Engaging and Empowering Students to Contribute to Sustainable Development Through Developing Interdisciplinary Teamwork Skills

Abstract

The alarming rates of climate change and of biodiversity loss call for a more targeted approach in higher education to deal with these issues. An important part of this complex puzzle is equipping students with competencies—knowledge, skills, and values—that will engage and empower them to contribute to sustainable development. This chapter uses a case study approach to present a strategic initiative geared towards engaging students for sustainability at a Norwegian higher education institution. The initiative is centred on a university-wide Master’s level course that focuses on interdisciplinary teamwork skills through project-based learning: Experts in Teamwork (EiT). The development of these competencies is critical for agents of change to be able to solve sustainability challenges. Based on over 20 years of experience, we introduce the initiative through its course aims, its organization at the university, and how sustainability is integrated within the course in the context of education for sustainable development (ESD). We find that EiT is intertwined with sustainability strategies for education and research at different levels at the university. This includes the strategic and practical challenges of organizing a university-wide sustainability initiative. The significance of our study lies in providing insights, sharing experiences, and imagining future directions at the interface of sustainable development and university strategy. The chapter concludes by suggesting how sustainability can be further strengthened in EiT and other courses through collaboration.