Last month, the SDG Academy had the pleasure of attending the annual conference of the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. AESS is the largest interdisciplinary academic association in the environmental field, bringing together faculty and students from diverse areas of study such as climate science, biology, geology, political science, environmental humanities, policy, international development, and more. The interdisciplinary tone set at the conference was ripe for dialogue around the Sustainable Development Goals, and this year’s conference theme, “Sustainable Futures,” perfectly aligned with the SDG Academy portfolio of sustainable development MOOCs.
The Academy’s booth in the exhibit hall engaged more than 50 visitors over the course of the conference, and prompted conversations ranging from the integration of the SDGs into curricula to the use of MOOC content in blended learning environments. It is clear that interest in teaching the SDGs in the classroom is on the rise. Faculty are increasingly using SDG frameworks to facilitate discussions about the complex overlap between social and environmental issues.
Education Manager Jenna Makowski also participated in a panel on “Sustainability Education,” which discussed the integration of sustainability into higher education curricula. Her presentation brought blended learning to the fore, highlighting three case studies from the Academy’s University Partnership Program (UPP) that demonstrated successful integration of SDG Academy videos and complete online courses into both blended and in-person learning environments.
To learn more about how UPP integrates SDG Academy course material into university classrooms around the world, click here.