Studies in sustainability
In autumn, nearly 1,000 new students will be participating in testing a new course that gives SDU students skills in understanding, applying and relating critically to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
This is just one of the dilemmas that nearly 1,000 new students may face as the first to implement a new initiative: SDU’s course on sustainability.
- This year will be a pilot course, but the intent is for all new SDU students to pass a digital course that gives them better insight into sustainability as early as next year, says Vice Dean Lars Grassmé Binderup, the coordinator for the initiative.
Constructive and interdisciplinary
The course will introduce the students to SDU’s work with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and train them to understand, apply and relate critically to sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals. Skills that will benefit them in their studies but also in their future careers.
- We want to inspire our students to have a constructive, interdisciplinary and holistic approach to the major challenges of the world, says Lars Grassmé Binderup.
Researchers compose the course
The University’s own researchers, together with the Centre for Teaching and Learning at SDU, compose the special SDU course. In a workshop, researchers from all faculties selected a number of themes: economic growth, poverty, inequality, health, environment and climate, which the students have to go through.
- The advantage of doing it ourselves is that we can also make the students aware of the University’s own research on sustainability through examples, says Lars Grassmé Binderup.
SDU’s course on the Sustainable Development Goals opens 1 September. Educators can decide themselves how they want to launch it for their students.
SDU’s course on sustainability
• will be held digitally in the first semester
• corresponds to 28 work hours and awards 1 ECTS point
• is based on modules with a short exercise after each module
• can be taken individually or incorporated into other educational activities
• tested on 15 educational programmes in 2020
• introduced to all Bachelor’s degree programmes in 2021.