Curriculum for the Bioregion Initiative
Big Ideas,
Learning Outcomes, Skills, and References
Relevant to a
Sustainability Course or Curriculum
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Skills
What follows are two lists of assessable skills that would be
good for students of sustainability to work on.
Though these are not necessarily specific to a sustainability education,
mastery of these skills would be
invaluable for someone who will work in a sustainability-oriented field.
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Collaboration |
Concept Mapping |
Conflict Resolution |
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Decision Making |
Delphi Process 91 |
Environmental Assessment |
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Graphical Representation |
Interviewing |
Life Cycle Assessment 43 |
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Modeling |
Observation |
Problem Solving |
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Public Speaking |
Research |
Scenario Building 92 |
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Statistical Analysis |
Surveying |
Writing |
This second list of “Sustainability Skills” was adapted from the
Sustainability Learning Outcomes list generated during a series of Curriculum
for the Bioregion workshops.
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Students completing a
sustainability curriculum should have the ability to: |
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Reflect on one’s values and habits; |
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Reflect on knowledge, values, and commitment through a variety
of media, including artistic expression; |
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Listen and hear with intellectual openness, outside of our
usual ways of thinking; |
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Sustain multiple uncertainties and tolerate ambiguity; |
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Recognize and
evaluate an injustice or moral insight; |
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Evaluate the ethics of actions or inactions; |
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Recognize that
one’s personal choices and widespread cultural norms can affect
sustainability; |
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Be sensitive
to cross-cultural perspectives; |
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Engage in visioning processes (e.g. design charettes); |
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Use indicators; |
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Conduct audits
of personal footprints and resource use; |
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Generate and
interpret concept maps to better understand and portray systems
relationships; |
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Engage in
interdisciplinary research; |
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Generate information
empirically and observe closely and deliberately; |
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Use and apply
systems thinking to issues and problems; systems modeling skills; |
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Think
laterally, “connect the dots,” and synthesize information and ideas; |
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Cope with complexity
by examining complex problems, hearing others’ perspectives on them, and
proposing alternative ways of addressing them; |
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Understand
processes of positive group functioning including basic design principles and
skills associated with common property management; |
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Translate
understanding to action and commitment, using change-agent strategies; and |
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Practice acts
of civic responsibility and participatory democracy: taking small, practical
steps, walking our talk. |
* See also Skills for a Changing World in Stibbe, A, (2009). The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy.
93
This web site features a list of 28 sustainability skills, each
one linking to a book chapter about that skill.
Web Site Pages - Click a title and
go!
Have any problems
with this web site or questions? Contact
Rob Turner at rturner@uwb.edu.