SQ: Sustainability
"Sustainability must become a pedagogical big idea, capable of complementing and connecting avenues of inquiry across academic disciplines that organize and prioritize teaching and learning on campus. If sustainability is employed as a method of examining the relationship between environmental limits and human values, decisions, and actions that shape the future, it will transform not only what we do on campus, but also how we think." - Daniel J. Sherman, "Sustainability: What's the Big Idea?", In: Sustainability: The Journal of Record 1:188-195.
UW Oshkosh Sustainability Learning Outcome
Knowledge of sustainability and its applications is the ability to understand local and global earth systems; the qualities of ecological integrity and the means to restore and preserve it; and the interconnection of ecological integrity, social justice and economic well-being.
Sustainability is about working towards a future in which all human beings can enjoy decent quality of life– good health, economic security, membership in strong and inclusive communities, the list goes on– while ensuring that we do not endanger the natural resources and environments upon which we depend. At its core, sustainability is about helping us live up to our fullest potential, as individuals and as a society. Making our way towards sustainability will involve addressing some very big and complicated problems– problems that will not have just single answers, or answers generated by single perspectives. Educating our students about sustainability means presenting them with multiple perspectives and teaching them how to critically evaluate the pros and cons, costs and consequences of the many options that lie before us. Sustainability is not about prescription, or about liberal or conservative points of view; it is about thoughtfully questioning, analyzing, and coming up with creative solutions. And isn’t this exactly what we want our students to be able to do?
Essential Learning Outcome
Responsibility, as Individuals and Communities: Knowledge of Sustainability and Its Applications
"Rail and Leaf" created by student Erica Breuer
in Mary Hoefferle's fall 2011 Art 203 course.
View more teaching resources related to this Signature Question:
Video from Quest I Sustainability Workshop
