Inventory of Sustainability in Education

Since september 2022, TU Delft has employed Monika Roeling as a researcher sustainability in education. She has performed literature research into sustainability in university education, and a framework for sustainable education has been selected. In the academic year 2022/2023, GreenTU and the GreenTeams support Monika in inventarising all courses at TU Delft regarding their sustainability merits.

Course sustainability inventarisation

All courses from all study programmes - over 2000! - are being assessed regarding their sustainability content. This includes BSc and MSc courses as well as minors. Led by Monika Roeling, this project uses input and research by the GreenTeams to see which courses tackle sustainability topics and which don't. This information will show in what points of which study programmes sustainability topics are present, and where the most important gaps are. It is expected that the initial inventarisation will be done by the end of the 2022/2023 academic year, and its results being put to use in 2023/2024.

Framework

The course sustainability inventarisation uses a custom sustainability framework developed by Monika Roeling, based on the EOP framework, selected by Monika Roeling in collaboration with TU Delft's Pro-Vice-Rector for Joint Education. This framework will aid the university in making its educational programmes sustainable.

Future plans

The results from the course evaluation will form the basis of a concrete plan of how to implement sustainability across all of TU Delft's educational programmes, with the goal of every student having a solid basis in sustainability and knowledge of how their field is linked to sustainability topics.

For teacher support and education, work has begun to establish a SIG or COP around sustainability in collaboration with the Teaching Academy.

If possible, it would be advantageous for the university to assess all courses by the SDGs relevant to their content. It remains to be seen whether the capacity for this is available, and if the necessary effort would be worth the added value of an SDG-based evaluation.

Other future plans include introductory courses in sustainability for all students, such as by a course at the beginning of every BSc programme, or an online MOOC to be followed by every new student. The feasibility and possible implementation moment of these have not yet been fully assessed.