Shifting the EU Taxonomy from Theory to Practice: A Review of the Literature highlighting Potential Academic Contributions to its Adoption, Implementation, and Impact

The EU Taxonomy seeks to identify those sustainable economic activities, thereby supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation. Recent legislation underpinning the EU Taxonomy, such as the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), highlight the urgency for academic contributions that might shed light on its operationalisation. At this embryonic stage in the Taxonomy’s lifecycle, there is potential for the academic community to contribute to understanding its implications. Hence, we undertake a thematic analysis of predominantly, but not exclusively, professional literature to prioritise potential empirical research or conceptualisations that might offer insights for finance and accounting professionals, regulators, policymakers, investors and businesses. Our literature search is limited to literature that makes explicit reference to the Taxonomy between 2018 and 2021. We find that little is understood on how investors or businesses intend to disclose against the taxonomy or on the challenges associated with disclosure. With sustainable finance emerging in Ireland, we propose an exploratory study of this sector’s readiness to operationalise the taxonomy and offer a conceptual framework based on co-evolution theory (Foxon, 2011) bounded by three initial conditions: [1] skills and capability and [2] access to ESG data and [3] regulatory alignment

Design of a Professional Development Framework in Teaching and Learning for Engineering Educators

Ireland’s National Professional Development Framework for Those who Teach in Higher Education, aims to provide guidance and leadership in the planning, developing and engaging in professional development practices. A series of pilot projects have been initiated to help explore the framework’s likely utility and acceptance by educators and their institutions. These projects require engagement with staff in the interpretation and adaption of the framework within their working contexts. The purpose of this paper is to outline the development of one such project with engineering educators at three Institutes of Technology seeking designation as a technological university. The initiative aims to gain traction in the acceptance of the framework with the engineering education community by linking core and discipline-specific teaching and learning competencies with professional development activities most valued by engineering educators. Informed by three strands of literature: professional development in higher education; engineering education; and teaching and learning training provisions, the project begins with a survey of all those involved in teaching and learning in engineering across the three institutes. Based on engagement with key stakeholders, subsequent qualitative research informs the contextualization of the national framework for discipline-specific and institutional piloting. The paper concludes by exploring engineering educator perceptions of the national framework’s utility based on their engagement with the pilot process. Feedback from the pilot indicates that there is a significant gap between the professional development needs of engineering educators and the current professional development provision in teaching and learning

Empowering Responsible and Sustainability-Aware Business Graduates Through Digital Authentic Assessment

Business schools must engage in fundamental change to retain their legitimacy and position themselves as providers of solutions to urgent economic, social and environmental crises. Achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has emerged as a megatrend and business education must enhance graduate skills to contribute to their achievement. The world requires the next generation of graduates to become responsible business leaders who will address wicked sustainability problems. Hence, we need pedagogy that enables students to become sustainability literate and thus develop appropriate knowledge, skills and mindsets. Authentic assessment provides transformative learning opportunities that empower students to achieve meaningful impact in the real world. Despite some recent research that connects authentic assessment and sustainability, there is a dearth of empirical research on authentic assessments for sustainability in business disciplines. We outline a pedagogical initiative designed with the aim of enhancing sustainability literacy among business students using innovative digital tools as part of authentic assessment strategy. We designed and implemented authentic assessment strategies that engage students with learning across a number of different delivery modes and in a ‘deep’ reflective manner with meaningful tasks. Business students on undergraduate, postgraduate and executive programmes follow the same format with some adjustments made to reflect the different discipline/module focus. This includes completion of: (i) a sustainability literacy test through the UN supported Sulitest platform, (ii) a written reflection on learning, stemming from the Sulitest that utilises the DIEP reflective model, (iii) the creation of digital artefacts such as a short video shared on LinkedIn; student activism involving contacting political representatives/brands; creation of social media content in partnership with sustainability-focused organisations; podcasts with invited guests; writing of opinion pieces for media; and creation of e-portfolios that showcase students\u27 work. We believe this deep reflection and awareness signposts efficacious action emerging from our transformative learning pedagogy, based digital authentic assessment design. This pedagogical approach equips students with sustainability-specific knowledge, global citizenship skills, digital skills, and creative and inquisitive mindsets

Teaching and Learning Competencies Valued by Engineering Educators: A Pilot Study

At the onset of this paper, it is important to provide context by highlighting two backdrop narratives, which have prompted and guided this research project:-(i) Since 2015, The National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning in Ireland has undergone an extensive consultation process on professional development, resulting in a guiding document entitled the National Professional Development Framework (NPDF) for Staff Who Teach in Higher Education [1].(ii) The Technological University Alliance for Dublin has placed Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) and Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT) on a merger trajectory towards technological university designation [2] under the Technological Universities Act 2018. Project Levitus is a cross-institute initiative tasked to develop and pilot a disciplinaryspecific (engineering) version of the NPDF, transferrable to other academic disciplines. A steering committee, comprising of engineering educators, teaching and learning specialists, academic managers and HR representatives, has guided the project

An evaluation of a computational technique for measuring the embeddedness of sustainability in the curriculum aligned to AASHE-STARS and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction: SDG 4.7 mandates university contributions to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their education provisions. Hence, universities increasingly assess their curricular alignment to the SDGs. A common approach to the assessment is to identify keywords associated with specific SDGs and to analyze for their presence in the curriculum. An inherent challenge is associating the identified keywords as used in the diverse set of curricular contexts to relevant sustainability indicators; hence, the urgent need for more systematic assessment as SDG implementation passes its mid-cycle. Method: In this study, a more nuanced technique was evaluated with notable capabilities for: (i) computing the importance of keywords based on the term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) method; (ii) extending this computation to the importance of courses to each SDG and; (iii) correlating such importance to a statistical categorization based on the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) criteria. Application of the technique to analyze 5,773 modules in a university’s curriculum portfolio facilitated categorization of the modules/courses to be “sustainability-focused” or “sustainability-inclusive.” With the strategic objective of systematically assessing the sustainability content of taught curricula, it is critical to evaluate the precision and accuracy of the computed results, in order to attribute text with the appropriate SDGs and level of sustainability embeddedness. This paper evaluates this technique, comparing its results against a manual and labor-intensive interpretation of expert informed assessment of sustainability embeddedness on a random sample of 306 modules/courses. Results and discussion: Except for SDGs 1 and 17, the technique exhibited a reasonable degree of accuracy in predicting module/course alignment to SDGs and in categorizing them using AASHE criteria. Whilst limited to curricular contexts from a single university, this study indicates that the technique can support curricular transformation by stimulating enhancement and reframing of module/course contexts through the lens of the SDG

Sustainable Food Sector Curriculum Co-Create, EdTech 2021

Sustainable Food Curriculum Co-create – Empowering the Student Voice This paper will outline the current National Forum for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education- SATLE Funded Technological University Dublin project ‘Sustainable Food Curriculum Co-Create’. The project’s goal is to build capacity for integrating sustainability learning outcomes across Food programmes through educator professional development and co-creation with students. This is being achieved through the piloting of Food sector-focused sustainability modules with co-learning for academic staff and students (5 ECTS CPD in Educating for Food Sustainability for academic staff and 5 ECTS Elective module in Food Sector Sustainability for students). Curriculum design involved several stakeholders in Education for Sustainable Development from across the Food System including enterprise and state organisations who advised on sector-specific sustainability issues, food experts from across several Schools, and sustainability experts from across the University and beyond. It also was informed by industry publications and policy frameworks. A co-creation approach was adopted as sustainable development is complex, requiring transdisciplinary problem-solving where knowledge emerges between established fields, providing space for alternative perspectives and innovative solutions. It should be influenced by viewpoints of all stakeholders, including students, enterprise, regulatory bodies, communities, and social partners [1]. Curriculum delivery included peer-lectures from staff participating on the module, lectures from experts from across the University, as well as non-academic experts who were invited to deliver key industry related elements. The student voice is captured through co-creation workshops and reflective exercises. All participants in the modules were asked to complete a reflection-in-action, which was designed to document learning transformation in knowledge, values and behaviours. All co-creation workshops were facilitated online using MS TEAMS breakout rooms. The first workshop focused on evaluating the embeddedness of sustainability within individual module descriptor by applying the AASHE-STARS [2] criteria for sustainability-focused and sustainability-related courses. Guided by the SDSN’s SDG keywords [3], a mapping of selected module’s learning outcomes, indicative syllabi, assessments and learning resources to the SDGs was also undertaken by students and staff and opportunities for enhancement were identified. Each breakout room contained a mix of staff and students who were familiar with the respective modules for evaluation. An additional workshop was run to evaluate the circularity of module delivery using SusTEACH [4]. Finally, a third workshop focused on design thinking as a problem-solving process, supported by creative online tools, for addressing super-wicked problems posed by the sustainability challenge. The assessment strategy of the Food Sector sustainability modules involved (1) reflection of personal development throughout the module, as well as on improving performance in the UN supported online multiple-choice question sustainability literacy test (SULITEST); (2) artifacts generated during the workshops and (3) for academic staff, reviewing one of their module descriptors to embed sustainability learning outcomes. Whilst staff and students were each enrolled on different versions of the programme, the underlying ethos was on co-learning. As partners equally vested in a transformative learning process for a rapidly evolving field of study, the paper will highlight the potential for impact that the project will have on catalysing action to review the School’s food education provision. [1] QAA (2014) Education for sustainable Development: Guidelines for UK Higher Education Providers. Higher Education Academy and UK QAA. [2] Technical Manual - The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (aashe.org) [3] Universities & SDGs | SDSN Australia, New Zealand and Pacific (ap-unsdsn.org) [4] http://www9.open.ac.uk/SusTeach/index.ht

Cultivating a Community of Practice model to support and encourage innovative T&L practices to engage practitioners and enhance student success

Communities of Practice (CoPs) are naturally forming groups of individuals who come together through a shared passion or goal and learn collectively by reciprocating knowledge and experiences. With competing demands of faculty, universities are increasingly challenged to provide professional development opportunities that actively encourage innovative pedagogical practices to enhance student success and quality of the learner experience. We report on four embryonic CoPs, based on collaborative processes, supporting institutional transformation and the formation of a new education model at Ireland’s first Technological University (TU). Juxtaposing a series of planned learning innovations with spontaneous interactions and actions of CoP members, we draw out common themes with respect to how these members developed as professional educators, how they accelerated the adoption of new innovations and their perceived factors for CoP success. Findings from this funded initiative are first reported as separate case-studies each covering a six-month period. The CoP model is then evaluated as a professional development strategy to initiate and sustain practice-based change. Finally, a thematic analysis of our shared perceptions across the four CoPs is undertaken. Whilst selection bias is inherent in these perceptions, we nevertheless conclude from our shared experiences that CoPs are particularly attuned to rapid and extensive adoption of teaching and learning practice innovations and organisational transformation in Higher Education (HE). Consequently, CoPs can serve as vehicles for sustainable professional development in teaching and learning practice. Based on our findings, we offer recommendations for fostering CoPs in supporting strategy-as-practice in the technological university sector

Embedding Sustainability Literacy in Business School Curricula through Reflective Pedagogy: An Exploratory Study of Student Reflections of the Sulitest

Purpose Sustainability has emerged as a megatrend affecting all aspects of management practice. SDG 4.7 has mandated business schools to provide education for responsible leadership and to integrate sustainability principles in their curricula. Faculty are challenged to mainstream sustainability through engaging pedagogy that inspires and offers concrete tools. Yet, pedagogy has been viewed as a key challenge to embedding sustainability in management education. Design / Methodology / Approach We highlight the role of reflection in promoting the enhancement of sustainability literacy in business school curricula, supporting our proposition that management education for sustainability must have a reflective dimension that engages students in deeper learning. In addition to exploring theoretical perspectives on sustainability literacy development through reflection, we draw on empirical evidence provided from a study of 300+ student reflective assignments, based on their experiences of the UN Sulitest, using the DIEP (describe, interpret, evaluate, plan) framework. Findings A thematic analysis of reflective assignments suggest that students engaged in thoughtful reflection that was transformative in nature, broadening their knowledge, questioning their mindsets and fostering change agency. Typical knowledge domains highlighted include: the circular economy, child labour, pollution, equality and clean energy. Students expressed emotions of shock, anger and surprise about the role of human affluence in unsustainable futures. Research Limitations Although our analysis paints a story limited to reflection coupled to just one learning experience, namely the UN Sulitest, future pedagogical initiatives might expand to additional tools for promoting sustainability literacy. Whilst it is meant to illustrate how elements of a sustainability literacy are developed, no data was collected to systematically evaluate transformational impact. We recommend further research to evaluate future transformation. Originality / Value Our findings contribute to the practical application of reflective pedagogy in promoting the enhancement of sustainability literacy and to a conceptualisation of the role that reflection plays in the pursuit of transformation. Moreover, it provides corroborating evidence to principles of deep learning for sustainability based on the SDG framework, emotional stimuli, advocacy and action

Using the Community of Practice model to shape approaches to Education for Sustainable Development across disciplines in a Technological University context: A Roundtable Podcast

This roundtable discussion podcast comprises eight colleagues engaged in reflective discussion of their shared experiences of being members of SDG Literacy.ie, a Community of Practice (CoP) first established in TU Dublin in 2020. This CoP focuses on and promotes the enhancement of Sustainability Literacy among student cohorts as one measure to be employed in strengthening Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in line with the broader strategic aims of the university. Harvey et al. (2021) in a case-based paper which includes examination of the CoP discussed here conclude that teaching and learning innovation took place as a consequence of the resource-sharing, idea-generation and overall peer support that CoP members experience. The voices you will hear in this podcast discussion represent the inter-disciplinary SDG Literacy academic community who all share an interest in the sustainability domain and are acutely aware of SDG4.7 which focuses on ensuring all learners acquire the knowledge and skills for sustainable development by 2030. Discussion themes include (i) our shared understanding of ESD, (ii) how membership of SDGLiteracy.ie shaped our Teaching, Learning and Assessment (TLA) approaches in relation to ESD, Sustainability Literacy and Authentic Assessment, (iii) how membership of SDGLiteracy.ie shaped our broader personal and professional development (research, collaboration, output etc.) and (iv) our future plans in relation to ESD and the CoP model. The podcast transcript has been annotated through footnotes to direct the listener/reader to further reading on the various topics that emerge in the discussion

Decarbonising Ireland\u27s Energy - Dr. David Connolly

This OER is a recording of a presentation by Dr. David Connolly on decarbonising Ireland\u27s energy, delivered to TU Dublin students and staff in advance of the PS2021 sustainablity summer school