Purpose: This paper aims to present a food-themed project at Nottingham Trent University, the Sustainability in Practice (SiP) Certificate, a supra-disciplinary approach involving a collaborative enquiry into food sustainability through a flexible online course open to all staff and students. The focus will be on the SiP Challenge Days. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper will describe the pedagogical approach of the certificate's online and offline components, the various activities undertaken by participants and the digital tools employed to encourage collaboration and skills development. Findings: The Challenge Days have, so far, proven to be effective in inspiring students to be creative in solving sustainability challenges, especially through supradisciplinary collaboration. Research Limitations/Implications: This is a new project hence participation has been relatively small. However, organisation of Challenge Days for the next academic year is already in progress including two new themes. These additions should offer extra dimensions of experience for the participants as well as a richer future dataset. Social Implications: Through collaboration across disciplines, the students have a wider understanding of contemporary sustainably issues as they play a pro-active role in solving these current challenges. Originality/Value: The practice element of this online module and the crowdsourcing of sustainable solutions within SiP are described in detail in this paper. Special attention is given to how the design of SiP equips students with the skills needed to solve sustainable challenges.
Much of the current literature on integrating sustainability into HEIs is focussed on why HEIs should embrace sustainable development (SD) and what is still missing or hindering work and the integration of efforts. There is much less exploration of how SD has been interpreted at the individual HEI level and action taken as a result. This case study reflects on important elements of the journey Nottingham Trent University (NTU) in the UK has taken to integrate sustainability, focussing on key decisions and activity in 2009/10. In highlighting this, the authors seek to empower those looking to support and/or lead the embedding of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), separately or as part of an integrated effort, in their own institution. Today in 2019, NTU is a global leader in integrating ESD as part of a wider SD agenda. The work which this paper presents, to understand and establish a baseline of key elements of NTU's existing ESD activity and systems, was an important turning point. Activities undertaken to review and assess 'where are we now?', primarily through an institution-wide survey in 2009/10, led to important insights and supported dialogue, as well as the connection and underpinning of core administrative elements of the NTU SD framework and systems. Further recommendations are given in the final section of this paper on other drivers that can help to embed ESD within an HEI.
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