XV Congreso Internacional de Ciencias Sociales Interdisciplinares

Abstract

This presentation describes the process and results of Vancouver Island University’s (VIU) recent Sustainability Across Curricula workshop held to inform and inspire faculty as they build sustainability into their courses. Many faculty at VIU have chosen to integrate topics concerning sustainability into their curricula and teaching practice. Fortunately, opportunities for faculty wanting to know more about how other educators define, teach, and research sustainability are encouraged at VIU where interdisciplinary collaborations and engagement is an institutional goal. In early 2018, VIU’s Sustainability Advisory Committee held a workshop for faculty and students to learn about how sustainability is already being taught across several disciplines, as well as what more could be done to augment collaborative course offerings with respect to sustainability. Through a keynote address, a multidisciplinary panel discussion, and a World Café activity, faculty discussed their experiences, successes, and challenges in collaborating and teaching sustainability, and integrating relevant topics into their courses. The workshop satisfied faculty’s curiosity about “who is teaching what,” and afforded opportunities to reflect on future directions. Responses to the World Café activity were systematically collected and are being content analyzed to inform administration of themes surrounding common needs and preferences for building institutional support for teaching sustainability across curricula. Data may also serve as a baseline point of comparison for additional research investigating changes to how sustainability can be taught across departments.