Leadership Towards the Sustainable University - Students as Integrated Catalysts

This workshop presentation is from the “Learning and Legacy: The Role of Education in Creating Healthier and Happier Cities” EAUC Annual Conference 2016, presented by Paul Warwick, Centre for Sustainable Futures Lead - Plymouth University; Oliver Slaughter, Student - Plymouth University and Jen Manning, Graduate - Plymouth University and falls under the Leadership and Governance stream. To find more presentations and resources from this Conference, search for EAUCConf16.

UNESCO’s Global Action Programme for ESD advocates for whole institutional change towards sustainability in educational institutions. This session sought to explore the vital role that higher education students have to play within this process. It drew on the lessons learnt from a range of students as partners initiatives at Plymouth University. 

The session provided practical examples to inspire and motivate participants whilst also being transparent about the shortfalls and gaps in what it has been possible to achieve to date. A key finding of this area of work has been the importance of setting up open and dialogic spaces for students to engage with and take ownership of the sustainability education mission. In the same spirit, considerable space was provided within the session for open dialogue with participants to share with each other their experiences and ideas for ways forwards in drawing from students’ capacity for leadership, enterprise and critical creativity.