AdvanceHE Education for Sustainable Development Curriculum Design Toolkit

Advance HE recognises that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in higher education equips learners with knowledge, competencies, and values to tackle existential global challenges whilst having a positive effect on social, economic, and environmental sustainability. There is a need for genuine integration of ESD into university curricula to engage students and equip them with the necessary competencies to not only deepen their understanding of local and global sustainability challenges but to empower them to be true
advocates of change.

This toolkit offers a structured yet flexible approach to curriculum design, aligned with the Advance HE Framework for Education for Sustainable Development, and based on the CRAFTS methodology (Higgins & Calvert, 2024).

Through critical reflection, participants will be empowered to understand, map, evaluate and enhance the extent to which a module or programme provides opportunities for students to develop ESD competencies by incorporation of authentic learning and assessment experiences which engage the cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioural domains.

Users of this toolkit will have:
• identified the needs of their stakeholders to inform the design, delivery, and
assessment of their module
• mapped the current level of ESD present within the design, delivery, and
assessment of their module
• reflected on the design, delivery, and assessment of their module to embed ESD
practice
• formulated an action plan to enhance the design, delivery, and assessment of
their module to embed ESD.

This toolkit is designed for those users who have significant understanding of the chosen module and agency over its design and delivery. This toolkit can be used by individuals, or by module or programme teams in a more collaborative, workshop style fashion.