Education for Sustainable Development: Towards the Sustainable University

We  planned  this  conference  in  anticipation  of  the  end  of  the  UN  Decade  of  Education  for  Sustainable   Development  (DESD),  and  the  start  of  the  next  phase  for  those  involved  in  ESD  here  and   internationally.    At  Plymouth  University,  2015  marks  ten  year  anniversary  since  cross-­‐institutional   work  on  sustainability  and  sustainability  education  was  spearheaded  by  the  founding  of  the  Centre  for   Sustainable  Futures  (CSF).    Coincidentally,  2015  also  marks  a  ten  years  since  the  influential  HEFCE   policy  document  ‘Sustainable  Development  in  Higher  Education’  was  released.   Holding  the  conference  in  January  –  named  after  the  Roman  god  of  doorways,  of  endings  and   beginnings  –  we  sought  to  look  at  some  of  what  has  been  achieved  in  sustainability  education  to  date   and  explore  its  prospects  as  we  move  forward.   Following  an  enthusiastic  response  to  the  call  for  abstracts,  the  conference  featured  a  diverse  range   of  research  papers,  posters,  and  roundtable  presentations  from  academics  and  practitioners  across   the  UK  and  beyond.  The  conference  was  arranged  around  three  overarching  themes:     ESD  Pedagogy:  Criticality,  Creativity,  and  Collaboration   What  are  the  teaching  and  learning  processes  that  enable  students  to  develop  their  own  capacity  to   think  critically  and  creatively  in  the  face  of  global  sustainability  challenges  and,  secondly,  to  act   collaboratively  in  ways  that  pursue  more  hopeful  and  sustainable  futures?   Innovative  Learning  Spaces  for  ESD   What  are  the  physical  environments  that  provide  opportunities  for  new  forms  of  sustainability   education  to  flourish?  What  lies  beyond  the  lecture  hall  that  is  conducive  to  student  learning  through   inquiry-­‐based,  active,  participatory,  interdisciplinary  and  experiential  methods?   Towards  the  Sustainable  University   What  are  effective  approaches  for  leading  institutional  change,  organisational  learning,  and  staff  CPD   towards  sustainability?  This  publication  focuses  on  the  last  theme  –  Towards  the  Sustainable  University.    The  previous   PedRIO  Occasional  Paper  8  looks  at  the  first  theme  ESD  Pedagogy:  Criticality,  Creativity,  and   Collaboration

Students’ perceptions of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to Achieve SDG 4 in Indonesia: a case study of Universitas Islam Riau

Sustainable development at higher education level plays an important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Higher education holds a great responsibility to increase the awareness and knowledge of students who will manage and develop resources. For the purpose of the sustainability of resources, awareness and knowledge of sustainable development are needed. This knowledge can be conveyed through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to achieve high education quality and equal access to education for women and men. Perception ofESDmust be studied to gather information about the facts, problems and challenges faced by Universitas Islam Riau (UIR) to achieve SDGs, especially SDG 4 (Quality Education). This study aims to identify the perception students of both genders at Universitas Islam Riau (UIR) hold about Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This research is a descriptive survey research conducted using a quantitative approach. There were 99 respondents in this study, Consisting of 43 men and 56 women. Data was collected by distributing questionnaires containing 70 statements, while processing of questionnaire data was done through the frequency analysis formula. Generally, the results of social, environmental and economic aspects in the ‘Good’ category are between 71.08 and 78.75%. Based on gender, both female and male students scored a higher percentage in economic aspect than other aspects, whereby female students scored 77.76%, whereas it was 76.50% for male students. Based on this study, it can be concluded that the students of Universitas Islam Riau have a good perception of Education for Sustainable Development. Therefore, the University must begin to apply the concept of sustainable development in every aspect in order to contribute to achieving SDG 4

Transcriptional profiling of wheat and wheat-rye addition lines to identify candidate genes for aluminum tolerance

A large-scale expression profiling study was performed to investigate candidate genes associated with the two quantitative trait loci for aluminum (Al) tolerance (Alt1 and Alt2). They have been identified in rye and localized on chromosomes 6R and 3R, respectively. Materials employed were hexaploid wheat (cv. Chinese Spring), and two wheatrye addition lines (3R-AL and 6R-AL). Seedlings were treated with and without Al for 24 h to examine genes upregulated or down-regulated by Al. Measurements of root growth at different Al concentrations showed the Al tolerance was higher in 3R-AL than in 6R-AL and wheat. Initial transcriptomic results revealed that more genes changed expression (>10 fold) in the wheat and in the 6R-AL line (moderately tolerant) than in the 3R-AL line (highly tolerant). A method was developed to determine whether candidate genes are involved in Al tolerance or in responses to Al toxicity. Real-time quantitative PCRs were carried out in a subset of six genes with known function in near isogenic rye lines 389 (Al-sensitive) and 390 (Al tolerant). All six genes were up-regulated by Al in line 389 but not in line 390, indicating that they were involved in Al stress response but not in Al tolerance mechanisms. Subsequent analysis of Arabidopsis lines with knockout mutations in homologues of these six genes showed an Al sensitivity similar to the wild-type, providing more evidence towards their participation in the response to stress rather than to Al tolerance. Once the stress response genes were ruled out, the focus was turned to the identification of tolerance genes by studying transcripts up-regulated and down-regulated in the tolerant 3R line with respect to wheat and 6R line. Finally, a list of candidate genes that could be conferring increased tolerance was obtainedDepto. de Genética, Fisiología y MicrobiologíaFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEpu