APPENDIX 11
Memorandum from the Department of Urban
Development and Regeneration, University of Westminster
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 I am the Director of the Environment
Resource and Information Centre which was established in 1992.
The Centre produces the magazine eg: promoting local sustainability
which is published ten times a year. A digest of news, features
and information, the magazine has a circulation of over five thousand
including most local authorities in the United Kingdom. The Centre
runs a regular series of short courses which offer training and
education in sustainable development to professionals in the public
and private sectors, and elected members.
1.2 I am a Director of the Centre for Sustainable
Development at the University of Westminster. An interdisciplinary
research group, the Centre operates across Departments in the
School of Architecture and the Built Environment and undertakes
research and consultancy for a range of clients including government
departments. Recent contracts include a project to examine the
concept of Sustainable Lifestyles funded under the New Horizons
programme. The project reported to DEFRA in autumn, 2002.
1.3 The Department of Urban Development
and Regeneration which I chair, provides a range of programmes
at undergraduate and post graduate level in sustainable development.
As the principal member of staff responsible for this delivery,
I have been teaching in this subject area for more than 10 years.
1.4 I write in response to the request for
submissions by interest parties to the Environmental Audit Committee's
Enquiry "Learning the Sustainability Lesson". My comments
concern provision in the HE and Adult Education sectors and through
CPD.
2. CURRENT HE
PROVISION IN
EDUCATION FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2.1 At present education for sustainable
development (ESD) is fragmented and partial. Notwithstanding the
more general point relating to the difficulty in adequately defining
the term, there is only a limited information on the range and
nature of provision in ESD.
2.2 The Centre for Education in the Built
Environment based at Cardiff University supported a Special Interest
Group in Sustainability in Architecture which undertook analysis
of the range of HE provision in the field during 2002. There are
currently some 32 Masters programmes which include sustainability
in the course titles. The majority of these relate to building
or to urban design based courses, several of which are accredited
through the ARB. Very few offer curricula which encompass issues
such as transport, housing or urban regeneration.
2.3 There have been other initiatives over
recent years to explore and foster the provision of education
for sustainable development (ESD). These include inter alia
Forum for the Future's HE21 programme which included both
consideration of the curriculum of the participant universities
and their sustainable practice. This was superseded by the Forum's
Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (HEPS) with a
membership of eighteen HEIs. The work of the HEPS is now much
more centred on issues such as procurement, finance and human
resources rather than consideration of the curriculum.
2.4 This is also broadly the case with the
Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (eauc),
a subscription based organisation with a membership of some two
hundred institutions. Now in its eighth year of operation the
focus of the organisation has tended towards environmental management
in higher education, procurement etc. rather than on curriculum
development. While entitled "The Role of Education in Sustainability",
the detailed programme of this year's eauc annual conference confirms
this focus with little opportunity for discussion on integration
of ESD into the curriculum.
2.5 There is therefore, limited HE engagement
in ESD at any level, and particularly at the undergraduate level;
the majority of provision exists at post graduate level. I would
suggest that there may be several factors which explain this:
— (i) The relative newness of the
concept of "sustainable development", the well rehearsed
problematic in definition of the term and therefore the lack of
a coherent curriculum in ESD from the national curriculum onwards;
— (ii) A lack of knowledge of the
subject allied to low awareness on the part of school leavers
that career opportunities exist within the field. This leads in
turn to an absence of demand for undergraduate education;
— (iii) A perception that the majority
of employment in sustainable development exists at fairly specialist
level and in local government where salary rates are not comparable
with the private sector. (Qualification for these posts is generally
through a "relevant first degree" and subsequent experiential
training.)
3. CONTINUING
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
3.1 Regular market analysis undertaken by
the Environment Resource and Information Centre has revealed that
provision of ESD outside HE is similarly fragmented. While there
is some CPD provision it is unco-ordinated and partial, offered
by a range of providers including ourselves, consultancies and
others on a fee / market driven basis.
3.2 As a result of collaboration with the
Local Sustainability Team at the Improvement and Development Agency
(IDeA), I am aware of the as yet piecemeal provision in ESD for
regional government but of little overall co-ordination either
geographically or in terms of curriculum.
4. PROFESSIONAL
ACCREDITATION
4.1 There is no professional or accrediting
body which has taken up the challenge of defining curricula in
sustainable development. Both the Royal Town Planning Institute
and the Architects' Registration Board, for example, set a requirement
that ESD forms a component of accredited programmes of study but
define neither the term nor the extent.
4.3 There exists an informal network of
local authority sustainable development / environmental policy
officers and practitioners which, as an embryonic professional
institute, has considered the possibility of developing accredited
routes to qualification in sustainable development. It is possible
that this initiative may be progressed through the Local Sustainability
Team at the IDeA in due course.
5. PROPOSALS/RECOMMENDATIONS
The call for responses to the committees seeks
practical suggestions and recommendations.
5.1 Definition of curriculum and evaluation
of current ESD provision
The CEBE Special Interest Group in Urban Regeneration
(of which I am a member) is currently undertaking a relatively
low cost exercise in collaboration with the ODPM Neighbourhood
Renewal Unit to identify and map provision of education in the
skills required by the new "urban professional". Following
definition of the relevant skills, a survey of the type and scale
of provision and its geographical spread is in progress. On completion,
liaison with the RDAs, other agencies and appropriate providers
will be undertaken to develop and deliver provision ranging from
bespoke CPD to degree programmes.
I believe it would be of value if consideration
could be given by the Committee to support for a comparable exercise
with regard to ESD. Support for a closer analysis and definition
of the curriculum requirements for ESD at different levels would
be both welcome and timely, especially given proposed legislation
relating for example, to community plans. This may need to be
developed under the auspices of an accrediting body and with the
involvement of HE, perhaps through CEBE. A systematic evaluation
of existing provision and its fitness for purpose would then be
feasible and would provide the basis, as in the case outlined
above, for discussion with the RDAs and other providers.
5.2 Community based training Agencies, such
as Local Strategic Partnerships, established under the modernising
agenda are charged with the delivery of SD at the local level.
As above, as yet there has been only partial analysis of the skills
and knowledge required by this sector and so far there is little
formalised training in place to ensure the development of capacity
and education or training in this specific area.
Similarly, in the past ESD for elected members
has been offered by a range of providers, including the Local
Government Association, the former Local Government Management
Board and my own department. Just as in the case of LSPs, the
requirements of the Best Value and Community Planning processes
create an urgent need for co-ordinated capacity building and training
of local government officers and existing and newly elected members.
5.3 If the provision of cross-sectoral ESD
is to develop and be secured, following evaluation of these (and
other) local requirements for ESD, there will be a need to co-ordinate
and establish an appropriate range of providers in this field.
Consideration will need to be given to the funding and location
of this important co-ordinating role.
I trust these comment may be of value and would
welcome the opportunity to discuss further the issues raised.
February 2003
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