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HEA Education for Sustainable Development Framework for Higher Education

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)HEA & National Forum Publications

Description

This overview introduces the Higher Education Authority’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Framework for Higher Education: a connected suite of resources supporting whole-of-institution ESD across Irish higher education. It explains the Framework’s purpose, its relationship to national and international ESD priorities, and how its component resources work together to provide strategic direction, sector evidence, structured reflection, thematic insight and opportunities for peer learning.

The Framework connects curriculum, campus operations, governance, research and community engagement. It is intended for institutional leaders, educators, professional staff, students and representative bodies, ESD and sustainability leads, teaching and learning units, quality and enhancement teams, community partners and policy stakeholders.

Benefit of this resource and how to make the best use of it

Use this resource as the starting point for engaging with the wider HEA ESD Framework. It can help institutions:

  • Understand the purpose and relationship of the different Framework resources.
  • Select the most relevant resource according to local needs and stage of development.
  • Connect existing ESD activity across curriculum, campus, governance, research and community engagement.
  • Introduce the Framework to senior leaders, committees, programme teams and cross-functional working groups.
  • Align ESD with institutional planning, quality enhancement, climate action and performance processes.

The document proposes a useful pathway: understand the sector context; set institutional direction; reflect and plan; deepen practice; and share and strengthen learning. Institutions may, however, move between the resources in ways that suit their mission, context and capacity.

People, communities and initiatives

Collaborators

Colin Lowry · Mark Kelly · Ross Woods · Tim Conlon

Communities

Initiatives

Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

This work is licensed under a CC BY license, allowing sharing and adaptation with proper attribution.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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20261018

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