Sustainable development is increasingly part of the EU’s agenda enshrined within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the EU Green Deal. As human societies put increasing pressures on ecosystems, threatening runaway climate change and ecosystem collapse, such projects are more important than ever. Without a rapid transformation towards a more sustainable society, the conditions that have, until now, allowed humans and other lifeforms to flourish, will cease to exist.
Prof. Paul Pace and Dr Jane Spiteri from the University of Malta are participating in a European research project – SUSEDI – on adopting a Whole Institution Approach (WIA) to sustainability. A WIA draws on systems thinking, connecting environmental issues to socioeconomic and political ones. It looks at many different aspects of the functioning of educational institutions: curricula and pedagogy, governance, sustainable consumption, and the institution’s interaction with the wider community. SUSEDI aims to develop the sustainability competencies of educators, leaders, and administrative staff of educational institutions. Lastly, through the adoption of a WIA, educational institutions will model good behaviours and changes towards a more sustainable society.
SUSEDI will target the social aspects, the pedagogical aspects, and the organisational aspects of education institutions. The project will also include the creation of a certification scheme for educational institutions adopting a WIA to sustainability, based on ISO standards. The project is currently focussing on the development of sustainability competencies for educators. The European sustainability framework, known as ‘GreenComp’, is being used to guide the project.
The University of Malta is participating in the SUSEDI project along with 12 other education institutions and organisations around Europe, including the University of Malta, Sapienza University (Italy), Associazione Nazionale Orientatori (Italy), Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of the Region of Peloponnese (Greece), Dimitra Educational Organisation (Greece), Valencia Inno Hub (Spain), the University of Galway (Ireland), the University of Lodz (Poland), Łukasiewicz-Institute for Sustainable Technologies (Poland), Frederick University (Cyprus), Cyprus Pedagogical Institute (Cyprus), the Mediterranean Management Centre (Cyprus) and Kypriaki Eteria Pistopoiisis (Cyprus).
