Quality Education
UCC Green Campus works to ensure that students learn the 鈥渨hat鈥� and the 鈥渉ow鈥� of sustainable development across all formal and informal learning on campus. All 17 SDGs are covered within the curriculum of UCC, 6% of the university鈥檚 modules include sustainable development teachings. These modules are spread across 60% of the university鈥檚 academic departments meaning that 17% of our students graduate having taken one of these modules in the course of their degree.
SDG4 鈥淨uality Education鈥� calls on states to 鈥淓nsure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all鈥�. It also calls on educators to ensure 鈥渢hat all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture鈥檚 contribution to sustainable development鈥�.
Explore the links below to find out more about teaching and learning for sustainable development at UCC.
Learning & Teaching with the SDGs
About Learning & Teaching with the SDGs
Future proof your curriculum by embedding sustainability into your teaching practice. Many of you knowingly or unknowingly align your teaching and research with the and you鈥檒l learn here to be more explicit and intentional in doing so. This short, self-paced course was designed to result in usable outputs, while linking to key theory and policy.
In this course you will explore the connections between your module content and SDG targets and find ways to deepen the integration of sustainability into your teaching to create genuine and transformative experiences for your students. This self-paced short course was developed as a collaboration between the Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning and UCC Green Campus.
It is open to all staff who support student learning and can be completed to gain digital accreditation, i.e., a digital badge, or simply explored out of interest. It consists of four modules as outlined below. The digital badge corresponds to ~16 hours of participant effort.
The step-wise approach taken in this course will ensure you achieve the following Learning Outcomes:
- Identify students' perspectives on the SDGs.
- Explain the background to and rationale for the SDGs and the UN 2030 Agenda.
- Map the links between your module and the SDGs and SDG Target(s), and how your discipline or module sits within the SDG framework.
- Reflect on ways to further embed SDGs in your curriculum.
- Modify or (re)design your module/teaching based on your learning from this course.
What people are saying about Learning & Teaching with the SDGs
- 鈥淚 think there is an appetite amongst young people now, our students, to learn about sustainable development鈥�.
- 鈥淎s engineers and other disciplinaries, we need to actually look beyond our own disciplinary silos and look at other ways of doing things. It means a more active learning environment, a more peer learning environment, and a more engaged learning environment than certainly would be traditionally the case in engineering鈥�.
- 鈥淲e need to take a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to these issues. One of the most important things that we can do is have students as equal co-creators in this process because we want to develop a curriculum for sustainable development that equips students with the knowledge that they need and that will maximise both teaching and learning experiences.鈥�
Learning and Teaching with the SDGs was funded by National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education under the 鈥淪trategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement Funding in Higher Education 2020鈥� scheme.
The Glucksman Gallery
Environmental Education at the Glucksman Gallery
As part of it鈥檚 overall strategy the Glucksman Gallery aims to 鈥淒evise curatorial projects that explore contemporary art as it relates to the three priority strands of our education programme: Health and Wellbeing; Equality and Diversity; Climate Action and Sustainability鈥�.
The Glucksman has partnered with Green Campus to devise and present creative projects for schools and community groups that explore environmental issues through collaborative art making. For example, People and the Planet facilitated schools, community groups and children living in Direct Provision to work with artists to develop inventive installations from recyclables and natural materials. Creative sessions took place in the Glucksman as well as outdoors in the 深夜亚洲福利久久 lower grounds so that children could learn about their local habitat. Participating groups explored biodiversity and sustainability, working together to present imaginative artworks for a public exhibition.
As part of the 鈥淐lassroom Museum鈥� project, funded by Cork County Council and UCC Green Campus, the Glucksman Gallery took artworks from the UCC Collection to three primary schools in rural Cork. The artworks, by Fiona Kelly, address the issues of environmental degradation and urban encroachment. Students were invited to explore the artworks and then create their own responses. The workshops explored both local and global environmental issues. 74 children took part in the project, which culminated in an exhibition of their pieces at the Glucksman Gallery and a 鈥済reen tour鈥� of campus. Teachers from the three schools attended a masterclass in UCC, which was accredited by the UCC Centre for Continuing Professional Development. The final product will be a toolkit for schools throughout Ireland (and further afield).
Cork UNESCO Learning City
Cork was presented with a UNESCO Learning City Award in 2015, recognising progress made in developing Lifelong Learning for all, and in doing so enhancing the Inclusion, Prosperity and Sustainable Development of the city.鈥�
UNESCO defines a Learning City as a city which effectively mobilizes its resources across all sectors to maximise the opportunities for lifelong learning for all its citizens.
A learning city has developed the following elements:
- Inclusive learning from basic to higher education
- learning in families and communities
- learning for and in the workplace
- modern learning technologies
- quality and excellence in learning
- a culture of learning throughout life
Steering Group
To lead the development of Cork as a Learning City the following partners have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Learning in 2015 and have formed a steering group:
Learning Cities Festival
In 2017, Cork hosted the international Learning Cities Festival, the outcome of which was the Cork 鈥溾��, which committed signatories to 鈥渢s dimensions, recognizing the links between all of its social, environmental and economic aspects in order to secure a sustainable future for all.鈥�
For more information on the Learning Cities Programme, visit the full website at
