The document summarizes good practices related to education for sustainable development (ESD) collected from various European higher education institutions. It identifies 44 good practices across 17 countries and selects 35 cases studies to feature. The practices are grouped into four areas: policies, institutional activities, teaching, and practical experiences. The practices emphasize holistic, interdisciplinary approaches and involve stakeholders, communities, and capacity building.

1. I.S.L.E Erasmus Network Innovation Practice Workshop
11th – 15th March 2013,
Unversity of Maribor
WP 3 - IDENTIFYING SUSTAINABLE AND USER-
FRIENDLY GOOD PRACTICES
GOOD PRACTICES COMPENDIUM
Emilio Chiodo
University of Teramo

2. Contents of the Compendium
• 1 - INTRODUCTION
• 2 - STATE OF THE ART
– 2.1 STATE OF THE ART: OBJECTIVES AND RESULTS PRESENTATION
– 2.2 COMMENTS ON GOOD PRACTICES EMERGING FROM THE COUNTRY REPORTS
– 2.3 SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRES’ ANSWERS
• 3 - METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
– 3.1 AREAS OF INTEREST OF THE CASE STUDIES
– 3.2 THE COLLECTION OF GOOD PRACTICES
– 3.3 DESCRIPTION OF THE CASE FORM
– 3.4 THE PROCESS OF SELECTION OF GOOD PRACTICES
• 4 - PRESENTATION OF THE CASE STUDIES
– 4.1 POLICIES
– 4.2 INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES
– 4.3 TEACHING
– 4.4 PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES
• 5 - CASE STUDIES FORMS
• 6 - COMMENTS AND CONCLUSIONS
• 7 - REFERENCES
• ANNEX 1 – BRIEF SUMMARY OF OTHER ANALYZED GOOD PRACTICES

3. References (the state of the debate)
Copernicus Campus, Copernicus Guidelines for Sustainable Development in the
European Higher Education Area (United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe).
http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/esd/information/COPERNICUS%20Guidelin
GHK, Danish Technology Institute, Technopolis (2008), Inventory of innovative
practices in education for sustainable development. DG Education and Culture.
http://ec.europa.eu/education/more-information/doc/sustdev_en.pdf
HEFCE – Higher Education Funding Council for England (2009), Sustainable
development in higher education. February 2009/03
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce1/pubs/hefce/2009/0903/09_03.pdf
UNESCO Associated Schools (2009), Education for Sustainable Development,
Second Collection of Good Practices.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001812/181270e.pdf
UNESCO (2011), Education for Sustainable Development. An expert review of
processes and learning.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001914/191442e.pdf

4. The Education for SD goals
 In the next years the higher education sector “will be recognised as a
major contributor to society’s efforts to achieve sustainability:
 through the skills and knowledge that its graduates learn and put
into practice,
 its research and exchange of knowledge through business,
community and public policy engagement,
 through its own strategies and operations.
 For this reason Sustainable Development education has to become a
central issue for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) (HEFCE, 2008)
 How to introduce and reinforce the SD dimension throughout the
curricula, in the training of teachers, in extra-curricular activities and in
non-formal education. (UNESCO Associated Schools, 2011)
Good Practice Compendium: objective to contribute to these goals

5. An overview of the Good Practices
 The topic of HESD was considered in a broader sense and the
presented case studies moved from the construction of the political
and institutional framework to the presentation of specific formal and
informal learning experiences in HEIs.
 The cases studies were chosen with the aim of giving to readers the
prospect of the complexity of the topic but also of the variety of
approaches and solutions that can be proposed.
 Very different initiatives:
 typology of the involved institutions (ministries, national agencies,
consortia, single universities, NGOs),
 level of implementation (from local, to regional, to national, to
international),
 geographical spread (all over Europe, but in some cases involving
also – through international cooperation – extra-European
countries).

6. The collected good practices
SYNTHESIS PER COUNTRY
Analysed Proposed Selection
Netherland 6 5
France 5 4
Portugal 4 4
Italy 5 4
Germany 4 3
Sweden 3 2
UK 3 3
Greece 2 1
Slovakia 2 1
Bulgaria 2 1
Malta 1 1
Hungary 1 1
Estonia 1 1
Czech Republic 1 1
Poland 1 1
Austria 1 1
Norway 1 1
Romania 1 0
TOTAL 44 35

7. Areas of interest
•Policies: Good Practices that concern the creation of the institutional
framework for HESD at National or Regional Authorities level with the
objective of facilitating and strengthening education for SD;
•Institutional activities: Good Practices that concern the management
and other non teaching activities of the Higher Education institutions
directed to SD;
•Teaching: Good Practices concerning formal learning at different levels:
integration of SD in disciplinary lessons; modules about SD definition and
concepts; holistic teaching in relation to sustainable development
activities; promotion of a SD mindset; improving the framework for
teaching SD;
•Practical experiences: Good Practices concerning in-formal learning,
extracurricular activities and practices that involves HE students or is
promoted by HE institutions, often in relation with civil society.

8. The collected good practices
SYNTHESIS PER AREA
Presented in the
compendium
Teaching 13
Institutional 10
Policies 5
Practical activities 7

9. The list of good practices: policies
The accreditation document in France : a France
tool for measuring the efficiency and the
quality of studies in higher education
system
SD Policies in Higher Education France
Organization for sustainable Higher
Education in The Netherlands (DHO)/
AISHE tool Netherlands
German policy on Education for
Sustainable Development (ESD) within
the United Nations World Decade 2005 – Germany
2014
Production of Institutional Policy on United
Sustainable Development* Kingdom

10. The list of good practices: institutional act.
B and M Ecological Agriculture University of Kassel, Germany
faculty of organic agricultural sciences.
Botanical Gardens, Special Places to Involve Special People Portugal
CIRPS (Interuniversity Research Centre on Sustainable Italy
Development)
Skills training of teaching staff in dealing with ethical Netherlands
sustainability dilemma’s
Implementation of Institutional Sustainable Development UK
Policy to Develop a “Sustainable campus”.
Production of Institutional Policy on Sustainable UK
Development*
OPERA - European Observatory on PEsticide and Risk Italy
Analysis
Sustainability Memorandum and Implementation process Netherlands
for Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR)
Città Studi – Campus Sostenibile Italy
Specific Universities Policies on Sustainable Development France

11. The list of good practices: teaching
Teaching in SD at the Norv. Univ. of Life Sc. Norway
Green Pedagogy Austria
CULS Prague Czech Republic
Master GESLOPAN Italy
Msc in Agriculture, AE and Renewable Energy Poland
Master Program SUD Sweden
Talveakadeemia Estonia
ACRU Slovakia
Opportunities to recover En. From Org. Materials Portugal
The place of the tutored project in ..//.. treatment France
Management of pests, diseases and weeds Sweden
International module - Integrated Biodiversity Management Netherlands
E – learning Academic Network – ELAN III – Introduction into Germany
Sustainability

12. The list of good practices: practical act.
“Sunny Garden” organic farm Bulgaria
Agricultural University – Plovdiv
Hellenic Wildlife Hospital (EKPAZ) Greece
Pangea Cultural and Environmental Association Hungary
Nature Trust (Malta) Wied Ghollieqa Nature Reserve Malta
Tropical Value Chain Management Netherlands
Charity project (SolidarISA) Portugal
"De Sol a Sol” - a sustainable day Portugal

13. An overview of the Good Practices
Some common and characterizing aspects
 attention to transferability (possibility to be replicated in other
contexts or to constitute ideas and starting points for new
initiatives),
 holistic and interdisciplinary approaches to ESD,
 attention to achieving tangible results (change in values of society
and behaviors of people),
 involvement of local communities and the bottom-up approach,
 importance of partnerships and networking,
 capacity building
 innovation

14. An overview of the Good Practices
 Many experiences concerning SD teaching provide evidence that
interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary (holistic) approaches are
the most suitable in educating for sustainability.
 Put attention on capacity building and on the learning process,
developing not only technical competences but also
communication and problem-solving skills.
 The students become protagonist of the learning process and of
the interaction between the HEIs and the civil society.
 New methodologies like project working characterize the learning
activities, besides a strong attention to the possibilities offered by
the Information and Communication Technologies.
 Another focal point, maybe not enough stressed, is the training of
teachers and trainers on ESD.

15. An overview of the Good Practices
Centrality of higher education institutions and their role in the society:
 not only for their fundamental tasks of research and education
 but also for the activities of local peoples involvement,
 dissemination, diffusion of new approaches to social and
environmental issues, and social innovation.
Examples of Good Practices:
 relations that can be realized between HEIs and civil society, with
particular regard to local communities.
 role of a sustainable campus in improving the quality of life of a
neighborhood,
 importance of informal learning activities carried out by students in
the management of urban parks and natural areas,
 the engagement of HEIs in sustainable farming and in social
agriculture.

16. An overview of the Good Practices
Education is a key instrument for bringing about changes
in values and attitudes, skills, behaviors and lifestyles
consistent with sustainable development (UNESCO
Associated Schools, 2011).
The conditions for success of the presented initiatives is:
not only linked to the capacity of providing students with
new knowledge, practical skills and competencies,
but above all it is linked to the widespread adoption of
new values, attitudes and behaviors aimed at contributing
to sustainable development of current and future
generations.

17. WP3 Dissemination
• Publication of the Compendium (AgroSup):
– Handbook
• ISLE website update
– Handbook available on the website
– Good Practices (in separate Forms)
– Good Practices not inserted in the Compendium
– New Good Practices to collect
• Other dissemination activities:
– Contribution to other WP
– Networking of Good Practices leading persons (ISLE 2)?
– (…)

18. Thank you!
Emilio Chiodo www.unite.it
Faculty of Agriculture
Department of Food Science
University of Teramo www.agriregionieuropa.it
Via Carlo R. Lerici, 1
64023 MOSCIANO S.ANGELO (TE)
www.groupedebruges.eu
ITALIA
Tel. +39 0861.266898
Fax +39 0861.266915
E.mail: echiodo@unite.it