New network for a sustainable future

The HE sector is being urged to consider its role in educating future leaders, thinkers and citizens to build their capacity to meet the challenge of adopting a more sustainable lifestyle.

The Education for Sustainable Development Network (ESDN) is a new group of University staff and students who seek to consider how taught programmes and research activities can be designed and delivered to respond to this need.

Chaired by William Young from the Sustainability Research Institute, the ESDN's steering group comprises representatives from each faculty who lead initiatives in their disciplinary areas, identify and build links with others already working towards these aims, and develop cross-disciplinary experiences linked to the formal curriculum and to the broader experience of studying and living in Leeds. The ESDN is also contributing to the Curriculum Enhancement Project, specifically via the ethics thread and a proposed strand on sustainability.

ESDN is partially funded by an Academic Development Fund (Fund for Learning & Teaching) project, led by William Young and Julia Clarke, which is supporting pilot initiatives in the faculties of Environment and Business.

"The Network has launched a new website to showcase best practice examples from each discipline, along with a space on the Virtual Learning Environment to share actual teaching materials," says project officer Claire Marsh. "We'd like interested staff and students to help populate this site with details of what they are doing to enhance education for sustainable development."