Learning & Teaching

Empowering our students to make sustainable changes in their personal and professional lives.

What's covered?

We’re equipping our students with the knowledge and skills to live more sustainably and make a positive impact in their chosen industry when they graduate. 

Why?

Educational leaders are anticipating that graduates with sustainability expertise can expect to be increasingly employable in the years to come, and it’s also becoming increasingly clear that the commercial and business world is radically changing its approach towards sustainability.

Falmouth has a responsibility to bring sustainability into all areas of our activity – which is why we’re embedding sustainable learning into all of our existing courses, as well as launching new sustainability-focused courses.

Our approach will help make our students better global citizens as part of our necessary collective response to the climate and ecological emergency.

A woman sits next to a student, holding a piece of paper

What we want to achieve

Goal 1

To design our curriculum to include sustainability learning outcomes and assessment criteria in all courses.

Goal 2

To embed sustainability related challenges and projects in the curriculum aligned with our action-oriented philosophy and transdisciplinary approach.

Goal 3

To ensure our graduates will leave Falmouth University with a greater awareness of sustainability, and the difference they can make.

Goal 4

To ensure our students have an understanding of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and apply them into business start-up principles.

How we're going to do it

Sustainability Learning Outcomes 

In early 2020, Falmouth defined and agreed university-wide Sustainability Learning Outcomes (SLOs) across study levels 4 to 7, which kickstarted the path to creating the authentic and meaningful integration of sustainability that the institution is aiming for. These agreed SLOs are: 
 
Level 4  
Identify fundamental social, cultural, economic and environmental challenges to sustainable practice. 

Level 5  
Apply ethically informed, innovative sustainable practices. 
 
Level 6  
Assess the impact of ethically informed, innovative sustainable practices. 
 
Level 7  
Create ethically informed, innovative sustainable approaches to real-world challenges. 

The Falmouth Curriculum Ladder for Sustainability 

The Falmouth Curriculum Ladder for Sustainability (FCL-S) is the tool we’ll be using to embed climate education and broader sustainability themes across the entire curriculum. Following an extensive piece of climate education research, we’ve identified 9 key sustainability themes and principles to incorporate into our teaching. 

We see the FCL-S as an evolving tool, and it is likely to be updated with the most relevant and appropriate sustainability principals in the future, as and when deemed necessary. 

Working with academic staff & students 

We’re running sustainability teaching consultation sessions for our academics, which will help them to identify and begin to incorporate the themes into their courses at Falmouth. We’ll also be gathering feedback from our students to help our teaching teams fine-tune their approach to embedding sustainable learning outcomes. 

What we've done so far

Sustainable courses

Falmouth has already integrated sustainability fully into several of its courses via learning outcomes, and partially in many others. As we embed sustainability into our curriculum, we’ll be continually asking for student feedback.

 

Sustainability Champion

A University-wide Sustainability Champion role has created to support our work in Learning & Teaching. This role is currently held by Adrian Bossey, Head of Business and Experience Design.

Sharing our methods

Our FCL methodology has also been published as part of the COP26 Universities Network paper on climate education, which will help other universities form and refine their own climate education policies. Read the paper here, and see our detailed case study here.

Our sustainability-focused courses

Circular & Co Sustainable Product Design crutch by Florence Mitchell
Circular & Co Sustainable Product Design crutch by Florence Mitchell

Designed by Florence Mitchell

Sustainable Product Design BA(Hons)

Become a conscientious and innovative product designer with the professional practice skills to make...

Sustainable Product Design BA(Hons)
Aerial view of an estuary with sandy beaches and fields
Sustainable Tourism Management_2022

Sustainable Tourism Management BA(Hons)

Shape the tourist landscape of tomorrow on this innovative degree designed in partnership with the E...

Sustainable Tourism Management BA(Hons)
Music festival at the Eden Project with domes and pink flags
Sustainable Festival Management_2022

Sustainable Festival Management BA(Hons)

Working at the forefront of inclusivity, accessibility and sustainability, you‘ll gain the skills,...

Sustainable Festival Management BA(Hons)
Sustainable Business
Sustainable Business

Sustainable Business MSc (Online)

Become a change-making business leader, a force for driving change from within, across the modern bu...

Sustainable Business MSc (Online)
Sustainable Fashion student
Sustainable Fashion

Sustainable Fashion MA (Online)

Become a conscious changemaker in the 21st century fashion industry. Develop a radical and circular ...

Sustainable Fashion MA (Online)
An illustration of the globe is overlayed with COP26
cop new

Falmouth's methodology published by COP26 Universities Network


Falmouth University has created, and continues to evaluate, a novel evidence-informed strategy for embedding climate education through the sustainability strategy at scale across the curriculum. Our paper was listed as a case study by COP26 and will allow other universities to consider how best to embed sustainability across their courses.

Read more

News & stories

Researcher Tom Hull walking through a gate in a field, photo taken from behind
Tom Hull - landscape

Wild Voices: The "sound of extinction" by Tom Hull

12 August 2022

This piece was written by Tom Hull, a researcher at Falmouth University. He is a specialist in wild ...

Wild Voices: The "sound of extinction" by Tom Hull
MA Sustainable Fashion (Online) Course Leader Tom Crisp
Tom Crisp

Changing fashion for the better: In conversation with lecturer Tom Crisp

11 May 2022

Tom Crisp is a menswear designer, trend analyst and fashion lecturer, and has just been appointed as...

Changing fashion for the better: In conversation with lecturer Tom Crisp
The Sdgs Grid
The Sdgs Grid

Falmouth ranked as Top 10 Institution by 2022 SDG Teach In

06 May 2022

For the second year in a row, Falmouth University's engagement with the Sustainable Development...

Falmouth ranked as Top 10 Institution by 2022 SDG Teach In
People gather to protest the fashion industry. A placard reads 'no fashion on a dead planet'
Ecocide

Falmouth joins the Fashion Declares movement

04 February 2022

Falmouth’s Fashion & Textiles Institute has joined forces with key leaders across the fashion ...

Falmouth joins the Fashion Declares movement
Image of protest placard reads 'Climate Justice Now'
Climate Justice Now

Falmouth University at COP26

12 November 2021

Staff members have taken to Glasgow to learn how to combat the most pressing issue facing society to...

Falmouth University at COP26
Headshot of Don't Cry Wolf founder John Brown. John wears a t-shirt and baseball cap
Dcw John Brown

CEO delivers live brief to students with enticing prize on offer

14 October 2021

Second year BA Creative Advertising students have been set an industry brief by John Brown, CEO of b...

CEO delivers live brief to students with enticing prize on offer
Matilda Sunset
Matilda Sunset

Student reaches final of international design award

25 March 2021

Third-year Sportswear Design student Matilda Shields reached the finals of the 2020 Woolmark Company...

Student reaches final of international design award
Paper Weave Shuttle And Honesty 0
Paper Weave Shuttle And Honesty 0

Living and working sustainably at Falmouth

26 February 2021

Textile Design graduate Jane Gray’s sustainable artwork has been showcased by the Craft Council’...

Living and working sustainably at Falmouth