It is crucial for our students to learn and understand the impact of sustainability in our personal and work lives."

Samreen

The Virtual Fusion Festival is part of the Level 5 Live Event Development & Delivery unit’s assessment led by Dr Paola Vizcaino and Dr Aravind Reghunathan

Within this, events management students work with external partners to plan and co-create eight virtual events over three days that respond to an organisation’s need or broader societal need such as workplace wellbeing. The unit content emphasises the three dimensions of sustainability:

1. economic (creating a sound event budget);
2. environmental (use of resources, waste generation, carbon footprint);
3. and social (equality, diversity, inclusion considerations). 

In their post-event reports for the 2020-21 cohort, students recognised the sustainability gains of virtual events, including: zero paper waste thanks to online ticketing and the adoption of digital marketing strategies; limited carbon footprint due to no travel or accommodation requirements; adoption of pricing strategies that allowed a broader range of participants to attend; use of Zoom’s automated live caption feature to make the events accessible for the hearing impaired; securing a diverse line up of performers or speakers.  

"As the sustainability manager, my role mostly consisted of ensuring that our event was diverse, inclusive and accessible as well as limiting the negative impacts on the environment. Our event concept (virtual comedy evening in aid of a mental health charity) fits with the very idea of sustainability. The virtual environment contributed to reducing the event budget, as there was no need to hire a venue, or purchase any single use items. Social benefits include accessibility for those with disabilities, but also during the pandemic, virtual events offer an opportunity for social interaction. We asked our attendees to turn on their microphones and cameras and somewhat successfully created an ambiance similar to what you may find in a traditional comedy club, including interactions between comedians and the audience.”

Saskia, student

“A study conducted by Meet Green has shown that a physical event can contribute up to 170 kg of CO2 and create up to five tonnes of waste, alongside the increase of carbon footprint due to travelling to and from the venue (Neil, 2020). Through events like ours taking the virtual approach, this means reduction in travel, making positive contributions to environmental sustainability, and paper waste being reduced through online ticketing and digital marketing.”

Emma, student

Maria Musarskaya teaches a session covering the 17 UN SDGs and the work of BU's own Sustainability Team in three of her units (Strategic Retail Marketing and Management at Level 6; Fundamentals of Marketing at Level 4; Principles of Marketing at Level 4), reaching around 500 students per year. These sessions included information as well as interactive activities to get students involved in a discussion about the UN SDGs. A dedicated Discussion Forum has also been created for students to share sustainability-related content, questions, and discussions. As part of the assessment, Level 6 students create a 3-year strategic plan for a retailer that incorporated sustainability while Level 4 students work with a live client (SME or charity) to help them develop products and services in a sustainable and ethical way. These solutions were then shared with the clients to incorporate them into their short and medium term projects.

Students found this approach very interesting and relevant as they had a lot of choice in terms of which UN SDGs they wanted to focus on and being able to work with live clients and provide real-word solutions helped them see how they can make a real impact in this world. The impact is seen in both students and clients as both benefit from this initiative. Some students have never heard of the UNSDGs so this was a great learning opportunity as well. 

Maria

Dr Khurshid Djalilov has been replacing the traditional written coursework in the unit of Perspectives on Business Strategy with the Glo-bus simulation game where teams of 3-4 students competed with each other running a virtual company. One of the five main criteria assessing the performance is based on the company's ability to develop socially responsible strategies.

Every week the Glo-bus generates various reports on company's performance and these are critically analysed in weekly seminars to develop better strategies to outperform competitors in the following rounds. The strategy development process includes the sustainability-related decisions. 

Firstly, lectures covered the theoretical background of sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Secondly, the students are empirically shown how companies could improve their performance and image with their sustainability strategies by playing in Glo-bus over the first two weeks of the term. Thirsdly, how students develop their sustainability strategies and thus improve their performance is monitored and assessed.  

Dr Kaouther Kooli, a Principle Academic in the Department of Marketing, Strategy and Innovation, has been incorporating theoretical concepts of sustainable development and climate and ecological action into the Marketing Communications and Brand Managment unit of her course, with an emphasis on the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This is being achieved through discussions, exploring case studies, hands-on activties, guest speaker sessions, and promoting participation in sustainability advocacy. Dr Kooli has also given her students tangible opportunities for action. Students worked in collaboration with real local businesses including aDoddle.org, Body Positive Dorset, Linda Makeup Artist, and Gaia Card, and were tasked with developing a comprehensive marketing communications plan, implementing it, and evaluating the results. This helped the students to develop critical thinking skills and understand how businesses can contribute to the SDGs, but also that this approach fostered a sense of teamwork, and enhanced their communication and problem-solving skills.

Dr Kooli said: "Connecting subjects and real-world context is at the heart of education provision at BU. Through my experience teaching marketing related units, I have endeavoured to promote a sustainability culture among students by providing them with the opportunity to learn and at the same time support thier community. My students have learned theory and applied it to practice. I supported them to develop into change-makers building resilient communities as an academic to promoting sustainable development in education."

Dr Milena Bobeva has been working in Vietnam on a project to raise awareness amongst students and staff within Vietnamese HE institutions on how the SDGs could be embedded into the curriculum in an impactful way. This project is funded by the British Council Vietnam and is delivered as part of their Season 2023 programme that celebrates 50 years of diplomatic relations between UK and Vietnam and 30 years of British Council in Vietnam.

One of the methods used in this project is the Climate Fresk, which is a 3-hour interactive workshop designed to help participants learn the fundamentals of climate change, and explore how they feel about it. Taster sessions were run in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with about 25-30 students and lecturers at each location. Also, following the SDG Unit Mapping process we undertake at BU every year, another part of this project involved completing an SDG-audit for the units delivered by The University of Transport and Communications, Vietnam.

Inspired by our Climate & Ecological Crisis unit on Brightspace, the final deliverable of this project will be a multi-media SDG13 Climate Action module in English and Vietnamese to support a cross-university and cross-sectorial Community of Practice and build institutional capacity for Education or Sustainable Development. 

Dr Bobeva said, "the feedback from Vietnamese collegues was extremely positive (and rewarding) - they were impressed with the engagement and contributions of their students. We are now thinking of how to expand the project to include other universities in Vietnam, as well as partners from across the world".

Lead by Preethi Rajaprakasam, the Fashion Business unit provokes, challenges, and questions the staus quo in fashion, contributing to a system that recognises its ecological context and honours equity. The contents of the unit explore the field of Design for Sustainability like Corporate Social Responsibility, Design Thinking, Systems Thinking, Circular Economy and its application to Fashion as a Business practice.

Assessment involves developing sustainable business models and AI-assisted protypes of their proposed product or service.Through collaboration with industry experts such as Wardrobe Foundation (Dorset-based), students also have the opportunity to pitch their business ideas for which they graded.

Integrated into the final year of the Business and Management programme, the Hacking 4 Sustainability (H4S) module gives students the opportunity to develop industry experience, knowledge, and interdisciplinary skills by working on real-world sustainability problems and coming up with solutions which have a significant and measurable impact.

In 2023, students in groups of 4-5 engaged with critical issues on sustainability in various departments of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), such as biodiverse estates, energy efficiency, environmental protection, greening the airfields, making air bases bio-diverse, green resource management and adult education. A military advisor was present to help the students understand the MoD structure and how their problem sits within the context, and the students were required to present their ideas at the end of the 12-week project to the client.

The H4S module has had a profound impact, not only on the students but also on the MoD. For instance, 67% of students reported substantially improving their innovation knowledge, 84% expressed interest in MoD or Civil Service careers, and the MoD have since implemented some of the solutions developed by the students, including educational incentives and interactive briefing videos. The British Army lauded the students' contributions, emphasizing the fresh perspectives and tangible outcomes derived from their innovative solutions.

Overall, the H4S module instils the values and outlook needed for sustainable development and climate action through immersive, real-world engagement. Students learn the importance of ethical responsibility, social impact, and long-term ecological thinking by tackling genuine sustainability challenges in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence.

Dr Mili Shrivastava, unit leader of the HS4 module and winner of the 2024 Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development (EESD) Award said, “To successfully embed Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) or Climate and Ecological Action (CEC) in your work, focus on real-world applications and interdisciplinary collaboration. Engage students with hands-on projects that address actual sustainability challenges, involving stakeholders from industry, government, and the community. Foster a values-driven approach by emphasising ethical responsibility and long-term ecological thinking. Ensure mentorship and continuous feedback to support student development. This holistic, immersive method cultivates a deep understanding and commitment to sustainable practices”.

Dr Manuela Picariello, Senior Lecturer in Sport & Event Management, has developed two reflective, values-based assignments for her sustainable development course.

Assignment 1, ‘Try Something New’, required students to select three environmentally sustainable practices to follow for 28 days, and to reflect on them. Assignment 2, ‘Meaning Making’ gave students the opportunity to assess their values, connect them with their favourite Sustainable Development Goals, and to create a video summarizing their insights. The students were supported with academic readings, discussions, and reflective essays that provided a solid theoretical foundation.

The impact of this pedagogical approach was significant. Students reported a deeper understanding of sustainability issues and a greater sense of personal responsibility towards environmental action. One student noted, "The 28-day challenge made me realize how small changes can have a big impact." Data from course evaluations showed an increase in students' confidence in their ability to contribute to sustainable development, with 85% of students expressing a heightened awareness and commitment to sustainability by the end of the course.

Dr Manuela Picariello said, “By fostering a values-based approach, students were more likely to develop a long-term commitment to sustainable practices. It’s important to understand your student audience, have in mind what your goal is, and use a co-creation pedagogical approach. Start small and think bigger”.

Funded by the British Council, the Supporting University Network for Research in Sustainability Engagement (SUNRISE) project is a collaborative initiative between BU and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), which celebrates student participation, cross-cultural learning, and the power of  sustainability research to connect people, places, and purpose.

Since the launch of the SUNRISE project, a rich programme of events have been held for students and staff at both BU and USM, with sustainability and digital mobility at their core. The attendees came together to share research, exchange ideas, and explore new ways of thinking about global challenges. You can read the full story of the SUNRISE project in this report which showcases some of the impressive work produced along the way.

This project also initiated the BU Student Sustainability Champion Award, which recognises students’ contribution to sustainability while studying. The students receive a certificate to help enhance their employability prospects. You can nominate a student using this form.

• Sidra Shahid's future-facing PhD, supported by Dr Martyn Polkinghorne and Dr Milena Bobeva investigates how SDG4 Quality Education is influencing the delivery of educational projects in Pakistan to determine how BU can help these projects to be delivered more successfully. This research has the potential to reach out to many thousands of students, from a variety of levels, and in life changing ways.

• Dr Sean Beer teaches his MSc Hotel and Food Services Management and MSc Events Management students about applying the ‘triple bottom line’ standard approach for full cost accounting developed by the United Nations International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. He teaches his students to use the approach in the context of food and drink considering political, economic, social, technological, environmental and gastronomic aspects. Students learn about sustainability in a broad context and gain skills in holistic thinking using a systems approach.
• Dr Nicole Ferdinand, Dr Nigel Williams and Liz Gordon teach MSc Events Management students about sustainability by asking them to stage live events which they then evaluate using holistic techniques such as the triple bottom line. These events must show consideration to the long term needs of society and where an event is for a charity, it must both attract attendees and draw attention to the charitable cause. Students learn problem solving and critical thinking skills and how to design sustainable events which demonstrate cultural sensitivity.
• Michael O’Regan and Christina Squires lead and Event Management unit where students develop and execute their own events on campus, and teach this with specifics UN Sustainable Development Goals in mind. A flipped learning approach is used, and sustainability is highlighted before the rest of the key practices in events management. To deepen their understanding, each group discusses how sustainable their decision making is, and check their resolve to create more sustainable events. They are then given a hand-out whereby they can rate the sustainability of their event. Finally they are asked to discuss with peers to problem-solve their event organization in order to become more sustainable.