Spotlight Series
ESD Case Study Collection
Examples of Education for Sustainable Development initiatives from across higher education in Ireland.
(Deadline: 17 October 2025)
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| Title | Sustainability Paradoxes: Research-Teaching Nexus | ||||||||
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| Student Engagement | 20 | ||||||||
| Keywords | Sustainability Paradoxes, Research-Teaching Nexus, Position Statement, Sustainable Tourism | ||||||||
| Initiative Description | |||||||||
| Outline or Description | This initiative is based on an original piece of research by Power et al. (2024) entitled “A longitudinal analysis of judgment approaches to sustainability paradoxes” (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104877). The article examines how tourism executives heuristically evaluate paradoxes in sustainable tourism. The research investigates three core sustainability paradoxes: 1) The Flying Dilemma – Can tourism ever really be sustainable if people continue to fly? (SDG13), 2) The Experience Dilemma – Is sustainability in tourism compromised by the need to provide ‘good’ customer experiences? (SDG12), and 3) The Growth Dilemma – If perpetual tourism growth is not sustainable, how can we meet everyone’s right to travel? (SDG8). This original research article builds the foundation for a novel classroom activity – namely the investigation of these sustainability paradoxes by a cohort of tourism and hospitality students at Ulster University. Students are required to read the original article. They are then presented a brief research presentation by the lead author. Students are then provided with anonymised excerpts from the original research interviews and in small groups discuss each paradox over a three-week sequence. Students are then required to prepare a short position statement in their small groups for each paradox and present this to the class, which then opens up a wider classroom debate. The ESD initiative is designed alongside Ulster University’s Integrated Curriculum Design Framework: Knowing, Doing and Being. The Integrated Curriculum Design Framework (ICDF) is an overarching framework that consists of a three-phased approach to curriculum design, guiding programme teams to pro-actively design, develop and deliver a holistic and innovative curriculum for our learners, industry and economy. It has been developed from a sound pedagogical evidence-base and encompasses the three dimensions of curriculum design of Knowing, Doing and Being (Barnett and Coate, 2005), and the purpose of this initiative is aligned to this framework: Knowing / Head: what does the student need to know? >> Sustainability competence: students acquire knowledge about fundamental sustainability issues in the area of tourism and hospitality as relevant to their degree programme >> Research competence: students engage with original research that has authored by their module leader / lecturer and to have the opportunity to evaluate original research data Doing / Hand: what does the student need to be able to do? >> Critical thinking competence: students engage in a heuristically challenging decision-making process structured around specific sustainability paradoxes >> Public speaking competence: students practice the art of concise and precise argumentation Being / Heart: what does the student need to be? >> Reflective competences: students reflect on their own biases and heuristic shortcuts in relation to paradox thinking as they progress through these three sustainability dilemmas >> Interpersonal competences: students develop integrity, self-awareness and normative understanding as they deliberate these three sustainability paradoxes. In developing this ESD initiative, key competencies for the ESD have been embedded. The UNESCO Key Competencies for Sustainability which this initiative develops are: Knowing: system thinking, anticipatory and future thinking, critical thinking; Doing: collaboration and integrated problem-solving; Being: self-awareness and normative understanding. The initiative further develops Ulster University Graduate Attributes as follows: Knowing: critical thinker; Doing: creative problem-solver, enterprising innovator; Being: citizen with integrity, sustainable citizen and inclusive citizen. The initiative embeds Healy et al.’s (2010) research-teaching nexus typology is it includes research-led (listening) activities, research-tutored (exploring), research-based (doing) and research-teaching (teaching) activities. | ||||||||
| Collaboration, Partnerships & Student Participation | Students are active learning partners in this initiative as they first review and then heuristically examine an original piece of work, developing their own judgement and creative problem-solving competencies in relation to sustainable development. The initiative is a class-room based initiative and does not require external partners. It is based on a published piece of research by the module lecturer and is thus, replicable in other teaching settings in related subject areas. | ||||||||
| Intended Learning Outcomes | Students participating in this sustainability paradoxes: research-teaching nexus will be able to: Knowing / Head: what does the student need to know?
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| Teaching and Learning Approach | The teaching and learning activities span over the course of three weeks and is scaffolded on Healy et al.’s (2010) Research-Teaching Nexus.
Lectures are research-led with students listening to original research. Seminar activities are research-tutored with students exploring sustainability paradoxes in small groups, research-based by developing a position statement and research-taught by peer-to-peer teaching through position pitches. | ||||||||
| Assessment Strategy | The assessment task forms part one of two pieces of qualitative assessment – namely to Prepare a 3min position-statement about a contemporary issue in hospitality of your choice and pitch this to an audience. The teaching-learning activity gives students the opportunity to critically explore a sustainability paradox. They are able to choose any of these three paradoxes for their assessment task, though they can also choose another topic. They are then able to practice during these three seminars preparing a concise position statement and pitch in front of an audience with peer and tutor feedback in a non-assessed, supportive environment. The assessment strategy thus embeds principles of being research-tutored by exploring original research data, research-based by analysing data and developing their own interpretation and findings, and research-taught by through peer-to-peer teaching. | ||||||||
| Impact & Outcomes | A recent revalidation of the programme has resulted the following feedback from the panel: “Well-articulated alignment in terms of: the UU strategy of People, Place and Partnership; regional contribution and relevance; and more generally to the SDGs/Sustainability principles.” Dr Maeve Marmion, Associate Dean Education and Student Success, University of Chester “The staff’s research activity will buttress the whole and ensure a strong delivery on content.” Dr Brian Dixon, Head of School, Belfast School of Art, Ulster University Students have benefitted from this initiative by developing critical thinking skills, paradox thinking, compassion and empathy. The initiative was introduced in AY2024/25, which then saw an increase in student results for this particular piece of coursework. The learning activity has proven to be successful and has now been adopted in a post-graduate course at Ulster University. | ||||||||
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| Submitted By | Susann Power | ||||||||
| Submission Date | October 17, 2025 |
Submitted case studies are shared in the spirit of knowledge exchange and sectoral development in Education for Sustainable Development. The views and opinions expressed in these case studies are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the Higher Education Authority (HEA). Unless otherwise stated, this material is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.