Ulrika Lundqvist

The ecological footprint from a systems perspective of sustainability

Summary The Ecological Footprint (EF) is a method for estimating the biologically productive area necessary to support current consumption patterns, given prevailing technical and economic processes. By comparing human impact with the planets limited bioproductive area. this method tests a basic ecological condition for sustainability. The ecological footprint has gained popularity for its pedagogical strength as it expresses the results of its analysis in spatial units that can easily be communicated. Many EF estimates have been performed on a global, national and sulrnationallevel. In this paper. we review the method and critically assess it from a sustainability perspective based on first order principles. We examine: • Which aspects of sustainability are already covered by existing EF assessments; • Which further aspects ofsustainability could be made accountable through the EF (such as areas needed to assimilate waste streams that are not yet accounted for in present assessments); and • Those aspect...

The feasibility of including sustainability in LCA for product development

Abstract The feasibility of combining the concept of sustainability principles and the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is examined. The goal is to achieve an operational tool that incorporates sustainability in product development and strategic planning. While the method outlined has the structure of LCA, it emphasises aspects and parameters often omitted from traditional LCA. The analysis and results can be either qualitative or semi-quantitative. Although a qualitative analysis is less time consuming, it can still highlight the important issues. Qualitative information, which is easily lost in a quantitative analysis, can be emphasised. One of the conclusions is that the method is well suited for screening analysis.

The university and transformation towards sustainability: The strategy used at Chalmers University of Technology

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the strategy used for achieving change towards sustainability at Chalmers University of Technology (Chalmers). Examples of how this strategy has been used are described and discussed, and exemplified with different lines of activities in a project on Education for Sustainable Development, the ESD project. Design/methodology/approach - The strategy consists of three important building blocks: Create a neutral arena; Build on individual engagement and involvement; and Communicate a clear commitment from the management team. The analysis is made along three different lines of activities in. the ESD project: The work to improve the quality of the compulsory courses on sustainable development; The efforts to integrate ESD into educational programmes; and The work to collect and spread information on good teaching practices within ESD. Some other related examples where the strategy has been applied are also presented. Findings - The ESD project functioned as a neutral arena since it was not placed at any specific department but rather engaged participants from many departments. This neutral arena has been important, for example, to increase the willingness of teachers to share their good teaching examples. The process was successful in creating a shared responsibility and for starting learning processes in many individuals by the involvement of a broad range of educational actors at Chalmers. The strong and clear commitment from the management team has worked as a driving force. Originality/value - This paper can provide valuable input to universities that struggle with change processes.

Inventory of content in basic courses in environment and sustainable development at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden

Chalmers University of Technology is actively promoting learning for sustainable development in its educational programmes. A compulsory part of the bachelor curricula is five full-time weeks of studies on environment and sustainable development. This paper presents an inventory of the contents in these courses performed as a series of discussions with the course leaders. The discussions serve as an important part of a course and programme development effort. Important outcomes from the inventory related to, for example, breadth and depth of content in the courses, the position of the courses in the curriculum, and needs expressed by teachers are discussed. The paper also presents a discussion on the method used and on experiences of how studies of this type can be used to promote learning for sustainable development at the university.

Integration of Education for Sustainable Development in the Mechanical Engineering Curriculum

This paper presents and analyses the integration with progression of education for sustainable development in Chalmers University of Technology’s MScEng programme in Mechanical Engineering. The program has an aim and structure that emphasises employability, integration of general engineering skills, authentic engineering experiences with a focus on holistic view of the complete lifecycle of products and systems. The realisation of these aims stress the need of an integrated and adaptable sustainable development education for mechanical engineering. To reach this goal, we applied a combined top-down and bottom-up education development process that started with the formulation of program vision and program level learning outcomes. Faculty meetings and workshop were used to formulate the course learning outcomes and to map the program level outcomes to courses in which the outcomes are satisfi ed followed this. The strategy integrated specifi c sustainability topics in courses where it is appropriate and to have a separate course in sustainable development to ensure that general aspects of sustainable development are included and that a team of faculty takes full responsibility for this. Design-build-test project courses are shown to be suitable arenas for integrating teaching and learning of sustainable development. Results from a student survey on perceptions of the relevance and quality of sustainability education are discussed. Finally, continuing challenges in the area are identified

From CDIO to challenge-based learning experiences – expanding student learning as well as societal impact?

ABSTRACT Challenge-based learning (CBL) is a multidisciplinary approach that encourages students to work actively with peers, teachers and stakeholders in society to identify complex challenges, formulate relevant questions and take action for sustainable development. In this paper, it is argued that CBL can be viewed as an evolution of the Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate concept, expanding as well as deepening the learning experience. The study reported on investigates the multiple aims of a particular CBL environment (the Challenge Lab at Chalmers University of Technology), which are to combine significant student learning and societal transformation. The results show that the students perceive that they have developed deep skills in problem formulation and sustainable development, as well as working across disciplines and with different stakeholders. Moreover, the study shows that although few student projects reach implementation stage, there is a potential for societal impact both during and after the Challenge Lab learning experience.