Higher Education Learning Resources
Recognising the increasing demand for the inclusion of sustainability concepts in the training of geoscientists, and the impact of Covid-19 on the means of delivering learning resources, we have prepared a fully open-access module on ‘Geoscience and Sustainable Development’.
The module includes eight classes: the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Working in the Global South, Decarbonisation, Disaster Risk Reduction, Water Security, Health and Land Degradation, Sustainable Urban Development, and Reducing Inequalities.
Collectively, these aim to help learners:
Explore key global development frameworks, and the national and local sustainability challenges they seek to address.
Understand how geoscience knowledge can contribute to understanding and tackling these challenges.
Develop skills to strengthen engagement in sustainable development activities (e.g., science diplomacy, context mapping, policy engagement).
Understand that 'how we work' is as important as 'what we do' – and therefore the need to build equitable partnerships, and address inequalities in the geosciences.
During the 2020/21 year the Department of Geography, Geology and the Environment at the University of Hull ran a “Sustainable Geoscience Award” to reward their students for engaging with optional content created with the module provided by GfGD.
“During the difficult conditions of the 2020/21 academic year, with many students working completely online and less contact time than usual, we weren’t sure how many students would be keen to engage with optional content. But the results were very encouraging. The work involved submitting to an online discussion board to gain the digital badge, and the submissions demonstrated excellent engagement with the tasks.”
Dr Natasha Dowey, Earth Science Lecturer at the University of Hull (2019 - 2021, now at Sheffield Hallam University)
The success the department has had with the resources led to the Award being formally embedded into the Earth Science programme for new entrants, and helped transform the perception of the subject both internally within the university and externally to potential students.
This project was supported by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the UNESCO/IUGS International Geoscience Programme Project 685 - Geoscience for Sustainable Development.
If you use or adapt these resources in your teaching we’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your experiences, how and where are you using them, what do learners enjoy, what impact do they have on learners’ understanding of geology for development? Your stories and feedback will help us to improve future resources, better serving the global geoscience community.
You may also wish to make a small donation to support our ongoing work to mobilise and equip geoscientists to help deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals.