Sustainability Co-Design Project

About

This initiative supports Concordia’s Sustainability in the Curriculum under the Sustainability Action Plan. This Sustainability Co-Design project is an opportunity to answer the students’ call to target those issues important to them and have all participants benefit from a renewed teaching and learning experience.

Many faculty members already include sustainability content in their courses, and some are even experts in teaching with a sustainability lens. But various constraints including workload challenges and the uncertainty of where or how to embed sustainability in their course may present barriers. The centre is interested in reducing these barriers, and this project is specifically meant for programs that want to enhance their courses with a sustainability lens.

The project is based on a Student as Partners collaboration model, with undergraduate and graduate students working collaboratively with faculty to redesign a unit or develop an instructional module in their course. As a curricular developer for sustainability, the centre supports instructional design elements. The centre also has sustainability mentors, Concordia faculty who are deeply engaged with sustainability, to guide students and faculty with the sustainability objectives.

Showcase event

On May 16, 2023, several Sustainability Co-Design teams gathered to show how they have revisited their course curricula to connect discipline-specific content with sustainability issues. Together with Provost Anne Whitelaw, Vice-Provost of Innovation in Teaching and Learning Sandra Gabriele, Concordia faculty and staff and students interested in promoting Education for Sustainability, we celebrated the great strides our teams made and learned about their journey on the project. The event recording is available below, via the 4^TH SPACE YouTube channel.

We are proud that this event received the gold level of Concordia’s Sustainable Events Certification.

Results and impacts

• Faculty: Workload reduced, fresh student perspective gained, teaching revitalized.
• Students: 100% of students grasp basic course design and professors' viewpoints. Students find it unforgettable and eye-opening.
• Faculty and students: High satisfaction – cathartic and lasting impact.
• Co-design teams: Enhanced project-based learning.
• Enrolled students: Novel learning via revamped teaching, sustainability-discipline interconnections.
• Impact on curriculum: 30% to 60% increase in sustainability content integration, average redesign of 5+ learning outcomes, inclusion of multiple Sustainable Development Goals.

Quotes

• "Student partners were amazing, they had so many valuable ideas and put in a lot of work to make this project a success." – Faculty member
• "Exchange of ideas was the best thing, openness to new ideas and pushing the limits of the conventional" – Student
• "Very helpful CTL team; inspiring mentor; loved working in team with student partners!" – Faculty member

Past teams