What does sustainability mean to us?

Created on: 04 Nov 2019 | Last modified: 20 Jul 2022

Here you will find reflections from teachers from across the North East of Scotland who met in Dundee to explore ways of bringing the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) alive in their schools, communities and lives.

With participants ranging from those newly engaging with Global Citizenship to those who have participated in study visits to schools across the world, and school-based allotments and clean water projects in between, this isn’t only a subject people engage with because there is a requirement to do so.

Delivered by One World Centre, the day consisted of a wealth of materials developed for use with young people of all ages, particularly about embedding whole school and whole community approaches.

What were the key learning points participants took away?

  • One person can be passionate about the subject, but that one person cannot embed a whole school approach alone. Partnerships in the local community, with local businesses, with parents and carers, and colleagues are needed to ensure sustainability is promoted in every part of a young person’s life.

  • The 17 SDGs offer interesting and current subjects for learning, e.g. around language and literacies.

  • There are lots of small projects already going on in schools, so sustainability is not a new subject to schools. There is a lot to learn from networking on the subject.

What was useful for participants?

"Refreshed reminder of how interconnected all the issues are in our communities."

"Good to try out games and activities that can be taken back to the classroom."

"Good chance to work and learn from other likeminded teachers."

Where can I find out more on this topic?

There are five One World Centres across Scotland in Dundee, Highlands, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, each of which provide a wealth of free resources.

Oxfam has produced a practical guide for use in schools entitled What is Global Citizenship that provides easy to follow lesson plans.