To begin, speaker Silke Bell from the ESD Center at Heidelberg University of Education provided an overview of what ESD means for universities. First and foremost, it is an educational mandate enshrined in federal and state strategies as well as in the NRW Higher Education Agreement: both faculty and students are to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to address complex challenges and actively shape sustainable development.
It is therefore not just about sustainability content, but also about the pedagogical approaches and organizational and physical structures that support it: As a holistic approach, ESD combines, among other things, a future-oriented perspective, reflection, values, inter- and transdisciplinarity, participation, and a focus on action, and views the entire university as a place of learning and living. As a result, ESD aligns well with thesustainability mission statement and the strategy currently under development, explained Sustainability Manager Christian Einsiedel, who organized the workshop.
In small groups, this concept was then applied to their own teaching: The participating professors and members of the Teaching and Learning Team (TeLL) worked in a solution-oriented manner on concrete ideas and also examined existing offerings from an ESD perspective. For example, they reflected on the TeLL elective “Key Competencies,” which led to two ideas for project-based learning seminars as part of the TH OWL Transfer Year in the upcoming winter semester.
Critical Reflection
There was also discussion about whether ESD, as a normative concept, violates the “Beutelsbach Consensus,” which is important for higher education teaching. It stipulates that learners must not be pressured into a specific opinion, that differing positions—where they are actually disputed—must be presented as controversial, and that learners must be able to form their own judgments. At first glance, ESD might seem to conflict with this, since as a normative concept it is not value-neutral but rather links education to specific ideas about what sustainable development might look like.
Upon closer reading, however, it becomes clear that the Consensus does not demand complete neutrality but merely prohibits overwhelming learners with a single opinion established as the norm. ESD, which highlights different perspectives, encourages a shift in perspective, incorporates diverse interests and viewpoints, and fosters critical independent thinking, already embodies key elements of the consensus. What matters, therefore, is not whether ESD is normative, but how this normativity is handled in teaching.
Positive Feedback
The feedback after four hours of intensive group work was consistently positive: The workshop was seen as a welcome opportunity to engage with the topic and deepen existing knowledge. Participants praised the fact that the format itself also met the pedagogical standards of ESD. Professor Dr. Yvonne-Christin Knepper-Bartel, Vice President for Education and Sustainability, summarized:
“ESD should not be viewed as an additional task—but rather as a perspective that makes existing practices visible, connects them, and further develops them. Many thanks to all participants for the open exchange, to Silke Bell for the inspiring moderation, and to Christian Einsiedel for taking the initiative!”
Speaker Silke Bell, for her part, was impressed by the diverse starting points for ESD in higher education:
“Existing structures, such as the Focus Professorship project or the diverse collaborations with business partners from the region, offer great opportunities for future-oriented higher education. The strong commitment shown in today’s workshop makes me very confident that ESD at TH OWL will not remain a pipe dream, but will be translated into high-quality university teaching.”
Background and Networking
With the workshop and a preceding networking meeting, TH OWL is now one of eight ESD model centers in Germany participating in the NaLeLe:LevelUP project. Also participating are Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Technical University of Central Hesse with the Center for Cooperative Teaching and Learning (ZekoLL), the Dresden University of Technology with its ESD Working Group and additionally with the Center for Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching (ZiLL), as well as the University of Konstanz with the Binational School of Education.
Even after the project period ends, further networking among the model centers is planned. Independently of this, the ongoing ESD initiative at TH OWL offers additional opportunities for all faculty members to familiarize themselves with the concept and integrate it into their own teaching.
Further information:
- NaLeLe:LevelUP Project: Information on the project at Heidelberg University of Education (external link)
- TH OWL Transfer Year: Framework for the planned project-based learning seminars
- TH OWL ESD Initiative: Overview of current offerings for faculty