Sarah: Hi, I'm Sarah Shea, the Environmental Sustainability Manager here at Kelvin College.
Learning for sustainability is a key priority of our institution. We've been working hard to make sure that both social and environmental sustainability are embedded across every aspect of the college.
Come with me and I'll show you a glimpse of the positive teaching practice that's happening at Kelvin.
Virtually every scrap of fabric used by our fashion department students is from donated and upcycled garments, creating beautiful gowns, costumes, and designs without the waste.
Students also take the lead on Project Runway upcycling workshops with local secondary schools, run campus-wide mend and make-do clothing repair workshops, and are embracing industry alternatives to fast fashion.
Across campus, our engineering students are perfecting the green skills needed in the renewable energy and clean heat sectors. Our Women in Construction course has proven to be extremely popular.
Our performing arts students create and perform original pieces exploring the interconnectivity of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, while all the creative industry courses are working to reduce their environmental impact by reusing and upcycling sets, costumes and music equipment.
Mhari: This is something that we need to do. It's something that is also really important to the learners and what myself and Sarah have been trying to do is, well, how do we embed this in the college in a way that's going to be meaningful for the staff and the students?
We wanted to make it upbeat and good. What we have been doing is looking at what's already been grown in the college because there is great work that's already been out there. One of my students today chose to do a workshop and it was all about equality, diversity, inclusion.
There is so much positive work that's already happening across the college. And what we want to do is promote that and make people more aware of sustainability and how they can then perhaps embed that in their classes.
Sarah: We embrace collaboration at every opportunity, from outdoor sports students leading a women's water sport outing for our beauty students to making the most of our campus green spaces where support for learning students are improving campus biodiversity by creating and maintaining frog ponds, bug hotels, hedgehog homes, hedgerows, and wildflower meadows.
Our science students collect data on habitat and species diversity, while our professional cookery students use the fresh veg from campus gardens in the kitchens, learning about food waste and community garden initiatives along the way.
Students for whom English is a second language develop skills and knowledge around community food initiatives, sustainable transportation, fast fashion, biodiversity, and social programs through the lens of cultural diversity and inclusion. Much of the ESOL coursework includes engagement with local community organisations and getting to know college resources, such as led bike rides and visits to the Student Association Clothing and Food Bank.
Joanna: I'm really delighted that Glasgow Kelvin College can be one of the pilots for the EAUC Learning for Sustainability project.
For us it's brilliant because it means three things for our students. The students are able to embed sustainable practices into the subjects that they're learning, as well as the students learning their subjects. They're also learning about one of the biggest challenges that we're ever likely to face in our lifetime and that of the climate emergency.
So students here are going to be part of developing those solutions and resilience for the years to come.
They're going to be the change makers as we go forward. Essentially what we're doing is we're preparing students for learning and life. I'm really, really proud of the work that we are doing.
Sarah: From hairdressing to childcare and engineering, Kelvin College is ensuring that sustainability is an integral part of students' learning.
John, why is learning for sustainability so critical to teaching at the college and to our learners?
John: It's really important that learning and teaching stays relevant, continually adapts, and meets the needs of our learners and the workplace.
Embedding learning for sustainability in the curriculum is vital not just for society as a whole, but also for the employability of our learners. It's a core requirement across many industries now.
We want our learners to have the skills, the knowledge, and the confidence to act sustainably both in their professional lives and their personal lives.
Sarah: Izzy, what was most impactful about being part of this student group?
Izzy: The thing that was most impactful was that I was able to have a voice. I was able to work across college with different departments and really make something that I was passionate about a lot bigger and broader and try and get more students involved in something that's really important.
Sarah: As you can see, Kelvin has been busy, and this is only a snapshot of all the positive sustainability teaching practice happening at the college, and more is yet to come.
