Survey: Mapping innovative education initiatives within Circle U. universities

This survey is conducted by the Taskforce 6.2 of the Work Package 6 on “Shaping the future of higher education in a changing world”.

Circle U. mobilises knowledge for impact, and with this Work Package we aim to have an impact on the European education area. A network of university chairs will form a Think and Do Tank and engage students and external stakeholders in influencing the policy agenda on the future role of higher education. At the same time, they will drive the transformation of curricula and teaching methods towards sustainable education. The findings and interventions of the Think and Do Tank will feed into other Work Packages contributing to the continuous development of our Alliance and the transformation of our universities. At the same time, the results and interventions will be shared widely, helping to make Circle U. a model to follow.

Taskforce 6.2 focuses its work on the following objective: "To contribute to transforming curricula and teaching methods towards sustainable education", not only by providing courses on sustainable development, but also by ensuring that education will have a major impact on the sustainability of our societies. Sustainable education also means finding innovative and creative ways of teaching and learning, focusing on interdisciplinary knowledge and taking into account the contribution of students. The Think and Do Tank will promote a quality learning environment and academic success for students at Circle U. and beyond, by imagining and disseminating new ways of teaching and learning in the format of sustainable education.

Our aim with this survey is to map the flagship initiatives within Circle U.

All partners will feed into the work of the WP and of the Think and Do Tank (the Chairs will be appointed in July 2021) by documenting in the survey some flagship education initiatives carried out by their communities. This mapping will pave the way for wider collaboration and sharing of good practice, which could lead to the expansion of these flagship initiatives to all Circle U. universities.

To begin with, we consider innovation in sustainable education under four categories:

• • Integration of external stakeholders
  • Internationalization of education
  • Inter and trans-disciplinarity
  • Involvement of students (including « inclusiveness »)

Each partner should gather flagship initiatives that they consider innovative in these categories.  

The information provided by this questionnaire will be analysed and presented on the Circle U. website in October 2021. The long-term objective of this mapping is not only to document Circle U.'s flagship initiatives but also to create the conditions for the establishment of a network on educational innovation in sustainable education. We will reflect on a tool that could allow interaction and hopefully co-construction in the long term.