Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Titleimage: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Sustainable Development is not determined from the top down. We can envisage it as an individual and societal search and learning process by all members of society – aimed at shaping alternative pathways. A participatory process such as this requires all actors to possess the relevant knowledge and skills. Education for Sustainable Development is thus a key component of the educational mandate set by the canton of Bern – also for the university. The ESD-UniBe Team offers workshops, advice, materials, and networking to help teaching staff implement this important task.

Photo: © Universität Bern

ESD News

Registration open until 05.02.2025

Course "Higher Education for a Sustainable Future" (in German)

The University of Bern wants to integrate the topic of sustainable development more strongly into its teaching in order to better prepare students for global problems. In this course, you as a teacher will deal with your disciplinary interfaces with sustainable development.

Picture: Kimberly Farmer (Unsplash)

uniAKTUELL Artikel

"Religion and sports have a lot in common"

The authors of the Links to SD of sports science and theology in a joint interview: Both disciplines are in transition and can learn from each other in the context of Sustainable Development, Siegfried Nagel and Mathias Wirth agree.

uniAKTUELL article

"It takes courage to break new ground"

The University of Bern, the Bern University of Applied Sciences, the PHBern and the PH NMS want to jointly strengthen "Education for Sustainable Development": students should be able to understand and tackle complex problems of the present and the future. Lilian Trechsel explains what is already working well and what still needs to be done.

Project application

FNE-Stories

All students at the University of Bern should engage with sustainability in the course of their studies. The University of Bern therefore integrates sustainable development into the teaching of all faculties and disciplines and supports lecturers in designing corresponding courses. uniAKTUELL presents concrete examples in a loose series.

ESD Materials

Disciplinary links to SD

Links to Sustainable Development

The Links to Sustainable Development highlight points of contact between various disciplines at the University of Bern and Sustainable Development and support lecturers in integrating sustainability into their teaching.

Facilitator Guide to Inner Dimensions

Facilitator Guide: Addressing Inner Dimensions

This guide is aimed at Higher Education faculties that want to integrate sustainability into their teaching and enrich it with internal dimensions such as values, world views and beliefs. It is designed to accompany an 8.5-hour course.

City guide for students

Out and about sustainably in Bern - new English Version

"Out and about sustainably in Bern" is a sustainable city guide for students of the University of Bern. The book invites students to consider what they need for a satisfied and good life and contains facts, ideas and tips in the areas of Sustainable Development. The latest English version is now available!

Online Tutorial

Online Tutorial on Sustainability

What is Sustainability and where is the link to my discipline? To elaborate these answers our online tool on ILIAS facilitates sustainability in a comprehensive and interesting way and aims at students and lecturers.

ESD Publications

Monitoring report 2023/24

Integration of SD in teaching at the University of Bern

Since 2017, the University of Bern strives to record its efforts in the area of SD integration. The annual monitoring reports on the integration of sustainable development (SD) in teaching at the University of Bern provide an overview of the extent to which SD is included in the University of Bern's study programmes and courses. The monitoring report for the academic year 2023/24 is now available.

Publication

Monitoring SD in university teaching

Since 2009, the University of Bern has been pursuing the integration of sustainable development (SD) in research, operations and teaching. In the latter area, it has set itself the goal of integrating SD into all degree programmes. In this peer-reviewed article, Anna Lewis, Lilian Trechsel and Anne Zimmermann show how the monitoring of this integration has been redesigned.

Publication

Transdisciplinary Learning for Sustainable Development - Sharing Experience in Course and Curriculum Design

In their publication, Karl Herweg and co-authors outline a practice-oriented and forward-looking approach to education for sustainable development. Based on many years of teaching experience and a range of didactic methods, they provide tips, tools, and examples for transdisciplinary learning and teaching that will be of use to lecturers from all disciplines.