Key Competencies in Sustainability Curriculum and Program Development
Key Competencies in Sustainability: Curriculum and Program Development National Council for Science & the Environment (NCSE) Rod Parnell, Ph. D. -- Professor, Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University Ira Feldman, Founder & Managing Director, Sustainable Curriculum Consortium (SCC) Katja Brundiers, Ph. D. – Assistant Research Professor, SOS, ASU
8: 30 Welcome 8: 35 Introductions 9: 00 Refresher: Key Competencies in Sustainability 9: 15 Activity: Specify Key Competencies in Sustainability & Report back [Think, Group-discussion; Share with plenary] 10: 00 Activity: Relationships between Key Competencies in Sustainability & Report back [Think, Group-discussion; Share with plenary] 10: 00 – 10: 15 Break 10: 15 Activity: Program Level Learning Outcomes in Sustainability & Report back [Think, Group-discussion; Share with plenary] 10: 45 Plenary discussion: Institutional Support Structures To Support Development and Administration of Sustainability Programs [Think – share] 11: 15 Plenary discussion: Sustainability Programs as Normative Endeavors? [Think – share] 11: 45 Summary & Ways to stay involved
Integration and Alignment for Sustainability Competencies Ira Feldman Founder & Managing Director Sustainability Curriculum Consortium
SCC Background • Launched at AASHE Conference in 2015 • Serving faculty in sustainability in higher education • “Winging it” • Greatest challenges, biggest needs • Focus on pedagogy, content and leadership – not facilities & operations
SCC Background • SCC website: www. curriculumforsustainability. org • Archived webinars 40+ • Resources • Faculty conferences in 2017 and 2018 • Advisory Council • Advisory services • Cohorts
SCC Background • Maryland-based 501(c)(3) not-for-profit • SCC is an AASHE Member and an AASHE collaborator • Webinar series • Sustainability Across the Curriculum Centers • Curate resources on AASHE Hub • NCSE Senior Fellow for Sustainability Education and Policy • Integration & alignment -> merger • Working closely with CEDD, CCASE • SCC Faculty Conference and CEDD Meetings in Pittsburgh in June
Introductions Briefly – 1 minute • Your name, affiliation, role • Why are you here? • What would you like to learn in this workshop?
8: 30 Welcome 8: 35 Introductions 9: 00 Refresher: Key Competencies in Sustainability 9: 15 Activity: Specify Key Competencies in Sustainability & Report back [Think, Group-discussion; Share with plenary] 10: 00 Activity: Relationships between Key Competencies in Sustainability & Report back [Think, Group-discussion; Share with plenary] 10: 00 – 10: 15 Break 10: 15 Activity: Program Level Learning Outcomes in Sustainability & Report back [Think, Group-discussion; Share with plenary] 10: 45 Plenary discussion: Institutional Support Structures To Support Development and Administration of Sustainability Programs [Think – share] 11: 15 Plenary discussion: Sustainability Programs as Normative Endeavors? [Think – share] 11: 45 Summary & Ways to stay involved
Semantic Noise • The current status of literature on competencies in education for sustainability, "is characterized by a sea of labels, terminological confusion, and relative inattention to pedagogic implications. ” Sterling, S. , Glasser, H. , Rieckmann, M. , & Warwick, P. (2017, 153). • “synonymous concepts are, for example, skills and qualifications, literacy and capabilities. What they all have in common is a focus on the abilities that allow us to master even unforeseen demands and thus distinguish themselves from ‘laundry lists’ of abilities, which we typically find with certain job profiles. Barth (2015, 61)
Competence • cluster of specific abilities (higher number of related abilities per competency) • “ability to use knowledge – understood broadly as encompassing information, understanding, skills, values, and attitudes – in specific contexts and to meet demands. ” • training students’ “capability to adapt and to respond” to “changes in the world today, [which are] characterized by new levels of complexity and contradiction. ” UNESCO 2015
Core competencies • “can be described as a set of sub-competencies from distinctive competence classes” e. g. , • personal, professional-methodological, socialcommunicative and action competencies (c. f. , Erpenbeck & Heyse 1999) • UNESCO four pillar approach ‘Learning, the treasure within’ (Delors 1998) • • Learning to know Learning to do Learning to be Learning to live together Barth (2015, 62)
Core Competencies in Sustainability • “functionally linked complexes of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable successful task performance and problem solving with respect to real-world sustainability problems, challenges, and opportunities. ” Wiek, A. , Withycombe-Keeler, L. , & C. L. Redman, 2011: 204.
Synthesis of Core Competencies in Sustainability Systems Thinking Competence Futures Thinking Competence Values Thinking Competence Strategic Thinking Competence Interpersonal Competence Problem-Solving Competence Source: Wiek et al. 2011 © icons by SSFT
Background • 2011: Literature review and synthesis • Wiek, A. , Withycombe, L. , & Redman, C. L. (2011). Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development. Sustainability Science, 6(2), 203– 218. • Research on competencies proliferates • Educating Future Change Agents (http: //educatingchangeagents. org/) • • • Competencies for change agents (employability, entrepreneurship) Effectiveness of novel teaching / learning formats & Assessment Types of integrating sustainability into curricula Institutional factors supporting these curricula Focus: K-12, International comparison, ASU, Leuphana 2018: Literature review & synthesis revisited
The red highlights illustrate those concepts, skills, and methods that were presented in Peter Soyka’s survey results and that emerged during the NCSE discussions.
Overlap and nuances
References Barth, M. (2015). Implementing Sustainability in Higher Education. Learning in an age of transformation. Routledge, New York, USA. Brundiers, K. , & Wiek, A. (2017). Beyond Interpersonal Competence: Teaching and Learning Professional Skills in Sustainability. Education Sciences, 7(1), 18. Rieckmann, M. ; Hericks, N. (2016). Competence-Based Education and Its Contributions to Quality Enhancement in Higher Education International Consortium for Educational; International Consortium for Educational Development (ICED) and HELTASA Joint Conference 2016: Cape Town, South Africa, 2016. Sterling, S. , Glasser, H. , Rieckmann, M. , & Warwick, P. (2017). “More than scaling up”: a critical and practical inquiry into operationalizing sustainability competencies. In P. B. Corcoran, J. P. Weakland, & A. E. J. Wals (Eds. ), Envisioning futures for environmental and sustainability education (pp. 153– 168). Wageningen: Wageningen Academic Publishers. UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2015): Rethinking Education. Towards a global common good? http: //unesdoc. unesco. org/images/002325/232555 e. pdf Wiek, A. , Withycombe, L. , & Redman, C. L. (2011). Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development. Sustainability Science, 6(2), 203– 218.
ISSP Competency Survey Final Report - January 2010 International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) Want to help us change the world? January 27, 2010 Making Sustainability Standard Practice www. sustainabilityprofessionals. org
Top Skills Needed for Success As a Sustainability Professional (n=379) “The ability to facilitate dialogue among parties with divergent views and come to consensus. ” communicate complex ideas and information clearly. ” Q 18. Thinking about the sustainability challenges facing [your organization / your clients’ organizations], what are the top skills that someone would need in order to be successful as a sustainability professional? Please list up to three skills. MULTIPLE RESPONSE. OPEN-ENDED RESPONSE. 19
“Hard” Skills Needed for Success Now Ranked in Top 3 Skills (n=385) (n=369) 58 % 56 % 44 % 25 % 20 % 18 % 17 % 11 % 13 %6% 12% 14% % Q 19. Please rate the importance of each of these skills in terms of how necessary they are for you to be successful as a sustainability professional. 20 5 Q 20. Please rank your top 3 most important “hard skills” in order of importance.
“Hard” Skills Needed for Success Now Ranked in Top 3 Skills (n=385) (n=369) 58 % 56 % 44 % 25 % 20 % 18 % 17 % 11 % 13 %6% 12% 14% % Q 19. Please rate the importance of each of these skills in terms of how necessary they are for you to be successful as a sustainability professional. 21 5 Q 20. Please rank your top 3 most important “hard skills” in order of importance.
“Hard” Skills Needed for Success Now—Differences by Industry Q 19. Hard Skills Needed for Success % Rating "Of Extremely High Importance" Industry Consulting B Govt, Educ, Non-Profit n 140 118 126 49%B 47%C 37% 34% 40%C 27% 47%B 25% 40%B (6 -7 on 7 -pt Scale) Financial analysis/ROI Auditing (GHG, Sustainability) Risk assessment Q 20. Hard Skills Needed for Success % Ranking in Top 3 A C Mfg. & Services Consulting Industry B Govt, Educ, Non-Profit n 134 111 123 57% 28%B 23%C 8% 68%C 15% 26%C 3% 50% 45% 30%B 11% 24%AB Strategic planning Systems thinking Financial analysis/ROI Auditing (GHG, Sustainability) Technology and/or engineering expertise A C Mfg. & Services Letters denote statistically significant differences between segments. Q 19. Please rate the importance of each of these skills in terms of how necessary they are for you to be successful as a sustainability professional. 22 Q 20. Please rank your top 3 most important “hard skills” in order of importance.
Reasons Why “Hard” Skills Will Still be Needed in 5 Years (n=354) “The ability to identify and prioritise risks (and opportunities), put these into a strategic business context and then help the organization execute (systems thinking) on these priorities will remain the core 'hard skill' components of the CSO job. ” Q 25. 23 What are your reasons for your response(s)? MULTIPLE RESPONSE. OPEN-ENDED RESPONSE.
“Soft” Skills Needed for Success Now Ranked in Top 3 Skills (n=385) (n=299) 28 % 31 % 30 % 28 % 20 % 24 % 29 % 27 % 11% 27 %15% 11% 14% 4% Q 21. Please rate the importance of each of these skills in terms of how necessary they are for you to be successful as a sustainability professional. 24 Q 22. Please rank your top 3 most important “soft skills” in order of importance.
“Soft” Skills Needed for Success Now—Differences by Industry Q 21. Soft Skills Needed for Success % Rating "Of Extremely High Importance" Industry Consulting B Other (Net) n 140 245 48% 45% 62%A (6 -7 on 7 -pt Scale) Networking with external colleagues Networking with internal colleagues Q 22. Soft Skills Needed for Success % Ranking in Top 3 A Industry Consulting B Other (Net) n 112 187 21% 35%A Influencing change within your org. A Letters denote statistically significant differences between segments. Q 21. Please rate the importance of each of these skills in terms of how necessary they are for you to be successful as a sustainability professional. 25 Q 22. Please rank your top 3 most important “soft skills” in order of importance.
Reasons Why “Soft” Skills Will Still be Needed in 5 Years (n=279) “The skill of influencing change outside your organization will still be needed because although your organization may be on the right track, you may need to influence potential vendors or partners that aren't necessarily on the right track. ” Q 27. 26 What are your reasons for your response(s)? MULTIPLE RESPONSE. OPEN-ENDED RESPONSE.
Conclusions & Recommendations Focus on education programs that enable change management Change management is a key theme that emerges from the survey findings, across all organization sizes and types. Sustainability professionals recognize the enormous task of bringing about change, and seek skills to help them do just that. As a result, “soft” skills such as communication, facilitation, consensus building and networking are deemed of especially high value by the group as a whole. Demonstrating financial viability and return on investment are considered important enablers of change. Educational programs should stress these as “core” skills, and recognize subtleties between bringing about change within organizations (especially for large organizations), and externally. Where feasible, consider partnering with organizations that offer training programs in communication, public speaking, and persuasion. Tailor programs teaching “hard” skills by industry Aside from planning and project management, many “hard” skills vary in importance by industry. Create tracks for professionals of various types where they can develop expertise that is specific to their type of business or organization. Leverage skills of current professionals as educators and mentors Many current sustainability professionals have deep experience in the field. Enlist their efforts as program planners, educators and mentors in this emerging profession. 27
Activity: Review & Specify Key Competencies in Sustainability • Break into small groups, join the group that works on the key competency of your interest • Review the worksheet Competency Menu: Concepts & Methods • Work through these 5 steps • Clarification questions? • Indicate whether you agree (A) /disagree (D) with the concepts & methods • Are there concepts & methods that need to be specified / nuanced? • Are there concepts & methods that need to be added? • Individually rank what you deem most important (priorities 1 -3) • Compare – converges / diverges of ranking; why? • Prepare to present back to plenary
Activity: Review & Specify Relationships Among Key Competencies in Sustainability • Meet in your small group • Review the worksheet presenting the relationships between competencies • Work through these 5 steps 1. Clarification questions? 2. Indicate whether you agree (A) /disagree (D) with the existing linkages, explain why 3. Are there linkages that need to be specified / nuanced? 4. Are there linkages that need to be added? 5. Ass missing linkages between existing and newly proposed competencies (in case you are proposing a new one) • Prepare to present back to plenary
Sustainability Problem—Solving Capacity (*) Source: Wiek, A. , Withycombe, L. , & Redman, C. L. (2011). Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development. Sustainability Science, 6(2), 203– 218. http: //doi. org/10. 1007/s 11625 -011 -0132 -6
Sustainability Problem—Solving Capacity (*) Source: Wiek, A. , Withycombe, L. , & Redman, C. L. (2011). Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development. Sustainability Science, 6(2), 203– 218. http: //doi. org/10. 1007/s 11625 -011 -0132 -6
Activity: Review & Specify Relationships Among Key Competencies in Sustainability • Meet in your small group • Review the worksheet presenting the relationships between competencies • Work through these 5 steps 1. Clarification questions? 2. Indicate whether you agree (A) /disagree (D) with the existing linkages, explain why 3. Are there linkages that need to be specified / nuanced? 4. Are there linkages that need to be added? 5. Ass missing linkages between existing and newly proposed competencies (in case you are proposing a new one) • Prepare to present back to plenary
Activity: Program Level Learning Outcomes in Sustainability • Meet back in your small group • Review the worksheet Program Level Learning Outcomes • Work through these 4 steps • Clarification questions? • Do you agree or disagree with these learning outcomes? • If you disagree, what changes do you propose? Changes can include: • Refining existing learning outcomes, • Adding missing learning outcomes, or • Assigning a learning outcome to a different level
Activity: Institutional Support Structures • Meet back in your small group • Review [Ira & Rod: do we have a document to review? ] • Work through these 4 steps • What support structures do you have in place now that you can leverage? • What would be the ideal support structure? (Vision) • What support structures could you develop in the shortterm? (Strategy) • What is your first kick-off action for the above?
Discussion: Sustainability Programs as Normative Endeavors? • Sustainability is a normative concept • Sustainability Science: from descriptive-analytical to solution-oriented (c. f. , Miller et al. , 2014)
Discussion: Sustainability Programs as Normative Endeavors? • What is the role of education? • Instrumental and applicable The UN Decade aims to educate … “knowledgeable consumers who purchase goods with low lifecycle impacts and who use their purchasing power to support corporate social and environmental responsibility and sustainable business practices”
Discussion: Sustainability Programs as Normative Endeavors? • What is the role of education? • Emancipatory – Experimental – Engaging (Fischer, 2018)
Background Slides on Education
“Constructive Alignment” Biggs, J. , & Tang, C. (2010, February). Applying constructive alignment to outcomes-based teaching and learning. In Training material for “quality teaching for learning in higher education” workshop for master trainers, Ministry of Higher Education, Kuala Lumpur (pp. 23 -25). Retrieved from: https: //intranet. tudelft. nl/fileadmin/Files/medewerkersportal/TBM/Onderwijsdag_2014/What-is-Constructive. Alignment. pdf
Figure: http: //marlenela 2. blogspot. com/2016/01/backward-design-model-door-wiggings-mc. html Wiggins, G. P. , Wiggins, G. , & Mc. Tighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Ascd.
Building Learning Outcomes • Students will be able to. .
Scaffolding Learning Real-World Learning Experiences http: //sustainability. asu. edu/real-world-learning
Assessing Key Competencies in Sustainability • Self-reported assessments • Baseline Assessment Tool (MC) • Skill Tracing (Reflection) • Photovoice (Reflection) • Objectified assessments • Written • Role Play • Performance • Program Level Learning Objectives
Background Slides on NCSE Process for Developing Consensus Statement
revised compressed timeline, starting this summer 2018 Delphi Repeat Surveys? 2019 2020 Our original timeline, a casualty of entropy
Organizations currently identified as competency knowledge resources more academic Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) Australian Council of Deans and Directors (ACEDD) Sustainable Human and Environmental Systems Sustainability Curriculum Consortium (SCC) National Academies of Science and Engineering (NAS) National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) more professional, nongovernmental, non-academic International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) Partnership for 21 st Century Learning (P 21) Ro
SHES roundtable ISSP ASAP SCC workshops NCSE Delphi survey workshops consensus ACEDD AASHE report statement AESS National Academies workshops report 2018 2019
Background Slides
Systems Thinking Competence Menu Concepts § Variables/ indicators, clusters, subsystems Methods § Qual. system analysis § Quantitative modeling § § Tipping points, resilience, adaptation Institutional analysis § Descriptive methods § Cross- scale, domain § Participatory systems approaches § System characteristics § Values, needs, rules, structuration
Values Thinking Competence Menu Concepts Methods • What is or is not sustainable, now and in the future • Multi-criteria assessment methods • Sustainability goals, targets and thresholds • Risk analysis • Concepts of justice, fairness, responsibility, etc. • Sustainability assessment • Visioning methods • • Concepts of risk, harm, damage, etc. What constitutes “win-wins” and tradeoffs and for whom (backcasting, Mod. 1) • Participatory methods (negotiation methods, consensus conference)
Futures Thinking Competence Menu Concepts § Temporal terms, phases, states, continuity and non-linearity § Possibility, plausibility, probability and desirability § Inertia, path-dependency, and nonintervention § Consistency and coherence § Risk, precaution, and intergenerational equity Methods § Scenario methodology § Forecasting from statistical and simulation models § Backcasting and visioning methods § Participatory anticipatory approaches (e. g. Delphi)
Strategic Thinking Competence Menu Concepts Methods • Transitions and transformation § Methods to design governance arrangements • Strategies, action programs, interventions, and transformative governance § Policy design and institutional design § Policy and program evaluation Success factors, viability, feasibility, effectiveness, and efficiency § Program planning § Intervention design • Adaptation and mitigation § Planning methodologies, • Barriers and carriers § Decision support and behavioral change methodologies • Social learning § Transition management methodology • Social movements § Organizational change management •
Interpersonal Competence Menu Concepts • Functions, types, and dynamics of collaboration – within academia (interdisciplinarity) – beyond academia (transdisciplinarity) • Strengths, weaknesses, success, and failure in teams • Concepts of leadership • Limits of cooperation and empathy • Concepts of solidarity and ethnocentrism • Concepts of interculturality Methods • Participatory methods, incl. – negotiation, – mediation, – deliberation, – constructive conflict methodology • Teamwork methods
General and Sustainability Competencies
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