472
E. Michalopoulou et al.
requirement that was embedded from the inception of each video asset, rather than an
afterthought. All assets were designed with high-contrast visuals to ensure accessibility for those with visual impairment. Likewise, transcripts and timecoding subtitles
were produced by default for each video. Throughout the development process, the
project team worked with unit directors to ensure that all content prioritised gender,
LGBTQ+ and BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) representation.
3 Delivery
The unit is organised into an introductory workshop on the SDGs, followed by five
interdisciplinary, themed blocks: science and understanding; behaviour and organisational change; economy, policy and law; equality and justice; and technology
and innovation (Michalopoulou et al. 2019). Students gain insight into the concepts
behind the challenges of SD and learn how different disciplines and interdisciplinary approaches are used. Through engagement across all teaching and learning
approaches, students develop a broad understanding of the SDGs and learn how
to work in an interdisciplinary team to analyse and critically evaluate challenges
and potential ways forward. Each themed block presents real-world case studies
with illustrated text documents and videos which include interviews and other
dynamic content. Such content draws from institutional academic expertise and from
professionals and volunteers in the commercial and charitable sectors.
The intended learning outcomes (ILOs) are broad in scope:
1. Be able to understand and define the key principles behind SD and relate these
to the UN SDGs.
2. Be able to recognise ideas and concepts from their own discipline, along with
those from others, in relation to different SD challenges, and critically reflect on
their interplay.
3. Be able to analyse and critically discuss how contemporary SD challenges
intersect with and influence our day-to-day lives.
4. Be able to work in an interdisciplinary team to analyse and critically evaluate
challenges and potential ways forward in response to a specific SD case study,
and present their findings.
Workshops are delivered both online and offline. This independent reading process
forms the necessary background knowledge that prepares students for the offline,
face-to-face workshops. Workshops begin with a mini-lecture to provide a link to the
weekly content and show their relevance to SDGs. This is then followed by problemsolving activities where students work in small groups. Each group is named after
an endangered animal, which serves to sharpen an awareness of Anthropocene and
its impact. By pre-fixing group members, a familiarity is built, which allows groups
to focus on understanding the given scenarios and solving particular barriers to
achieving SDGs. Scenarios we have used in our workshops are shown in Table 1.
E. Michalopoulou et al.
requirement that was embedded from the inception of each video asset, rather than an
afterthought. All assets were designed with high-contrast visuals to ensure accessibility for those with visual impairment. Likewise, transcripts and timecoding subtitles
were produced by default for each video. Throughout the development process, the
project team worked with unit directors to ensure that all content prioritised gender,
LGBTQ+ and BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) representation.
3 Delivery
The unit is organised into an introductory workshop on the SDGs, followed by five
interdisciplinary, themed blocks: science and understanding; behaviour and organisational change; economy, policy and law; equality and justice; and technology
and innovation (Michalopoulou et al. 2019). Students gain insight into the concepts
behind the challenges of SD and learn how different disciplines and interdisciplinary approaches are used. Through engagement across all teaching and learning
approaches, students develop a broad understanding of the SDGs and learn how
to work in an interdisciplinary team to analyse and critically evaluate challenges
and potential ways forward. Each themed block presents real-world case studies
with illustrated text documents and videos which include interviews and other
dynamic content. Such content draws from institutional academic expertise and from
professionals and volunteers in the commercial and charitable sectors.
The intended learning outcomes (ILOs) are broad in scope:
1. Be able to understand and define the key principles behind SD and relate these
to the UN SDGs.
2. Be able to recognise ideas and concepts from their own discipline, along with
those from others, in relation to different SD challenges, and critically reflect on
their interplay.
3. Be able to analyse and critically discuss how contemporary SD challenges
intersect with and influence our day-to-day lives.
4. Be able to work in an interdisciplinary team to analyse and critically evaluate
challenges and potential ways forward in response to a specific SD case study,
and present their findings.
Workshops are delivered both online and offline. This independent reading process
forms the necessary background knowledge that prepares students for the offline,
face-to-face workshops. Workshops begin with a mini-lecture to provide a link to the
weekly content and show their relevance to SDGs. This is then followed by problemsolving activities where students work in small groups. Each group is named after
an endangered animal, which serves to sharpen an awareness of Anthropocene and
its impact. By pre-fixing group members, a familiarity is built, which allows groups
to focus on understanding the given scenarios and solving particular barriers to
achieving SDGs. Scenarios we have used in our workshops are shown in Table 1.