The climate crisis is accelerating uncontrollably with consequences already being seen across the globe, and an increasingly worrying picture emerging for future generations.
As the professionals of these generations emerge, shouldn’t we equip them with the knowledge and skills to be able to combat the worst of the impacts and steer the planet to a more sustainable future?
Equipping and empowering these generations is crucial – and so embedding climate and sustainability education into higher education curricula is an urgent priority.
But who should be taking the lead in this shift – government, PSRBs (Professional Standards and Regulatory Bodies), or providers?
Each stakeholder has an obvious role to play, yet neither our government, nor regulatory bodies or institutions as collectives, are taking the lead.
Is the question of responsibility far from straightforward, or simply being shied away from?
The government?
All four governments have a vested interest in ensuring that graduates are prepared to address the challenges of climate change. But with a legally binding commitment to Net Zero by 2050, government must diversify its methods in reaching a sustainable future.
However, current strategies like the Department for Education’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy primarily target primary and secondary schools, leaving higher education institutions without clear, enforceable directives.
A legal requirement for embedding climate and sustainability education would prevent reliance on individual universities’ goodwill. Instead, regardless of discipline or institution, all students would be empowered to face the effects of climate change.
A mandate should not exist in isolation – it should come with a commitment to increase funding in this area. As universities become poorer, their reliance on tuition fees and high Research Excellence Framework ratings becomes ever more important.
Through a rollout of funding-linked incentives, such as tying research grants to sustainability criteria, universities would be encouraged further to prioritise meaningful and effective integration.
If the government is serious about its Net Zero commitments, it must recognise that climate education is not an optional add-on but a fundamental component of teaching and learning across all sectors.
Without proactive intervention, be that through legislation or financial incentive, the next generation of professionals will be unprepared for the challenges ahead. In its pursuit of carbon neutrality, the government must recognise the requirement to give the UK workforce meaningful education and training. The likelihood of reaching an ambitious goal is dramatically increased if everyone knows just how they can contribute towards it.
PSRBSs?
Those that regulate disciplines and the education of professions are well-placed to ensure consistency in sustainability education within professional disciplines and have the knowledge to effectively mandate academics to integrate relevant, employable attributes into programmes.
Positive examples of progress are already being observed – in February 2024, several key officials from PRSBs attended a consultation with St George’s House focusing on the integration of sustainability into professional education and standards.
Amongst other points around the importance of youth voice, cocreation, and a need for wider systemic change, it was agreed amongst participants that sustainability and climate education must be integrated into internal policies, training programs, and professional standards.
The PRSBs committed to engage further with the Professional Bodies Climate Action Charter and utilise review cycles to embed sustainability into benchmark standards.
But without a legislative mandate the window for a lack of regulatory coherence swings wide open.
The General Medical Council, for example, began integrating similar initiatives in 2019. They have been at the forefront for a while yet others continue to lag behind. It’s not only our doctors that require this crucial education – everyone has a part to play, and all students deserve parity of education and experience.
Regardless of industry or interest, every PSRB needs to commit collectively to meaningful integration.
For bodies whose purpose is to ensure programmes provide the knowledge, skills, and professional standards required for entry into a given profession, it is clear why climate and sustainability education should be a key part of their criteria.
As industries transform in their response to the climate emergency, they are becoming evermore complex. Soon, environmental challenges, business practise, and regulatory adherence will be so embedded into industries that they will be unavoidable.
If PSRBs aren’t ensuring programmes cater to this shift, then are they remaining truly fit for purpose?
Universities?
Higher education is at the forefront of innovation. Ranks of incredible academic staff give them capacity to integrate cutting-edge research across their curricula.
These institutions also offer a unique flexibility in that, unlike broad guidelines, they are able to evolve and adapt programmes quickly to reflect the latest developments of sustainability practise and climate change.
Falmouth University has developed an incredible approach through its Falmouth Curriculum Ladder (FCL). The FCL is an evidence-informed strategy that enables academics to reform their teaching, redesign course handbooks – educating academics; providing a clear and transparent framework; and continuously reviewing practise make the approach’s three key principles.
Its consultative approach has been central to the initiative’s success and has ensured climate and sustainability education is not only academically rigorous, but also relevant and engaging.
However, institutional autonomy means that universities can operate in a fragmented landscape whereby some embed climate and sustainability education meaningfully and others see the term as a tick in a box, even if they claim to do otherwise (see term “Greenwashing”).
Lancaster University recently embarked on a “Curriculum Transformation Programme” whereby innovation and sustainability is one of four foundational principles. This is promising prima facie, but a simple skim through their education framework exposes a tokenistic nature whereby environmental sustainability has been shoehorned into a small corner within a smaller alcove.
Without expert support, and robust processes for the effective scrutiny of provision, programme teams risk giving little meaningful thought to the evolving climate emergency.
Without incentives from elsewhere, universities are allowed to do this scot-free. This is wholly unimpactful and further adds to a lack of parity across UK-wide student experience.
The empowerment of whole generations cannot come from a handful of well-intentioned institutions. So, similar to the landscape for PSRBs, universities must work together to collectively commit to effective, meaningful embedment to ensure widely impactful change.
A collaborative approach
Unsurprisingly then, a collaborative approach is key. Government, regulators, and universities all have distinct yet interconnected roles to play in shaping humanity’s next move.
The government should be moving the climate emergency up its agenda, and in doing so should mandate universities to integrate climate and sustainability education across all disciplines, ensuring at least a consistent standard of meaningful embedment across the sector.
PRSBs should embed climate competencies into professional standards with the implementation of such measures being adaptable to the unique needs of different industries.
Greater collaboration and knowledge sharing between regulators and universities would facilitate a more seamless integration of climate and sustainability education into teaching and professional development. This would also allow universities to retain their academic freedom of which often sprites fantastically innovative initiatives.
Ultimately, it is only ever going to be through a wholly collaborative and coordinated approach that the next generations can be equipped to navigate and tackle climate change.
Urgency demands action, and a joint commitment to systemic change is key to ensuring the professionals of tomorrow are ready to tackle the challenges that we are already facing today.
Excellent piece.