Given at the "New to ESD?: integrating education for sustainable development in teaching and the student experience" meeting at Keele, January 2014 http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2014/Seminars/Themes/GEN881_Keele

1. Sustainable Chemistry
Katherine Haxton
Education for Sustainable Development,
January 2014

2. Course Background
‘Traditional’ Chemistry Course
Dual Honours, Major Route
Major curriculum redesign:
redevelop every module
create Single Honours Route
create new modules
considering UG Masters (MChem)

3. 2nd Year Sustainable Chemistry
Whole year, no exam, focus on developing
transferrable skills hand-in-hand with chemistry
knowledge.
Several aspects taught through narratives.
Disjointed list of topics:
- polymer chemistry
- environmental chemistry
- industrial chemistry
- chemistry of gadgets

4. A Moment of Flippancy…
…and we called it
‘Sustainable Chemistry’.
It was a ‘theme’ for the module.
Then we had no option but to
‘do’ Education for
Sustainable Development.
CC-BY 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/hryckowian/

5. Chemistry Perspective
http://www.education4sustainability.org/2013/02/25/the-social-side-of-sustainable-development/

6. Foundations
Intro lecture on sustainability concepts
- thanks to Zoe Robinson and Phillipa Calver
- produced a toolkit of key issues.
Inclusion of relevant examples in other aspects
- biodegradable polymers
- environmental chemistry and life cycle analysis
- focus on chemical perspective of a product
- 12 principles of green chemistry in the laboratory

7. Group Projects
‘Green’ a 1st year laboratory experiment. (20 %)
Take an experiment you did as 1st years, can you
change it to be:
- cheaper
- produce less waste/less problematic waste
- require less harmful solvents
- ‘better’ by some quantitative measure
but still fulfil the same learning outcomes (theory,
laboratory techniques, data analysis as the
original)?

8. Industrial Chemistry
Essay in ‘New Scientist’ Style (25 %)
Focus on aspect of industrial chemistry but MUST
bring in sustainability issues.
Scaffolding/Feedback Opportunities
- industrial chemistry lectures involving narrative
- life cycle analysis of a product (short written piece,
5%)
- infographic on aspect of industrial chemistry (5 %)
- lesson in proof reading, analysis of articles of type
desired
CC BY 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/saragoldsmith/

9. Beyond 2nd Year
One Module IS NOT ENOUGH
- but access is a problem.
1st Year DKC Session
- skills with sustainability themes
1st Year Screencast Presentations (15 %)
- last year ‘any aspect’ of chemistry.
- this year ‘chemistry relating to sustainability or the
environment’
- requires scaffolding: intro lecture and DKC session

10. Lessons
Depressed students (‘we’re all gonna die’)
Extremely complex role of subject within
sustainable development
- chemistry is both saint and sinner
Easy to consider the environment, harder to
move deeper into issues

11. CC-BY-NC-2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/draconianrain/
Survive semester 2 (Industrial Chem, DKC, 1st
year presentations)
Evaluate, revise and prepare for next year.
Read more!