Introduction
This report evaluates how effectively Scotland’s colleges have embraced and taken forward sustainability in the context of the Scottish Government’s commitment to improve Scotland’s natural and built environment and the sustainable use and enjoyment of it. Greener Scotland is one of the five strategic objectives that form part of the Government’s National Performance Framework, which sets out the high level targets, outcomes and indicators applicable across the public sector in Scotland1. Sustainable development is one of five strategic themes in the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC’s) Corporate Plan 2009-122, which contribute to the achievement of the National Performance Outcomes. The plan highlights the Council’s role in supporting research into renewable energy and the skills needed to support the renewable energy industry. It also confirms the Council’s commitment to improving Scotland’s natural and built environment and the sustainable use of resources through capital investment in buildings and through its policies and strategies for learning.
The report aims to promote good practice in sustainable development and includes recommendations for improvement. Its scope and the themes investigated are informed by Learning For Our Future: Scotland’s First Action Plan for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, 2004-2014 3. The plan describes the actions being taken by the Scottish Government to support learning for a more sustainable planet. In paragraph 52, the plan identifies six key challenges for Further and Higher Education in Scotland:
‘We want to see a Scotland where:
Evaluations derive primarily from fieldwork in ten colleges involving professional discussions with managers, teaching and support staff, and engagement with learners and student association representatives. The report also draws on evidence from HMIE reviews of all 43 colleges in Scotland over the period January 2005 to June 2008 and Scotland’s Colleges Sustainable Development Education Survey, January 2009 4. It also includes evidence from HMIE annual engagement events in colleges over the period October 2008 to March 2009. Engagement with key organisations and groups informed the preparation of the report. These included Scotland’s Colleges Sustainable Development Education Steering Group, the Sustainable Development Education Policy Network, Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), and the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC).
The report highlights examples of ways colleges have addressed sustainability. It describes good practice in named colleges to demonstrate approaches that could be adopted by other colleges. Several examples stand out as being sector-leading and innovative. These examples are described in Appendix 3 and are cross-referenced to relevant themes in the report. Where examples derive from published reports of HMIE reviews of colleges over the period 2005-08, these are referenced. All other examples derive from the visits to ten colleges as part of the fieldwork and the annual engagement visits to colleges by HMIE over the period October 2008 to March 2009.
Methodology
The survey of sustainable development education (SDE) in Scotland’s colleges completed during the summer of 2008 provided a key reference base for the fieldwork undertaken for this report. The SDE survey was part of the SFC-funded national project managed by Scotland’s Colleges (formerly the Scottish Further Education Unit) to develop approaches to embed sustainable development within the curriculum of Scotland’s colleges. It identified colleges that had made progress in sustainable development education and examples of good practice. HM Inspectors used evidence from this survey to help select colleges for fieldwork visits.
Elmwood College golf course achieved ISO 14001 for its environmental programme
The report draws on evidence from reviews of the 43 colleges over the period January 2005 to June 2008. Evidence was also gained from annual engagement visits to colleges. Inspectors visited ten colleges to explore issues relating to sustainability. These colleges are identified in Appendix 1. The ten colleges are not presented as being fully representative of the sector as a whole regarding progress in sustainable development. However, they include colleges where the SDE survey found evidence of developments and practice that may be worthy of dissemination across the sector. The sample includes colleges with a track record in sustainable development, several with new estate developments, and a partner college in the UHI Millennium Institute. Collectively, the colleges provide education and training in all the principal curriculum areas supported by SFC in the college sector.
During the fieldwork visits, inspectors held meetings with senior managers to investigate the strategic approaches that colleges were taking in sustainability and the embedding of education for sustainable development within the curriculum and college quality frameworks. Inspectors interviewed teaching and non-teaching staff to explore their awareness of sustainability issues and how they were embedding sustainability within the curriculum. They interviewed learners and representatives of student associations to determine their views on sustainability and discuss any learner-driven initiatives. Inspectors also explored college-nominated examples of good practice and viewed sustainable features in the college estates.
Inspectors visited the ten colleges over the period March to May 2009. In advance of the visits, they issued a list of themes to be investigated and these are shown in Appendix 2. Each college compiled a comprehensive evidence base to demonstrate the progress it had made in addressing the six key themes and the various prompts. Inspectors used this evidence to inform the discussions during the visit and their evaluations of progress.
