Table 4.11 - Individual ESD Policy Documents
Answer Choices – Total Responses: 8 Responses
Sustainability Policy 4 50.00%
Environmental Policy 2 25.00%
Fair Trade Policy 0 0%
Carbon Management Plan 6 75.00%
None of the above 0 0%
Table 4.12 - Overall ESD Policy Documents College Sustainability Policy Carbon Management Plan Environmental Policy Other College 1 Department Newsletter College 2 √ √ √ College 3 √ √ √ College 4 √ Student Engagement Strategy and Learning and Teaching Strategy College 5 √ College 6 √ College 7 √ College 8 √ √
College 2 and College 7 are both case study colleges and will be evaluated in Chapter Six as part of the overall case studies.
From the responses received, the most produced sustainability document in colleges is a Carbon Management Plan (CMP), with 75% of colleges advising they have one. However, there is no mandatory requirement for a CMP to consider ESD or the curriculum, so it will be interesting to note whether or not they do in these instances. The next most produced documents are a Sustainability Policy, with 50% of respondents advising they have one, followed by and Environmental Policy which 25% of colleges have. Only one college claimed to have any other type of sustainability documentation, however three colleges provided details of other documentation. The answers provided in the survey, however, are not necessarily correct. This was established by looking at the college’s websites to see what documentation could be found.
College 1 advised they only had a Departmental Newsletter in relation to ESD. Searching their website also does not reveal any further sustainability or environmental policies.
Their self-evaluation progress against their regional agreement outcomes advises they have a revised carbon reduction target under their Sustainable Institutions Outcome. This Outcome only mentions sustainability against financial stability and carbon management. This college recently (within the last year) employed a new member responsible for their carbon management. During a personal conversation where they asked me for advice in developing their CMP, I advised them not to overlook the wider campus and curriculum within it, and to use it as tool to aid learning for sustainability at a deeper level within their college. Whether they take my advice, or not, remains to be seen. This college has used the learning and teaching materials that I have developed – and that will be evaluated in Chapter 5. However, the materials have been used in isolation by one lecturer, who the survey was passed to for completion. I believe the survey was passed to this particular lecturer because she has attended EAUC sustainability learning and teaching events.
College 3 according to the survey results, has more environmental or sustainability policy documents than the other respondents. However, these policies are not available as public documents on their website. Their College Strategic Plan, which is readily available, refers to the environment and sustainability throughout including the curriculum and staff
development. From the contact I have had with this college, I know sustainability is considered a high priority, which was confirmed by the response to the survey (Table 4.5). They also advised ESD is very widespread in most departments (Table 4.7). Although, I have been unable to determine what is advised about ESD in their other policy documents, from personal contact, and awareness of the work they are conducting, which has been recognised by many external awards, I believe this college to be sector leading, not only in Scotland, but across the UK, for their sustainability ethos. Again, I need to stress the importance of ‘sustainability champions’ and effective leadership for successful ESD because in this college these two vital agents for ESD are combined. Their sustainability champion holds a very senior position in the college and also engages with other external sustainability stakeholders to a high degree.
College 4 has a range of environmental and sustainability policies, all of which are
transparent on their website. There are more policies incorporating sustainability than the survey indicated. The Environmental Information Regulations Policy refers to emissions, waste and carbon. This document is not designed to make reference to the curriculum. Their Procurement Policy and Strategy also mentions sustainability in relation to financial and environmental sustainability in all procurement throughout the supply chain. It also advises the college is moving towards including sustainability in all its activities by taking
a life cycle approach to all procurement. There is no mention of the curriculum or wider campus. However, the life cycle of products students use could be utilised as an ESD learning and teaching tool, making sustainability relevant to student’s future employment. Whilst their CMP does focus on emissions reduction and campus management, and does not mention the curriculum, their Curriculum Strategy has sustainability clearly evident. One of its main aims is to develop a sustainable curriculum which will help to create sustained social, economic and cultural growth through skills development, knowledge growth and utilisation. Their Student Engagement Strategy and Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy do not mention sustainability, the environment is mentioned but only in relation to the learning environment and not the wider environment. However, the survey response also advised the college has held a number of initiatives on sustainability, including staff development days and raising student awareness. This college is also one of the survey respondents who had chosen to use the learning for sustainability learning and teaching materials I have developed – which are evaluated in Chapter 5 – without being a case study college (where I had discussed with them the use of the materials). As will be discussed later in the thesis, this is an example of positive progression of learning for sustainability through a combined approach of utilising appropriate ESD materials with management buy-in, which is evident from the strategic documents that have been
developed.
College 5 advised it has a CMP but it is not available on their website. In their Regional Outcome Agreement document, it states the college aims to be environmentally
sustainable, however this is in line with the Scottish Funding Council’s 5 Priority
Outcomes. The college website advises that their Environmental Policy and Sustainability Policy are being developed and will be made available on their website once adopted. This college advised in the survey that ESD was considered as ‘no priority’ (Table 4.5). When asked about what policy documents the college would refer to for ESD guidance, the response was the Scottish Executive’s Learning for Change, (Table 4.3), which was found to be ‘not effective at all’ (Table 4.4). However, this college also advised that ESD is very widespread in most departments (Table 4.7), even though ESD in the curriculum had not been audited to establish this (Table 4.6).
College 6 advised it has a CMP but it is not available on their website. The college website does not offer any evidence of any further policies or strategies that include ESD or sustainability in the curriculum, however the website does mention sustainability in terms of their climate commitment, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and being a
member of the EAUC. Although this college has audited ESD practice across the curriculum (Table 4.6) which is positive, the survey also revealed that ESD is not very widespread and is only embedded in a few departments (Table 4.7).
College 8 advised it has a Sustainability Policy and a CMP, neither of which were
available on their website. The only mention of sustainability on the college website refers to sustainable procurement. There is no transparent information regarding sustainability or the environment in the curriculum on the website. The survey response advised that ESD was ‘low priority’ (Table 4.5), and that no resources were referred to for ESD guidance (Table 4.3). Of all the colleges that responded to the survey, this college provided the least amount of information and failed to leave an answer to most questions.
Conclusion
Even from the limited survey data that is available, a pattern is beginning to emerge from the colleges which comprehensively completed the survey and provided more substantial amounts of information, in comparison to those respondents who failed to answer most of the questions. It is becoming apparent, those colleges with the most to report on ESD, would appear to give it a higher priority, which is also corroborated by the strategic executive documentation which is available on their websites.
The next chapter will look to build upon the bigger picture of sustainability across the colleges that responded, to gauge the opinions at a senior level, of the learning and teaching materials I have developed to aid the progression of learning for sustainability within the curriculum in Scotland’s Colleges.