SustainabilityLabelling

IT Faculty (CSE + Applied IT) Sustainability Labelling Process

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Introduction - What is Sustainability Labelling

GU has a commitment to making sustainability part of our education. As such, there is the ability to add labels to the course syllabi, labelling a course as sustainability focused or sustainability related.

Locally, we must evaluate and create a process and support for the IT Faculty, including both AIT and CSE. This may be the same or a different process, depending on local needs.

This document describes a draft plan for supporting sustainability labelling in the IT Faculty, subject to change after feedback and evaluation.

More general information can be found in the GU site: https://medarbetarportalen.gu.se/miljohandbok/Instruktioner+f%C3%B6r+medarbetare/hallbarhetsmarkning.

Short Summary: What to do to have your Course/Program Labelled

Think about how sustainability can fit within the course/program. Refer to Should my Course Program Have a Label? below for more information.
Attend one of the sustainability support group workshops, if you are able.
If you need guidance, speak to one or more of the sustainability support group members. We are here for feedback and ideas.# Speak to the program manager (if it is a course) to make sure they are on board
Update your syllabi to reflect sustainability as part of the learning objectives and other aspects of the course
Apply for a syllabi change and make it clear you would like the syllabi sustainability labelled (checkbox in CSE form, part of discussion in AIT)
If the course content changes, reflect on whether the label should remain.

More information on these steps are found in the sections below.

Labeling Criteria

Courses or programs should be related to one more sustainability criteria or goals to receive a label, or to be considered sustainability-related.

The criteria and goals are as follows:

The criteria created by GU, found on the bottom of this page: https://medarbetarportalen.gu.se/miljohandbok/Instruktioner+f%C3%B6r+medarbetare/hallbarhetsmarkning.
The UN Sustainable development goals (SDGs), as found here: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

One can use either the GU criteria or the SDGs or both to justify the labelling.

Should my Course / Program Have a Label?

Go through the following guides to consider how sustainability can be added to your course.

General questions:

Label the whole program? Are they related or focused?

How does my course relate to Sustainability?

1. Type of course / general topic of the course

Theory of XYZ -> sustainability examples or sustainability aspects to discuss

Applied/project XYZ -> get a sustainability-interested 'client' (or pretend-client)

Which SDGs can the topic of the course be related to?

2. How can the syllabi reflect this?

Learning objectives (because if not in there, then it ain't happening): refer to SDGs, --> e.g. Objective, and how implemented, and how assessed (at least exemplarily)

Ways of teaching: every learning objective should explain how it's implemented

3. Topics to cover?

What aspects of the course topic are most related to sustainability?

Find an SDG to relate it to (in the instance)

4. Teaching methods?

Guest lectures (maybe from other departments, e.g. Space, Earth and Environment)

Client with sustainability concern

Module that has a case on a sustainability system, for examples see https://www.engineeringforchange.org

Student activity for them to come up with a sustainability-related example

Reference list of helpful papers for inspiration [Sprei et al. , Sam Mann, Rockström, Daniel Pargman & Elina Eriksson, Lorenz Hilty, Steve Easterbrook, Håkan Burden, Baumer & Silberman]

Discussion of sustainability of a specific course example or case (and then show which aspects are being included in the scope of this discussion and point to the fact that there are more).

-> Develop a "decision tree" with such aspects to show there are many, and that decisions impact one another

-> When to do simulation versus when to purchase hardware and develop a physical prototype?

-> Then have a similar question on the exam (with a very limited scope to discuss).

5. Evaluation?

How to show that sustainability was really considered and students now know more about it? --> have it as exam question and tie back into learning objective

How can students integrate this in their 'portfolio'? E.g. describe how they made that little solar panel controller so that people living very remotely could get access to the internet and look up medical emergency information. (For resume, CV, website, showcase collection, etc.)

6. Involve students

Find some current students in your course and discuss it with them (they are often really up to par on sustainability) --> they are often happy to contribute their knowledge.

Offer early ideas and discuss them and ask if that was helpful.

Advice from students:

Present label and rationale in course intro

Reflect in examinations

Include SDGs

Proposed Sustainability Labelling Decision Process

The process is inspired by the existing implementation of the labeling process for a program at the Education Science program and current knowledge of how course and program changes work within the CSE Department. In AIT, the process is more simplified, with the course or program responsible asking for a label, and the person in charge of education approving or not.

Decisions on the sustainability labeling of programs are made at the same organizational level as decisions on educational plans in accordance with the University's Rules of Procedure and the Rector's Delegation Scheme.

Sustainability labeling of educational programs and courses is handled as part of the course or program revision and planning.

Relevant Roles

Note: these roles differ within each department.

Course Responsible: responsible for the course, ensuring course objectives are met each term. Could change occasionally.

Program Manager: responsible for a program, including the courses, progression of courses, ensuring the program meets the learning objectives.

Sustainability Committee: a per-faculty or per-department committee of academics who are interested in or knowledgeable about sustainability, including processes and goals, criteria, and resources.

Syllabi Committee: group within a faculty or department who are responsible for discussing and approving changes to the syllabi. Usually this group meets a few times per year, the membership changes gradually.

Prefect of Education or Equivalent: the final authority for the education program for the departments (AIT or CSE).

Sustainability Guidance, Support and Dissemination

Workshops

GMV has been hosting a series of cross-faculty workshops to support teachers in incorporating sustainability into their courses in natural and effective ways. In these workshops, several courses and syllabus are used as examples, and these courses are discussed in break-out groups with researches and teachers across the faculties. In this way, the course responsible gets ideas for how to add sustainability into their courses, or how to highlight what sustainable aspects are already present.

The intention is to hold such workshops locally, either at each department or across the faculties. The workshop should be held at least once per year. The discussion will be on how to incorporate or highlight sustainable aspects in example courses, with support and ideas from the sustainability committee and colleagues. In addition to an effective incorporation of sustainability in the course content, the end goal will be to help teachers add learning outcomes and other syllabi text, explaining and justifying sustainable content, as necessary. We anticipate that eventually a body of course examples and possible concrete ways to deal with sustainability in our curriculum will be collected.

Part of the role of the workshop will be to advertise for the possibility of the sustainable course labels, and to share knowledge on the process of adding a label.

Syllabi Guidance

If a course or program responsible decides to ask for a label for their course, they will be provided with guidance on how to adjust the syllabi. Guidance will be provided by the IT Faculty Sustainability Support Group, as requested. Specifically, sustainable topics should appear in one or more learning objectives. The syllabi text should be adjusted to some degree either in the Course Content or Ways of Teaching sections, to be evaluated. In this way, courses with sustainable material will have a relatively standard presentation of their link to sustainability.

In GU syllabi, if a label is given, automatic text appears which summarizes the labelling briefly. However, we believe some further justification the label in the syllabi is needed, particularly to avoid "green washing" courses.

Proposed Process for Courses/Programs

A draft process for course and program labelling is described below. A visual view of this process can be found in the figure below.

Step	Programs	Courses
1	The program manager discusses program sustainability with the local sustainability committee, including if and how it fits, how it progresses, and how students are prepared to act sustainably. If the program involves multiple faculties or departments, further relevant educational managers are also consulted.	The course responsible discusses sustainability as a course topic with the local sustainability committee. The program manager should be present in the discussion or informed. If the course involves multiple programs, further relevant program managers are also consulted.
2	The program manager creates or adjusts the necessary course syllabi, including which sustainability criteria are satisfied by which learning objectives of the course, and which SDGs are addressed in the program. Optionally, the SDG impact assessment tool (https://sdgimpactassessmenttool.org/) can be used to help assess SDG applicability. Short justification is provided (see syllabi guidance above). The updated syllabi with justification is sent to the sustainability committee.	The course responsible creates or adjusts the course syllabi, including which sustainability criteria are satisfied by which learning objectives of the course, and which SDGs are addressed in the course. Optionally, the SDG impact assessment tool (https://sdgimpactassessmenttool.org/) can be used to help assess SDG applicability. Short justification is provided (see syllabi guidance above). The updated syllabi with justification is sent to sustainability committee and program manager.
3	The sustainability committee reads the changes and justifications, and further discusses with the program manager if necessary, until both parties are satisfied.	The sustainability committee reads the changes and justifications, and further discusses with the course responsible and the program manager if necessary, until both parties are satisfied.
4	The program manager requests the program to have a label (focused or related) and sends this request with the justification to the syllabi committee, with sufficient time for them to review the request before the next meeting.	The course responsible, with approval of the program manager, requests the course to have a label (focused or related) and sends this request with the justification to the syllabi committee, with sufficient time for them to review the request before the next meeting.
5	The syllabi committee reviews the request and discusses with the program manager, and optionally the sustainability committee, and makes a decision. Upon rejection the course responsible, program manager, and sustainability committee receives feedback.	The syllabi committee reviews the request, discusses with the course responsible and optionally the program manager and sustainability committee, and makes a decision. Upon rejection the program manager and sustainability committee receives feedback.
6	(Dependent on current process) Upon acceptance of change by the syllabi committee, the syllabi committee sends the decision to the prefect of education for further approval.
7	Upon final approval by the prefect of education, the program responsible and sustainability committee are notified.	Upon final approval by the syllabi committee the course responsible, program manager and sustainability committee are notified.
8	Changes are made in GUBAS to the appropriate syllabi by administration to reflect final decision and label. The justification should be present in the syllabi in the standard sections.	Same

Comments or questions on the process can be sent to the sustainability support group.