Current Challenges in Sustainability at Higher Education Institutions 

Discussion Outcomes: Curricula and Budgeting 

The Higher Education Sustainability Roundtable’s first discussion, hosted via Zoom in September 2024, centered around current challenges faced by sustainability leaders in higher education institutions. D2L led the conversation among eight participating institutions in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.  

All participating institutions have a variety of groups and leaders supporting sustainability. Among the participants of the Roundtable are academics, operational directors, leaders and contributors to sustainability policy and strategy at their respective institutions. Despite the variety in vantage points on sustainability, two key themes emerged early in the conversation. 

1. Integrating sustainability into curricula 

There is a spectrum of integration of sustainability into curricula, from online voluntary modules offered through D2L Brightspace to working with individual faculties to integrate course-level sustainability information and case studies across programs.  

Drivers for integration into curricula 

• Student requests for more interaction with sustainability issues throughout their programs and degrees. 

• Serving specific customer groups, such as public sector organizations in the UK, that require upskilling in sustainability topics to achieve their own targets. 

• Preparing students for the workforce.  

• Education in sustainability feeds into professional values, activities, and core knowledge to address the changing global economy. 

• Employability in green skills is a specific strategy stream for some institutions.  

Beyond curricula, schools are also communicating institutional sustainability objectives through Brightspace. As all students and faculty members access the platform frequently, the LMS is a high-touch opportunity for nudging and awareness. 

Challenges and progress 

• Building institutional support typically begins with a business case for senior leaders (management and Board), then moving to faculty-level support, and finally, working with individual professors and instructors on content integration. Some institutions sign agreements with faculties on program structures and sustainability integration. Developing cross-level support within the institution takes time and is a long change management process.  

• While academic freedom is sometimes used as a counterargument in some institutions, most have found faculty members to be supportive of the proposed changes. 

• Tracking and assessment of the impact of sustainability in curricula is on mind, but in many cases this work is in too early stages to be analyzed for results yet.  

• Actual curricula integration sometimes follows globally recognized frameworks such as the Sustainability Development Goals to anchor content, otherwise focus is on adding a sustainability lens to existing content. 

• Many institutions are considering and communicating to students on how sustainability curricula can and is creating pathways both to education, and to employment. 

2. Budgeting constraints 

Many institutions have felt the impacts of the post-COVID economic downturn. While climate action plans were developed or launched in the last two years, follow-on activities have been challenging to justify in the current economy.  

Scope of action 

• Some higher education climate action plans touch on everything from air and climate to buildings and campus engagement, to curriculum. One participating university met with around 5000 stakeholders including students, staff, and faculty to develop their action plan.  

• Many higher education institutions are working towards reductions plans such as Net Zero goals by 2030 or 2040. Some regulatory environments, like the United Kingdom, require public institutions to set a Net Zero goal by 2030, while other institutions have joined the United Nations-led Race to Zero. 

Challenges and progress 

• The post-COVID economic downturn collided with a financial crisis at some participating institutions. While many of the planned climate action items would save money in the long-term, upfront investments currently pose a major barrier to progress. 

• Business cases for climate action plans often emphasize benefits beyond sustainability, including recruitment and organizational reputation.  

• Some institutions have restructured their plans in the last two years to focus on quick-wins and defer maintenance and renewal of physical infrastructure until more capital becomes available, though participants are quick to note that the sooner the investment is made, the sooner institutions will see a return and reap the benefits of higher efficiency systems, saving money in the longer term.  

D2L’s Higher Education Sustainability Roundtable meets quarterly. You can follow along on the Degrees of Education blog to learn more about the trends bringing global institutions together on the topic of sustainability.  

For more information, please contact D2L’s Sustainability Team at [email protected].  

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