ELT and Sustainability –  Backgrounds and Contexts

What elements provide a framework for a culture of sustainability?

Creating a cultural shift can benefit from external frameworks and statements of values to guide the thinking of the change makers and to help ensure cross stakeholder support. At a classroom level they are also useful sources of content for integrating sustainability into teaching.

Documents that we might use in this way include:

1 the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (as outlined above). There has been an increased focus on the interface between ELT and sustainability in recent years, but the emphasis in our community has largely been on the climate and environmental aspects of sustainability. However, the sustainability debate is far from being just around the climate emergency – although that is of course important. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide us with a useful framework for analysis.

Here are some possible interactions for specific SDGs with the global ELT community. Many more combinations are possible.

SDG 1 No poverty educational content

SDG 2 Zero hunger educational content

SDG 3 Good health and well-being school management and quality assurance  policies

SDG 4 Quality education school management and quality assurance  policies

SDG 5 Gender equality school management and quality assurance  policies

SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation educational content

SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy educational content/school management and quality assurance policies

SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth educational content/student futures

SDG 9 Industry, innovation, and infrastructure educational content/student futures

SDG 10 Reduced inequalities educational content

SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities educational content/outreach/student futures

SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production school management and quality assurance policies

SDG 13 Climate action educational content/ school management and quality assurance policies

SDG 14 Life below water educational content

SDG 15 Life on land educational content

SDG 16 Peace, justice, and strong institutions educational content/outreach

SDG 17 Partnerships for the goals outreach

 2 UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) for 2030.

3 the Paris Agreement and Glasgow Climate Pact around the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

4 the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNCRC).

Links to the above

1 https://sdgs.un.org/goals

2 https://www.unesco.org/en/sustainable-development/education

3 https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-glasgow-climate-pact-key-outcomes-from-cop26

4 https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/

What are the key characteristics of a culture of sustainability in an ELT educational institution?

The United Nations suggest that the structures for developing a sound approach to sustainability can be analysed under the headings of the three Ps. People, Planet and Prosperity. I have used this structure to suggest some indicators that an institution has or is developing a culture of sustainability. Like all taxonomies, the three Ps have limits, but hopefully they make this list of indicators easier to navigate. Alphabetical order is used as institutional priorities will vary.

People

Change is drive by movements not mandates, but guided and nurtured by the leadership

Cross-stakeholder support is encouraged and seen as critical

Decision-making is participatory across the institutional community, and maintaining that participation level is a priority

Leadership on all matters around sustainability is in place

Listening and watching are the backbones of the culture

Proactive change management processes are in place

The processes are see as formative not summative

Trauma sensitivity, where appropriate is a focus

Wellbeing for all stakeholders is inbuilt into operational processes

Planet

Constant revaluation of the institution’s relationship with the planet is in place.

Lobbying and activism – culturally-specific - should be part of the culture.

Stakeholders are involved in the building of a reflective narrative of how the institution’s sustainability evolves

The continuum of institutional and operational impacts to educational opportunities are part of the focus

The shared mission of the institution has sustainability embedded throughout

Prosperity

Green skills and jobs should be a central focus

Teaching content and approaches should Informed by science and external expertise

Teaching content should be dynamic and ever-changing and adapting to circumstances

Teaching content while having a sustainability focus should be cutting edge and future-driven

The culture should support empowering students to take action towards their own and collective sustainability

The process of culture change

Cultural change is challenging and complex. These are the main questions that need to be considered.

Where are we now – the existing culture?

Where do we want to be – the desired outcomes in terms of cultural changes?

How do we make the changes?

How do we sustain the changes?

How do we monitor and evaluate the cultural changes?

How do we identify and implement necessary revisions?

In terms of the management of the cultural change we need to keep these points in mind:

how stakeholders will perceive and react to the proposed changes;

ensuring we have the resources needed for each stage of the proposed changes;

the need to facilitate maximum stakeholder involvement, consultation, and engagement, and ensuring all parties feel they have been listened to and heard;

ensuring the vision is shared and understood, and has the flexibility to respond to changes in circumstances and potential challenges;

identifying and marking some short-term wins and key milestones to communicate to stakeholders.