Sustainable Development

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Sustainable Development the role of higher
education
Steve Egan
EAUC conference 31 March 2008
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Higher Educations contribution

• Role as educators
• Generation and transfer of knowledge
• Leadership of, and influence on, local, national
  and international networks
• Business strategy and operations.

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Leitch

• Leitch Review of Skills 2006
• Recognised HE as a key contributor to the
  challenge of ensuring that the UK is a world
  leader in skills by 2020.
• Leitch Implementation Plan
• it is imperative that everyone in this country
  develops the skills of sustainable living and
  working. That means placing sustainable
  development at the heart of skills provision,
  ensuring that it is a fundamental goal of our
  economic and social progress.

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Challenges

• What are skills for sustainability?
• Link to employability?
• What are the ways in which partners can work
  together?
• Another agenda in an already overcrowded
  curriculum? How can the existing curriculum be
  used to support SD e.g. work placement?
• What can we as a sector do to effectively harness
  and increase drivers?

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Drivers

• Students
• Professional bodies
• Targets and legislation
• Employers
• Sector Skills Councils
• United Nations
• Funding Councils

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Employer engagement

• Higher Education Innovation Fund
• Carbon Connections - UEA
• UrbanBuzz Building Sustainable Communities UCL
  and UEL
• Lifelong Learning Networks
• CETLs
• Pilot projects

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What are employers looking for?

• Interpersonal skills
• Team working
• Problem solving
• Communicator
• Flexibility
• Commitment

• Networking
• Proactivity
• Motivation
• Technical skills
• Independent working
• Planning

www.prospects.ac.uk
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Business Barometer
Chart source Carbon Trust Business barometer Oct
07
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Sector Skills Councils
Sustainability Skills Matrix for the built
environment

• Charts the key functional players
• Identifies high level competences
• Map existing competences and identify skills gaps
• Measure industry progress
• Assist future joint working

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United Nations

• Decade for ESD (2005-14)
• to integrate the principles, values, and
  practices of sustainable development into all
  aspects of education and learning.
• Regional Centres of Expertise
• Opportunities for HEIs to connect locally
• East Midlands first RCE in the UK

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HEFCEs role

• Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
  (CETL)
• C-SCAIPE - Kingston University
• Centre for Sustainable Futures - University of
  Plymouth
• Higher Education Academy
• Facilitate collaborative working
• Senior management commitment

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HEFCEs role

• Revolving green fund
• Strategic review
• Great deal has been done diversity of
  approaches
• Momentum for change needs to continue and
  increase
• 2008 sustainable development action plan
• Consultation summer 2008

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Further information
http//www.hefce.ac.uk/lgm/sustain/
Steve Egan s.egan_at_hefce.ac.uk 0117 9317408