This Facilitator Checklist has been compiled from our experience as facilitators delivering the PACT Open Course with the National Forum. From our reflection, we created this resource to aid fellow facilitators save time and outlined key pre-Course, during-Course, and post-Course activities essential to the smooth running of all Open Courses.
Benefit of this resource and how to make the best use of it
Overcoming ‘Time Poverty’:
In any higher education role there will be times
when we find ourselves ‘time poor’. That’s why, practicable advice to quickly and easily integrate the uptake and sharing of teaching best practice
is always welcome.
“High quality CPD works, and having proactive resource development by committed educators such as Michelle and Edel ensures that Open Courses continues to thrive in upskilling, advancing participants’ career pathways, improving student learning outcomes, and revitalising participants’ enthusiasm for teaching and learning. The Facilitator checklist they have compiled from their own experience in delivering Open Courses is the best type of resource – teacher created material that is both experiential and imaginative – The National Forum appreciates that no-one knows
what teachers need more than other teachers! And as time-poor educators can benefit from succinct, practical, and collaboratively designed resources
like this checklist which have been peer reviewed and reflected upon, I highly recommend that you make use of it as part of your essential planning for delivery of your next Open Course.”
Roisin Donnelly, Former PD/Open Courses Sectoral
Project Manager, April 2022.
This work is licensed under a CC BY-SA license, allowing adaptation and sharing with proper attribution, provided derivative works use the same license.
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Cowley-Cunningham, M. (2022). Ready-set-go-checklist: a facilitator’s tool for digital badge awards. National Resource Hub (Ireland). Retrieved from: https://hub.teachingandlearning.ie/resource/ready-set-go-checklist-a-facilitators-tool-for-digital-badge-awards/ License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA).
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The Manifesto for Generative AI in Higher Education is a living resource for educators, students, and institutions. It invites reflection and dialogue across thirty statements exploring teaching, ethics, and imagination – helping higher education navigate AI with curiosity, integrity, and humanity.
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.
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.
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.
