THE INTEGRATION OF COMPETENCES FOR SUSTAINABLE …E.g. rigid disciplinary structure of education and research Related to lack of resources E.g. lack of qualitative and quantitative

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THE INTEGRATION OF COMPETENCES

FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Wim Lambrechts

26 October 2011, Brussels

OVERVIEW PRESENTATION

1. Introduction

2. Sustainable higher education

3. Competences and sustainability

4. Integration of SD in competence based education

5. Conclusions and discussion

6. References

7. Contact

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Lambrechts, W. (2011). “The integration of competences for sustainable development”, Brussels, 26 October 2011.

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� Complex challenges in the post-war period, e.g.:

� Pesticides in the 1950’s and 60’s� Rachel Carson ‘Silent Spring’ (1962)

� Economic crisis in the 1970’s

� Increasing awareness: these complex problems had

to be faced in a holistic and interdisciplinary way� Club of Rome ‘Limits to Growth’ (1972)

� Brundtland ‘Our Common Future’ (1987)

� Call for education to play an active role in achieving

sustainable societies, e.g.:� Stockholm Conference (1972): environmental

education

� Agenda 21 (1992): chapter 36 on education

� UN Decade of Education for sustainable

development (2005-2014)

1. INTRODUCTION

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Source: wiseeats.files.wordpress.com


� Role of (higher) education = preparing professionals, decisionmakers and

consumers of the future

� Are graduate students equipped with the necessary competences to cope with

complex challenges and find suitable solutions?

� Preparing students to cope with complex challenges, take action and achieve

sustainable societies

� Rethinking the mission of universities

� Reorienting education, research, outreach and operations

� Simple “add-on” to the curriculum >< complete transition

1. INTRODUCTION

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� Levels of change (Sterling, 2004, cited in Roorda, 2010):

2. SUSTAINABLE HIGHER EDUCATION

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Level 0 Level 1:

Accomodation

Level 2:

Reformation

Level 3:

Transformation

Type of change No or weak change Green gloss Serious reform Whole system

redesign

Type of learning Ignorance or denial

(no learning)

Adaptive Critically reflective Transformative

Response Rejection or

minimum

‘Bolt-on’ ‘Build-in’ Rebuild or redesign

Effect on ESD No change Cosmetic reform Serious greening Wholly integrative

State of education As usual Education about

sustainability

Education for

sustainability

Sustainable

education


� Charters and declarations on sustainability in higher education, e.g.:

� Talloires Declaration (1990)

� Halifax Declaration (1992)

� Copernicus Charter (1994)

� Lüneburg Declaration (2001)

� By signing these declarations, universities worldwide committed to integrate

sustainability in their education, research, outreach and operations.

� Many universities reported about case studies, e.g.:

� Reduce environmental impact and footprint

� Conduct interdisciplinary research projects

� Create courses and minors in sustainability

� Integrate new methodological approaches in education

� Define competences for sustainable development

� However: no real transformation, as described by Sterling (2004).


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� Barriers for change (Lozano, 2006a, Velázquez et al. 2006, Lozano,

2010, Lambrechts et al., 2009, Wals, 2010):

� Related to lack of awareness

� E.g. no relevance to sustainability (‘not important’)

� Related to structure of higher education

� E.g. rigid disciplinary structure of education and research

� Related to lack of resources

� E.g. lack of qualitative and quantitative indicators

� There’s a need to:

� Raise awareness

� Gather information (e.g. based on indicators)

� Communicate about the integration process


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� Sustainable higher education: double track

� Content criteria: teaching about, doing research about

(topics of) sustainable development

� Proces / system criteria: reorient our methods

� Define and integrate competences for SD

� Use proper methods to acquire and assess these

competences

� Link with research, society, university operations


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3.1. Definition

� Competences: knowledge, skills, attiutudes

� Holistic approach

� Rychen and Salganik (2003): “the ability to succesfully meet

complex demands in a particular context through the mobilization

of psychological prerequisites (including both cognitive and non-

cognitive aspects)”

� Key competence: those competences relevant and useful for

everybody and in different contexts (Barth et al., 2007)

3. COMPETENCES AND SUSTAINABILITY

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3.2. Competences for sustainable development


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� Competences for SD (Roorda, 2010):

1. Responsibility: A sustainable professional takes responsibility for the

own work

2. Emotional intelligence: A sustainable professional projects him/herself

on the values and emotions or others

3. System orientation: A sustainable professional thinks and works from a

systems vision

4. Future orientation: A sustainable professional thinks and works from a

future oriented perspective

5. personal Involvement: A sustainable professional dedicates

him/herself personally for sustainable development

6. Action skills: A sustainable professional acts decisively and

competently

7. + Disciplinairy competences for SD


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4.1. Method

� Research questions:

� To what extent is/are (elements of) sustainable development already

integrated in the competences of different education programs?

� How can this information be used to further integrate competences

for sustainable development in the curriculum?

� Analysis of competence schemes� Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUBrussel)

� Katholieke Hogeschool Leuven (KHLeuven)

4. ANALYSIS

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4. ANALYSIS

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4.1. Method

� General (key) competences

� Disciplinary competences

� Score 1 to 4

1. Little or no integration

2. Minimal integration

3. Moderate integration

4. Good integration

4. ANALYSIS

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4. ANALYSIS

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4. ANALYSIS

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4. ANALYSIS

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4. ANALYSIS

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5. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION

� Implicit and fragmented

� Explicit and focused

� Good integration: responsibility, emotional intelligence

� Absent: System orientation, future orientation, personal

involvement, action skills

� Little or no translation towards disciplinary competences

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� Ceulemans, K., Lambrechts, W. en Vervrangen, A. (2011). “Duurzaamheidsaudits in het

hoger onderwijs. Do’s en dont’s op basis van het AISHE-instrument [Sustainability

assessment in higher education. Do’s and dont’s based on AISHE]”. Interactive session,

Brussels, 1 March 2011.

� Cole, L. (2003). Assessing sustainability on Canadian university campuses: development of a

campus sustainability assessment framework. Master thesis Environment and management,

Royal Roads University.

� Cortés, A.C., Segalas, J., Cebrian, G., Junyent, M., Tilló, T., Marquilles, P., Montserrat, M.,

(2010). Sustainability competences in Catalan university degrees. Proceedings of the 6th

Conference ‘Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU)’, Delft, The

Netherlands, 25-29 oktober 2010.

� Glasser, H. en Nixon, A. (2002). “Operations: from the state of the world to the state of the

academy: campus sustainability assessment – a bright star on the horizon.” In: The

Declaration 6 (1).

6. REFERENCES

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� Lambrechts, W., Mulà, I. en Van den Haute, H. (2010). “The integration of sustainability in

competence based higher education. Using competences as a starting point to achieve

sustainable higher education”. Proceedings of the 6th Conference ‘Environmental

Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU)’ (Delft, Nederland, 25-29 oktober 2010).

� Lambrechts, W., Van den Haute, H. en Vanhoren, I. (2009). Duurzaam hoger onderwijs.

Appel voor verantwoord onderrichten, onderzoeken en ondernemen [Sustainable higher

education. Appeal for responsible education, research and operations]. LannooCampus,

Leuven.

� Lozano, R. (2010). “Diffusion of sustainable development in universities' curricula: an

empirical example from Cardiff University”. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18, 637-644.

� Lozano, R. (2006a). “Incorporation and institutionalization of SD into universities: breaking

through barriers to change”. Journal of Cleaner Production, 14, 787-796.

6. REFERENCES

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� Lozano, R. (2006b). “A tool for a Graphical Assessment of Sustainability in Universities

(GASU)”. Journal of Cleaner Production 14, 963-972.

� Roorda, N. (2010). Sailing on the winds of change. The Odyssey to Sustainability of the

Universities of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. PhD thesis, Maastricht University.

� Roorda, N. (2007). “Project AISHE 2.0 – Start document”, s.l.

� Roorda, N. (2001). Auditing Instrument for Sustainability in Higher Education. English

Handbook. DHO Nederland, Amsterdam, available on: http://www.dho.nl/aishe

� Roorda, N. and Martens, P. (2008). “Assessment and Certification of Higher Education for

Sustainable Development”, Sustainability: The Journal of Record, Vol.1 – No.1, February

2008.

� Shriberg, M. (2002). “Institutional assessment tools for sustainability in higher education”,

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 3 No. 3, 254-270.

6. REFERENCES

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� Siemer, S., Elmer, S. en Rammel, C. (2006). Pilot study: Indicators of an education for

sustainable development. FORUM Umweltbildung, Wenen.

� Sterling, S. (2004). “Higher education, sustainability, and the role of systemic learning”, In:

Corcoran, P.B. en Wals, A. Higher education and the challenge of sustainability.

Problematics, Promise and Practice. Kluwer Academic Publishers,

Dordrecht/Boston/Londen, 47-70.

� Velázquez, L., Munguia, N., Platt, A., Taddei, J. (2006). “Sustainable university: what can be

matter?”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 14, 810-819.

� Wals, A.E.J. (2010). “Mirroring, Gestaltswitching and transformative social learning:

Stepping stones for developing sustainable competence”. International Journal of

Sustainability in Higher Eductaion, 11 (4): 380-390.

6. REFERENCES

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� Thanks for your attention!

� Questions, remarks?

Wim Lambrechts

[email protected]

+32 (0) 475 70 97 43

7. CONTACT

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THE INTEGRATION OF COMPETENCES FOR SUSTAINABLE …E.g. rigid disciplinary structure of education and research Related to lack of resources E.g. lack of qualitative and quantitative