Mainstreaming sustainability across a UK university: principles and practices for civic engagement and Education for Sustainable Development

Universities are in many respects strongly positioned to lead societal efforts to transition towards sustainability, as future-focussed organisations with responsibilities towards, research, education and community benefit. However their operating contexts vary significantly - in terms of their size, history, culture, location, expertise and their understandings of the transformations that addressing the sustainable development agenda will entail. This presentation offers a reflective case study of one institution's ongoing work to meaningfully address sustainability across all activities, focussing upon two aspects: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the civic university agenda to partner with community actors for local and regional benefit. Drawing on experiences over the past five years and outputs from recent research on addressing ESD and civic agendas through university-wide activities and strategies, the talk offers principles and practices to consider that may have value for mainstreaming sustainability in a range of higher education settings.