Ms Colette Murphy:

On the third-level aspect of the question about what actions can be taken on campuses, it is in the Department's education for sustainable development implement plan for 2022 to 2026 that students can be empowered to do student-led campaigns. I am not aware of any actions that have come out of that yet but if it was possible for funding to be allocated, for example, small funding pots to be given to students, they could take sustainable actions on their campuses. Often it is led by green campus and there is student representation on green campus, but if it was flipped for student-led action, it would be a lot more empowering and people would be able to get involved. That could be integrated into the curriculum as well. If, for example, a lecturer wanted to do a module on sustainability or integrate it into the course, he or she could apply to the fund and take money from it to do that.

In regards to the curriculum, a fantastic development is that there is now a course in second level which is absolutely brilliant, but in third level, it is very segmented. There is nothing across the board being done for sustainable education in third level. There are some good initiatives. Many colleges have reviewed their curriculums and they are looking to see. The Deputy asked if it is better to have one module or to integrate across the board. Our perspective would be that it is good to do both in tandem because the benefit you get from having a separate subject in second level or from having a separate module in third level is that it will be rolled out. It is quicker to roll out than trying to integrate it into other subjects or modules because there are a lot of barriers to that. To try to focus on the sustainable development goals in some modules, such as engineering modules, is relevant, but it can be difficult to integrate in other courses.

It is really just happening in certain sections of colleges and it is not possible to integrate it across all courses. Additionally, lecturers must be brought up to speed on the sustainable development goals. This is happening, then. Where we need to move ahead is that it should be expanded across all courses. It is taking time, though, and this is understandable. In the meantime, it would be good to also have a module on this topic too.