A 'solutions-based' pedagogy to equip future sustainability change-makers

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) 'empowers people with the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and behaviours to live in a way that is good for the environment, economy, and society' (1). This sort of empowering education needs extensive focus on action-oriented forms of learning that develop know-how for working with change in practice (2) and, crucially, instil a sense of agency. The latter is vitally important, as a belief that we can influence the world around us is an essential precursor for change towards a more sustainable future. In higher education, there has been much focus on learner agency that promotes student ownership of their educational journey. Equipping the next generation of change makers will require us to go a step further – to instil a strong sense of agency towards environmental and societal challenges.  

A 'solutions-based' approach to learning positions students as experts and puts the emphasis on them drawing on their knowledge, skills, competencies and life experiences to develop viable, real-world solutions. It is a key way for students to build experience and confidence in driving change and, therefore, has the potential to be an essential component of the ESD 'toolkit’. 'Solutions-based' approaches to learning have already been adopted across a number of subject areas, including global environmental politics (3) and motivate 'learning whilst transforming' (4).

A key part of our mission in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York is to equip future sustainability change-makers. In 2023, we took a whole institutional shift in the way our teaching is organised as the opportunity to embed a ‘solutions-based’ pedagogy across all of our undergraduate programmes in human geography, physical geography, environmental science and environmental economics. Overarchingly, there are two key components to this new approach: 

• We equip students with a 'toolkit' to drive change:  

  Our programmes are designed to equip students with a 'toolkit' for driving change towards a more sustainable future which includes deep disciplinary knowledge, discipline boundary-crossing competencies, and skills and experience in driving change.  

  As sustainability challenges cannot be solved from a single disciplinary perspective, future change-makers will need to have strong boundary-crossing competencies. To support this, we have embedded a suite of ‘broadening horizons’ modules across all of our programmes which bring together our natural, physical and social sciences students to learn about and work on topics such as energy transitions, climate mitigation and urbanisation.

  To foster the development of competencies in driving change, all of our students undertake an 'Engendering change' module at Year 2. This gives students the opportunity to operationalise their growing knowledge of environmental and social issues, critically reflect on their assumptions regarding change, and deepen their practical understanding of applying theoretical frameworks to effect change in authentic settings. 

• We provide credit-bearing opportunities for students to tackle 'live' real-world sustainability problems: 

  Students have the opportunity to work on solutions to sustainability challenges in at least one dedicated seminar in every module we run. As part of this, we provide students with experience of working on real-world problems and interacting with key external stakeholders throughout all years of study. For example, in recent years, our students have: worked with local government to propose solutions to the key environmental or social issues they are facing; acted as consultants for a landscape restoration programme in a National Park; and, designed projects to address sustainability issues during overseas field trips.

  The pivotal opportunity to drive change in practice comes in the final year of study when students mobilise their ‘toolkit for change’ within our compulsory 'Sustainability Clinic'. The Clinic is a translation of the University legal clinic model into sustainability, and sees our students working in multidisciplinary teams to provide pro bono advice to businesses, SME's, schools, charities and community groups on achieving their sustainability goals. Through their work within the Sustainability Clinic, our students have, for example, supported: local farms to enhance biodiversity and improve land management; local schools to support and develop Eco Councils, Forest schools and outdoor spaces; and, a housing association to enhance urban biodiversity in low-income areas.

  Students have commented that through working in the Sustainability Clinic, they have gained a better understanding of the real-world challenges associated with driving change towards a sustainable future and essential professional experience, and have highly valued the opportunity to work across a range of stakeholders, including building relationships with industry. These sorts of experiences are essential for fostering that all-important sense of agency towards sustainability challenges and would not have been gained in a traditional classroom setting. 

Overall, our 'solutions-based' programmes are designed to equip so-called 'T-shaped' graduates who have deep disciplinary expertise and are able to work across disciplines to drive change towards a more sustainable future. Students have engaged very well across all elements of this new ‘solutions-based’ approach since its introduction in 2023. In 2025-26, our first cohort which has experienced this new form of learning throughout all 3 years of study will graduate and we look forward to hearing about their successes, achievements and contributions towards tackling sustainability challenges in the years ahead. 

Higher education has a crucial role to play in helping to tackle local, regional and global sustainability challenges through, alongside green research and innovation, inspiring the next generation of sustainability change-makers and addressing the 'green skills' gap in the workforce (5) In addition to building knowledge, awareness and skills, our programmes must instil a sense of agency, hope and responsibility relating to sustainability challenges. We responded to this imperative in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York with a wholesale change to our programmes which has created a learning environment focused on student expertise and solutions. It is vital for society, the workforce and student employability that we adapt HE programmes of study to support major external shifts and workforce  transformations, and help tackle pressing environmental and societal challenges. 

 References:  

1. Education for sustainable development | UNESCO
2. Fazey, I., Hughes, C., Schäpke, N. A., Leicester, G., Eyre, L., Goldstein, B. E,, Hodgson, A., Mason-Jones, A. J., Moser, S. C., Sharpe, B., and Reed, M. S. (2021) Renewing Universities in Our Climate Emergency: Stewarding System Change and Transformation. Frontiers in Sustainability 2, doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2021.677904
3. Holtmaat, E. A., and M. Alford-Hamburg (2023) All Hands on Deck: Solutions-Based Pedagogies for Global Environmental Politics. Global Environmental Politics 23: 17–25.
4. Wiek, A., and B. Kay (2015) Learning while transforming: solution-oriented learning for urban sustainability in Phoenix, Arizona. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 16: 29-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2015.07.001
5. Hughes, C., L. Dunlop, H. Smith and L. Thurston. Higher education and the green workforce transformation. HEPI, May 2024 

Professor Claire Hughes is the Head of the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York 

Dr Adrian Gonzalez of Deputy Head (Teaching) in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York