Kathryn Hegarty

Shaping the self to sustain the other: mapping impacts of academic identity in education for sustainability

Academic and disciplinary modes of identity are arguably the constituent elements of scholarly cultures (Hall 2002; Shulman 2004). Such elements are a crucial ‘point of entry’ for change projects. Many change projects inherently involve the imposition of constraints and demands for change on academics. This paper seeks to explore the implications of constructed academic identity for change projects with a focus on education for sustainability. How does the personal sense of the role of academic contribute to the cultural challenge we face in seeking to implement change projects (for sustainability) in higher education?

Insights into the value of a ‘stand‐alone’ course for sustainability education

Education for sustainability (EfS) is emerging as an urgent imperative and challenge for higher education. But what exactly does it mean to put sustainability into higher education? How do we bring sustainability themes into university curriculum, across the enormous diversity of academic disciplines? This paper describes the experience of teaching a large ‘stand‐alone’ EfS subject which sits within the professional contexts of the large first‐year cohort undertaking it. We describe the themes, architecture and approach to sustainability education taken in this course and evaluate the learning and assessment activities offered to students. We conclude with reflections on the student experience and feedback, which suggests that while academics build towards a deeply embedded sustainability ethic in higher education, specialist parallel courses have a valuable role to play in the transition to sustainable futures.

Professional Associations: Their Role in Promoting Sustainable Development in Australia.

Professional associations have a strong influence on what is covered in the curricula of universities, especially that of professional degrees. They also provide members with professional development throughout their careers. Professional associations have the potential to facilitate development of sustainability competency in the workforce in many professions. A survey of professional associations in Australia indicated that by the end of the 2000s, few were facilitating sustainability, either through their input to university curricula, or through professional development. The experiences of a few associations that do facilitate sustainability can be used to build a strategy for enlisting other professional associations to facilitate sustainability competency amongst their members.

Weaving complexity and accountability: approaches to higher education learning design (HELD) in the built environment

The role of built environment professionals—planners, construction and project managers and property professionals—is to develop efficient cities improving social, environmental and economic outcomes. Professional practice that strikes a balance between the built and natural environment requires graduates with multidisciplinary skill sets, dictating the need for cross-disciplinary practice in undergraduate study. If we want alternative approaches to development, we must nurture professional capabilities that allow for a change in the way we see and act. In the light of this, we seek to enfranchise the many stakeholders engaged in the professional education programs offered in higher education. Higher education plays a central role in the development of professionals with the ability to recognise and mitigate the environmental impacts of traditional practice. This paper presents how courses in two Schools at RMIT, Global, Urban and Social Studies and Property, Construction and Project Management, have developed a transferable framework through which environmental capabilities may be embedded into undergraduate education. It explores the role higher education plays in the development of graduate capabilities and presents a conceptualisation of processes to realise this, through the Higher Education Learning Design Framework for development, and renewal, of traditional courses. The paper offers with a detailed exposition of the HELD framework against two courses. We explore this framework in relation to knowledge themes, professional and generic skills and assessment design.

Action Research in Communities of Practice to Develop Curricula for Sustainability in Higher Education

Universities worldwide have recognized their responsibilities for transformative learning to promote sustainability. To meet this challenge requires extensive curriculum innovation, but substantial progress has been made only in some institutions. Expedient strategies are urgently required to reshape teaching and research to make a significant contribution to sustainability through higher education. This chapter describes some influential initiatives emerging from a single project concerned with education for sustainability. These initiatives include a dedicated community of practice, professional staff development activities, and ongoing action research in teaching by a few sustainability champions. Several key influences on outcomes are identified. In particular, it is the formative, defining relationships that academics have with their disciplines, or professional fields, that influence the diffusion of sustainability education. This means that the impetus for sustainability education must begin from within local disciplinary contexts, if it is to engage and resonate with teaching and research staff. From this point, it was possible to develop the tools and processes to support a wider university community in recognizing responsibilities for sustainability education. Finally, a model explains the synergistic effects of these initiatives, emerging from this single project, for collaborating to build an effective multidisciplinary frontline for curriculum change.

Remaking metropolis: global challenges of the urban landscape

to explore the individual issue further. There are case studies from Australia and New Zealand (NZ). The other contributors include international authors who are recognised as tourism researchers and practitioners, including Douglas Pearce, Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, Michael Hall and Robert Haworth. The Australian case studies analyse community involvement in development process to build a luxury lodge on Kangaroo Island (Higgins–Desboilles) and possible power imbalance in the relationships between protected area managers and tourism operators in Western Australia’s Shark Bay (Wegner and Macbeth). There are also a number of very interesting NZ case studies ranging from an analysis of the collaboration to develop NZ’s destination marketing programme, (PURE) to my favourite – a retrospective study of the decision to develop a rugby stadium in Dunedin. The stadium was not completed in time for the Rugby World Cup hosted by NZ, and Hall and Wilson believe it will not contribute to regional development outcomes sought by the council. Given the cost to the community, it is interesting that building sporting venues continues to be a popular regional development initiative. Other case studies come from Canada, Thailand, Iceland, Hungary and East Timor. All the stories provide insights into the nature of decision-making about tourism development and the complex relationships between decision-makers, tourism developers and/or operators, community and environmental groups. The stories provide a critical reflection about gaps between theory and practice and the impact of local policy and planning ‘history’ that influences relationships. For example, Pearce uses archival evidence and interviews with key stakeholders to analyse the pattern of the tram network in Christchurch, NZ. His findings reinforced earlier study conclusions that tourism was the rationale for developing the tramway system, but the development of the system was incremental and linked to the development of other Christchurch urban renewal projects over time. The book structure is clear and the style of writing is plain English, even in chapters relating to theory – a real art! Most chapters have illustrations of some kind such as maps, photographs and tables. The authors recommend the book for tourism researchers and practitioners in Australia and NZ. I would argue that many of the individuals involved in tourism from various perspectives including government analysts, environmental and social NGOs, tourism promoters and developers, and local councillors, in both countries, would find that one or two stories at least resonate with their experiences. I would also recommend this book as a useful addition to university and local community libraries.