What is Sustainability?
Brundtland defines sustainability as meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED 1987a: 43, as cited in Scoones, 2007).
Humanity’s needs now and in the future fit into the three dimensions of sustainability: environmental, social and economic. A fourth dimension – diversity – is becoming more commonly included to represent not only diversity of thought but also diversity of action in the three traditional dimensions.
Toolkit Overview
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Welcome!
This toolkit was designed to help you develop a deeper understanding of sustainability and how you can incorporate it into your classroom in meaningful ways – even if the course material isn’t about sustainability.
Understanding sustainability and engaging your students with sustainability concepts that are relevant to their sector are priorities for Humber, as shown in the Humber Learning Outcomes (HLO) framework. The HLO framework is comprised of skills and mindsets identified by faculty, staff, students and industry partners as being critical to the career and life success of our graduates. Across more than 20 consultations, sustainability was consistently brought up as key mindset for the future workforce. A Sustainability mindset, along with Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and Systems Thinking, is crucial to the well-being and prosperity of individuals and communities.
Explore the HLO framework now to understand what the sustainability mindset should look like at Humber.
This toolkit was designed to help you develop a deeper understanding of sustainability and how you can incorporate it into your classroom in meaningful ways—even if the course material isn’t about sustainability.
This toolkit will provide helpful resources on curriculum and assessment design to engage your students and equip them with the skills they need to lead in an uncertain future.
Key threads that will link elements of this toolkit together are the three dimensions of sustainability (referred to as the “Triple Bottom Line”) and the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) as referenced in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Upon completion of reviewing this toolkit you will be able to
- Understand the definition of sustainability guiding Humber College’s actions.
- Discuss the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs), their relevance, and their impact on a particular sector and discipline.
- Evaluate the sustainability readiness of an existing student learning experience.
- Design a new student learning experience that highlights the connections between the SDGs and course subject matter.
- Identify relevant resources that provide a sustainability perspective on a discipline for use in class.
- Weave sustainability competencies into current assessments and learning outcomes.