Advancing Quality and Leadership in Sustainable Higher Education: Anti-Greenwash Education Workshop Slides

Creator(s)

Alex Ryan, Amanda Platt, Mark Kelly

Organisation(s)

Learning Energy

Discipline(s)

Topic(s)

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Professional Development

License

CC BY-NC-SA

Media Format

PDF

Date Submitted

Submitted by

Export Resource Data

Description

These presentation slides, created and delivered by Dr Alex Ryan (Learning Energy) for the Advancing Quality and Leadership in Sustainable Higher Education workshop hosted by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), introduce the principles and practice of Anti-Greenwash Education within the context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

The slides outline findings from the QAA-funded project Students Driving Curriculum Quality for Sustainability and provide a visual summary of how student-led approaches can strengthen transparency, quality, and credibility in sustainability education. They include key concepts, activity prompts, examples of course evaluation frameworks, and student feedback on applying ESD quality principles.

The workshop offered a structured overview of how institutions can embed authentic, evidence-based ESD across courses and policies, connecting workshop learning to wider sector priorities and the Government of Ireland’s ESD to 2030 Strategy.

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

This resource can be used as a professional learning and discussion resource for academic leaders, educators, and quality teams seeking to integrate ESD principles and avoid “greenwash” in sustainability-related teaching and institutional practice. They are particularly useful for those designing workshops, induction sessions, or curriculum review activities focused on improving ESD quality and student engagement.

Users can adapt the slides to stimulate reflection and dialogue on what meaningful sustainability learning looks like, benchmark current practice against the Anti-Greenwash Education quality framework, and identify next steps for institutional improvement. Reviewing the slides in tandem with the accompanying Anti-Greenwash Education resource deepens understanding of effective ESD quality enhancement and supports alignment with national HEA ESD objectives.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)

This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA license, allowing sharing and adaptation for non-commercial use with proper attribution, provided derivative works use the same license.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
? This citation is automatically generated and may require adjustment. Always verify it against your style guide.
Ryan, A., Platt, A., & Kelly, M. (2025). Advancing quality and leadership in sustainable higher education: anti-greenwash education workshop slides. National Resource Hub (Ireland). Retrieved from: https://hub.teachingandlearning.ie/resource/advancing-quality-and-leadership-in-sustainable-higher-education-anti-greenwash-education-workshop-slides/ License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA).

Adapting this resource? Share your version!

If you have modified or adopted this resource, share your version here. Tracking adaptations helps us measure impact and connects others with useful updates.

Related OER

These presentation slides, developed by Dr Amanda Platt and Colette Murphy (Ulster University) for the Advancing Quality and Leadership in Sustainable Higher Education workshop hosted by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), provide a detailed institutional case study of how Ulster University has systematically embedded Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) across all aspects of academic quality and curriculum design.

The slides outline Ulster’s six-year journey, highlighting strategic milestones including the development of the Integrated Curriculum Design Framework (ICDF), alignment with institutional strategies and sector frameworks such as QAA and Advance HE guidance, and successful accreditation under the SOS-UK Responsible Futures programme. They also illustrate how ESD principles have been built into programme approval, staff development, and quality enhancement processes—ensuring sustainability is embedded as a core academic value. The presentation provides an overview of Ulster’s commitment to collaboration, transparency, and evidence-based practice, offering valuable insights for institutions seeking to align ESD with academic standards, curriculum assurance, and sector quality codes.

This curated collection includes key materials, toolkits, and reports from the Anti-Greenwash Education initiative, developed to support quality, transparency, and integrity in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). It provides direct access to the education kit, training resources, worked examples, film series, sector review, and action guidance, along with related reports and international frameworks informing current ESD policy and practice.

The resource is designed for students, course representatives, and staff engaged in sustainability education and quality enhancement. It connects practical learning tools with wider evidence on ESD trends, student demand for sustainability, and institutional quality frameworks, offering an overview of current developments in the field.

This resource was shared as part of the Advancing Quality and Leadership in Sustainable Higher Education workshop hosted by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and facilitated by Dr Alex Ryan. The workshop supported Irish higher education institutions in strategically implementing high-quality ESD in alignment with the Government of Ireland’s ESD to 2030 Strategy and the HEA’s ESD programme objectives.

The resource is a template for surveying students about their timetabling experiences. The survey was deployed in MTU, but the template is free to be copied and adapted as needed.