Office of Sustainability | Illinois

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The 2012 Teaching Sustainability Workshop (formerly Prairie Project) Infusing Sustainability Across the Illinois Curriculum Through an Interactive Retreat and Mutual Learning Program

Sustainability is the great global challenge of the twenty-first century. The responsibility of a world-class university such as the University of Illinois is to offer and direct education of its students toward meeting these challenges, considering sustainability's three interconnected principles of society, environment, and economics. The unprecedented scale and complexity of threats of climate change, poverty, resource depletion, population growth, and human and ecosystem health issues mean that the sustainability imperative touches every discipline, both technical and non-technical, even those formerly considered remote from environmental or social issues. Degree programs related to sustainability are among the fastest growing nationwide, student demand is high, and our peer institutions are committing resources to sustainability curriculum development. Central to Illinois' mission in this new century should be to produce more and better-trained specialists who understand both the depth of their discipline and the breadth of system-level thinking required to foster sustainability. A greater goal should likewise be that no student, whatever their major, graduate from the university without a fundamental grasp of the principles of system-level sustainability.

To support faculty and instructors who are interested in contributing to this vision, we are pleased to invite applications to the worksohp. The Teaching Sustainability Workshop aims to create an open and supportive environment for faculty and instructors from all disciplines to interactively engage in mutual learning about sustainability and to brainstorm and experiment with novel and interdisciplinary educational approaches. The project will use the local prairie environment, from the natural prairie to the highly modified urban and agricultural prairies, to illustrate how a place-based perspective allows consideration of the interconnected social, environmental, and economic issues surrounding sustainability.

An extensive list of example course modifications can be found here. Samples are:

• Develop plans for improving campus and community sustainability.

• Create poetry about sustainability

• Design a new product that re-uses waste and creates no manufacturing waste

• Develop a Chinese brochure on campus sustainability activities

• Collaborate with poor communities to design a new business that is profitable and socially and environmentally responsible

• Investigate medical waste streams and create an educational medicinal garden

The Teaching Sustainability Workshop will consist of four primary activities:

• Retreat, April 14, 2012, for participants to brainstorm ideas and approaches and develop an initial plan for infusing sustainability into their courses and assess impacts on student learning (see below for a preliminary agenda).

• Feedback and Revision, Summer 2012, for curriculum and sustainability experts to provide feedback on initial plans and instructor revisions.

• Check-In, TBD, for participants who taught in the fall semester to share experiences and lessons learned and for those who will teach in the spring semester to discuss ideas, questions, or concerns about their upcoming courses (an extended luncheon event).

• Debriefing, TBD, to share experiences, lessons learned, assessment results, and ideas for the future (a late afternoon event and reception with next year's cohort).

Faculty and instructors will receive a salary honorarium for participation with a multi-disciplinary cohort of other faculty and instructors to share resources and experiences. Graduate students and post-docs who will be assisting with modifications of existing courses or development of new courses are also welcome to attend.

By applying for this exciting and interactive opportunity, Teaching Sustainability Workshop participants agree to:

• Participate in the events above.

• Commit to preparing and submitting a description of the course modification or creation by the end of the retreat, and revising as needed over the summer.

• Provide a final syllabus, course modifications, and brief summary of outcomes from the experience.
  
  

Please follow up with Amy Rosenbery (husted@illinois.edu) if you have questions about this unique opportunity. Based on current plans, we anticipate that 20 participants will be accommodated. Applicants will be notified by mid-March if they have been selected to participate.

Participant Agenda
Sustainability Curriculum Retreat, April 14, 2012

Retreat learning objectives:

• Understand sustainability

• Network with instructors interested in sustainability

• Coordinate with available sustainability activities and resources

• Understand students’ background knowledge in sustainability

• Create and evaluate innovative approaches for students to engage

• Recognize importance of systems thinking and experiential learning

This event is supported by the Office of Sustainability and the Office of the Provost, and Center for Teaching Excellence