This guide is designed to help educators make connections between their subject area and sustainable development. It aims to assist in identifying appropriate content for your teaching and learning practice.Within the guide, you can find universal ESD tips and subject-specific resources and support.
ESD teaching and learning tips
It’s important to remember that ESD isn’t purely about environmental behaviours – recycling and energy efficiency for example. Of course, these are important but ESD should develop learners’ knowledge, skills, behaviours and agency that enable them to contribute positively to sustainability solutions in their lives and work.
A collaborative and cohesive approach to learner engagement with sustainability is needed. Practitioners should work in partnership and collaboration with others to bring ESD comprehensively into their learner’s experience. Adding short mention of sustainability in one lesson is not going to develop the knowledge, skills, behaviour or agency learners need.
Ideally, ESD should be delivered as part of their core subject specialism, rather than as a parallel stand-alone content. This enables learners to understand how their subject or vocational area contributes to both sustainability challenges but also solutions in a way that is relevant to them.
ESD should be solutions and action focussed – simply raising awareness of the sustainability challenges we face could lead to disengagement or eco-anxiety.
Develop a culture of enquiry. You’re not expected to know everything about sustainable development. Facilitate discussions (with your learners, colleagues, and others you work with) and you may learn from them as much as they do from you.
This is not a definitive nor exhausted list – it’s intended to provide inspiration and ideas. This resource is intended to grow and develop – we’re committed to keeping it up-to-date as we develop and discover new information and resources. If you have your own examples, case studies or resources you’d like us to include in future, either from subject areas listed or additional ones, please contact us.
Within each subject area below, you might find:
Prompts and suggestions of sustainability topics that relate to your subject area
Case studies and real-life accounts of how educators have brought ESD into their professional practice (taken from our research)
Signposts to high-quality resources and organisations who specialise in sustainability and your subject area and/or relevant vocations
Ideas taken from IFATE’s sustainability framework that demonstrate what sustainable practice looks like in different occupations
Accounting and finance
Case studies and examples:
“I use real-world data and models showing the extent of the changes that need to be made in order to minimize global temperature change.”
A full case study of the work Richard Carter, lecturer in accounting, finance and sustainability at West Suffolk College has undertaken is available here.
Content could include:
Sustainable business models
Sustainable finance and investment
Organisational sustainability reporting
Sustainability in supply chains
Organisational risk and sustainability
Corporate social responsibility.
An example of sustainability in relevant occupations (taken from IFATE’s sustainability framework):
“A finance professional could widen their exposure to green investments and diversify the range of products they offer to clients. By doing so, they will be supporting the green economy a USP for marketing purposes, also they can take a risk-based approach to improving the resilience of their investment portfolio for clients.”
Agriculture
Content could include:
Sustainable farming and land use
Maintaining and encouraging wildlife
Sustainable resource management
Storage and application of farm chemicals
Soil, water, and air protection
Minimisation of waste in the supply chain
Animal care
Content could include:
Sustainability agendas of zoos and local reserves
Wildlife and habitat conservation
Sustainable business practices for animal management organisations
Art and design
Case studies and examples:
“In our art department, sustainability is part of the curriculum requirement, so students have projects linked to sustainability, social issues, reuse/recycle etc.”
“SEND learners and I built an earth globe and collected plastics off the beach to create the base incorporating maths, materials… as well as art.”
“I am an Art and Design teacher and use recycled paper, sketch books and other equipment in class and use online resources to maintain sustainability in class. Therefore, with this style of learning students are more aware of the environmental sustainability.”
“Students creating reactionary work to plastics in oceans and creating awareness.”
“I have encouraged use of Julie’s Bicycle in working with an arts organisation.”
A full case study of the work Claire Burgoyne, course coordinator in Art and Design at Hereford College of Arts is available here.
Using art and design to engage public in sustainability challenges and solutions
Responsible waste practices
Biology
Case studies and examples:
“I teach science so embed sustainability into many curriculum areas, but I try to push outside of the usual focus of climate change etc. We have looked at food poverty and the global demand of corn.”
Content could include:
Human impacts on natural habitats, species and systems and how these can be sustained
How natural eco-systems can inform design
The role of environmental education
Business
Case studies and examples:
“[I include sustainability] in the proposals of developing new business ideas with students as a vision or in the values of the businesses.”
Content could include:
Sustainable business models
Organisational approaches to sustainability
Responsible, inclusive, and sustainable marketing
Sustainability kitemarks and accreditation schemes
Learners working with local businesses to develop sustainability action plans
Guest speakers from local businesses with a sustainability-related purpose and/or strong sustainability performance
Examples of sustainability in relevant occupations (taken from IFATE’s sustainability framework):
“Maintaining a business support function gives the employee an opportunity to innovate by considering new suppliers of energy and new ways of managing energy in the organisation for example, an apprentice in an SME may research and suggest the business move to a green energy supplier. They may also consider if areas do need to be permanently lit or introduce control sensors to avoid unnecessary use…
They may research and recommend an accredited retrofit assessment to identify the best actions to reduce the building carbon footprint. They may provide or design a travel decision tool to other employees to direct people to the most sustainable methods of transport or consider changing their approach to carpool or hire vehicles to focus on electric vehicles…
In a sales or other travelling roles, an employee could take personal responsibility for considering their carbon impact on the organisation and propose alternatives such as use of digital communications or use of public transport as a first choice. In a leadership role they could recommend these approaches at an organisational level.”
“Sustainability is fundamental in our knowledge of farming and where and how our food gets to us.”
Content could include:
Sustainable diets – carbon intensity, food miles, seasonality, growing methods, health etc.
Sustainability in supply chains and sourcing
Sustainable packaging
Minimisation of food waste and responsible waste practices
Energy efficient technologies Responsible, inclusive, and sustainable marketing
Examples of sustainability in relevant occupations (taken from IFATE’s sustainability framework):
“In a food and drink environment, an employee may consider ways to reduce food waste, protective packaging and single use hygiene items. They could consider this by looking at the initial costs of disposal and the lifetime costs of dealing with that waste beyond the organisation compared to an alternative sustainable approach…
In the hospitality sector, a chef de partie may consider more energy efficient technologies to support their work and how that has a positive effect on the costs of energy use within their organisation. They may also, look at sourcing ingredients locally to reduce the carbon footprint of these items. A restaurant employee may choose to recommend installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging points as a new business opportunity to welcome new customers and which could generate profit by billing customers for charging their vehicles.”
“Sustainability is one of the main themes in the construction apprenticeship standards therefore fundamental to my role”
A full case study of the work of Chris Tunningley, assistant faculty director at Leeds College of Building is available here.
A full case study of the work of Gareth Jones, curriculum manager construction, Solomon Whittaker, curriculum manager construction and Sarah Condren, staff development manager at Burnley College is available here.
Content could include:
Sustainability challenges created by construction
Life cycle analysis of construction materials
Sustainability in supply chains and sourcing
Environmental impact assessments, planning and relevant legislation
Sustainability kitemarks, accreditation schemes and standards
Guest speakers from local construction firms with a sustainability-related purpose and/or strong sustainability performance.
Site visits to local projects with strong sustainability features
Examples of sustainability in relevant occupations (taken from IFATE’s sustainability framework):
“A construction occupation may require a designer to understand the impact of the insulating materials they are using to build homes and their resilience to ‘heatwave’ conditions, resulting in more sustainable housing construction…
An architect can consider if green areas could be planned within the development such that wildlife (flowers, shrubs, trees, animals, and insects) will be able to flourish, even within an office or industrial setting. A building services design technician could consider if a planned development allows for nesting boxes, animal road crossings or other facilities that will encourage biodiversity. Are the plant species planned for use in green spaces appropriate to the climate, area and existing wildlife?”
Sustainability issues within manufacturing industries
Waste disposal
Life cycle analysis of products
Education and early years
Case studies and examples:
“I include social, political and economic factors influencing curriculum design.”
“When teaching current legislation that affects the role and responsibilities on a teacher in education and training, we explore adhering to and understanding your duty of care.”
“We are teaching ESD in the Early years to our learners. We are using Schemaplay and working with a University to include this as a unit in their degree level qualifications for staff in the early years.”
“I teach childcare and early years therefore we discuss right to education, long life learning, Inclusion and etc.”
“As an outdoor education teacher there are always opportunities to look at our impact on the world around us from the small (discussions about leaving litter) to higher level (trainee instructions at degree level thinking about how they will incorporate sustainability in their teaching).”
“I have used the UN SD goals in teacher training education as a means by which teachers can plan lessons to introduce such themes into their lessons.”
“Promotion of the sustainability goals contextualised to how these can be embedded into the scheme of work of a trainee teacher.”
“After studying sustainability as part of my PGCAP, I removed all flip charts from the class and used reusable ones as well as including sustainability on all of our marketing for teacher training.”
“I ask trainee teachers to consider ways that they can include sustainability in their teaching and provide a framework to consider their response from political representation through resource conservation to environment, finance and lifestyle choices.”
A full case study of the work of Kirstin Sawyer, Head of School Education and Professional Studies at Bradford College is available here.
“Sustainability is a choice of discussion topic for English speaking and listening practice”
“I use images and text regarding climate change within the GCSE English Language delivery”
“I took Entry 2 ESOL students to a college talk about a local woman’s litter picking campaign. Followed it up with reading lessons about local environmental issues and recycling.”
“I teach English, setting projects involving research and production of work about plastic pollution / recycling / climate change.”
A full case study of the work of Joni Cunningham, principal, Nasreen Akhtar, project manager for English Every Day, and Sarah Crème, project manager for ESOL at Redbridge Institute of Adult Learning is available here.
Resources:
A collection of resources for ESOL practitioners for a wide range of learners and lesson types that has been developed and tested by ESOL practitioners is available here.
Hair and beauty
Case studies and examples:
“Our Curriculum is delivered embedding sustainability regarding environmental with waste, chemicals, pollution, economics and profit utilisation.”
A full case study of the work of Lesley McCormack, managing director; Gabriella McCormack, education director; Craig Anthony, executive education manager and Kingston Bell, general training manager at Michaeljohn Training School, Manchester is available here.
Content could include:
Sustainability in supply chains and sourcing
Sustainable resource management
Minimisation of waste and responsible waste practices
Organisational approaches to sustainability
Behavioural science and sustainable client behaviours
Responsible, inclusive, and sustainable marketing
An example of sustainability in relevant occupations (taken from IFATE’s sustainability framework):
“In a hairdressing salon, an employee may consider using products that are more environmentally friendly or purchased with a view to refill rather than disposing of multiple product containers. This may encourage a new marketing approach to focus on organic as a unique selling point (USP). An employee may [also] consider the costs of using energy inefficient tools such as hairdryers and straighteners. They could look at alternatives by considering the cost of getting new tools against the energy savings, technological gains and potential positive USP for the organisation. There may be an opportunity to recommend adding solar or other microgeneration solutions to provide energy for the salon.”
“We debate the future of the NHS and challenges of aging population.”
Content could include:
Global public health issues and health inequalities
Links between environmental and personal wellbeing
Sustainable healthcare systems
Sustainable resource management
Behavioural science and community engagement
An example of sustainability in relevant occupations (taken from IFATE’s sustainability framework):
“In the care sector, a care provider may consider how they can use sustainable resources in the homes that they visit and make best use of non-renewable sources of energy. For example, boiling a kettle with only the amount of water needed for hot drinks, ensuring that electrical equipment is used effectively to reduce energy use and ensuring that they make every journey count when visiting or escorting clients.”
Minimisation of waste and responsible waste practices
Organisational approaches to sustainability
An example of sustainability in relevant occupations (taken from IFATE’s sustainability framework):
“Working in a manufacturing environment, an employee may be expected to reflect on the layout of the production line and consider if machinery needs to be left on standby or idling, where processes may be able to be run alongside to reduce repetitive tasks or activities increasing sustainability which in many cases might also be saving costs. Lean principles may work well to align with sustainability goals.”
“SEND learners and I built an earth globe and collected plastics off the beach to create the base incorporating maths, … distance and graphs as well as art.”
“As a GCSE maths teacher, I use for example, data on renewable energy and costs of ethical products versus general manufacturing as contexts for students to perform calculations or make data comparisons.”
“Large numbers in Maths and statistics includes national debt, area of forest loss, average earnings and charitable donations to Children in Need, with some stats each year from the Children in Need website.”
“Using data about climate change in a maths lesson.”
“Devising a survey to ascertain how many earths my students are living on and calculating their carbon footprint.”
“As a fashion buying and merchandiser lecturer I have spoken to my students about the impact of Covid-19 on sustainable fashion and the supply chain.”
Content could include:
Sustainability in supply chains and sourcing
Responsible, inclusive, and sustainable marketing
Using fashion to engage public in sustainability challenges and solutions
Life cycle analysis
Responsible waste practices
Sustainable consumption
Fast fashion
An example of sustainability in relevant occupations (taken from IFATE’s sustainability framework):
“A textile designer may need to look at the labour conditions where their raw materials come from in the supply chain such as fabrics and dyes to see if they use child labour or unsafe working standards overseas to inform a more sustainable design or product choice.”
Travel and tourism
Case studies and examples:
“I teach responsible tourism, and sometimes including sustainability issues in my tutorials.”
A full case study of the work Jennifer Fasad, lecturer in travel and tourism at NESCOT has undertaken is available available here.
Content could include:
Positive and negative economic, social, and environmental impacts of tourism
Sustainable travel policy and planning
Sustainable transport
The opportunities and challenges of carbon offsetting
Specialist eco-tourism
Sustainability kitemarks, accreditation schemes and standards
Guest speakers from local businesses with a sustainability-related purpose and/or strong sustainability performance.
