Education for Sustainable Development

What does the sustainably aware student know?

Sustainability is centred on thinking about the future, and therefore students with knowledge and skills in this area will be aware that their actions have future consequences for themselves, those around them and the environment in its broadest sense. Forum for the Future refer to the concept of "sustainability literacy" where people:

• understand why we need to change to a sustainable way of doing things, at home and at work and in their community
• have enough knowledge and skills to act in a way that contributes to sustainable development
• recognise, reward and reinforce other people's decisions and actions that contribute to sustainable development

For bioscientists this links directly to ethical considerations and once in employment, potentially to the concept of corporate social responsibility.

ESD can also enable students to develop a variety of skills:

• Problem-solving for complex real-life problems
• Ability to think creatively and holistically and to make critical judgements
• Ability to develop a high level of self-reflection (both personal and professional)
• Ability to identify, understand, evaluate and adopt values conducive to sustainability
• Ability to bridge the gap between theory and practice
• Ability to participate creatively in inter-disciplinary teams
• Ability to initiate and manage change

How can students demonstrate their knowledge of sustainability to potential employers?

Clearly it is possible to make links to sustainability within an application, curriculum vitae or covering letter, and in most cases it will be necessary to tailor examples to the specific post. Sustainability is central to some posts, for instance see ACRE resources and Environmental Careers, and for such posts it will be necessary to demonstrate a deeper knowledge of sustainability and the techniques and approaches needed to measure, encourage and enhance sustainability in a given area.

Once at interview it should be easy to communicate a broader knowledge of sustainability, perhaps in relation to resource use, green auditing or ethical issues depending on the post being applied for. The emphasis placed on such issues will be dependent on the post applied for, but it is clear some employers are placing increasing emphasis on sustainability issues.

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