Sustainability Case Studies

Content:

As part of their course, students in our School of Computer Science and Informatics are given the opportunity to choose a topic related to a societal issue and explore a range of computing solutions to potentially address the issue. As climate change and sustainability are large concerns for many students, this module has attracted many proposals from students aimed at addressing these issues.

Delivery, Pedagogy and Assessment:

Projects have focused on topics including community tree planting, reporting wildfires in woodlands, increasing numbers of pollinators, reducing fly tipping, recycling school clothing and supporting foodbanks. Each of the solutions students propose are prototyped and tested utilising a user-centred design approach, focusing on the end users and their needs in each stage of the design process.

For students in computer science, it has always been a challenge to see the applications and impacts of software engineering in the real world. This module provides real-world, first-hand experience to students of how they can use their skills to tackle societal issues.

Content:

The 'Carbon Pasts, Low Carbon Futures' unit for year 5 Architecture students was created following student demand for a design unit looking at the themes of retrofit, adaptive reuse and sustainability. The unit brief calls on the students to make proposals for a sustainable future for industrial heritage sites, including uses that boost local employment. In 2021/22 this focused on Crumlin Navigation Colliery in the Ebbw valley and this year 2022/23 it looks at Cefn Coed Colliery in the Dulais Valley.

Delivery and Pedagogy:

Students are challenged to think of how these sites, partly responsible for the current climate emergency, can be catalysts for a low carbon future for the local and wider area, considering circular economy and renewable energy sources, including low enthalpy geothermal heat recovery. With the latter the students were assisted by the involvement of the head of the Coal Authority’s Head of Heat & By-Product Innovation.

Assessment:

The 2021/22 designs were exhibited at an exhibition on the site with the local community, politicians, policy makers and the wider public invited to view the proposals. The work of the unit as a whole was selected by the Welsh School of Architecture for submission for the RIBA President’s Medal. Read more about the project here.

Content:

The 3rd year ‘Hazards, Risk, Resilience’ module was adapted in 2022-23 to create opportunities for students to explore links between sustainable development and disaster risk reduction. Recognising the prominence of themes such as resilience, adaptation, and disaster reduction across the SDGs (e.g., SDG 1.5, 2.4, 11.5, 13.1), the module examines the causes of disasters and different approaches to reducing disaster impacts.

Delivery and Pedagogy:

Content is delivered in lectures, supported by a range of workshops. The latter provide opportunities for students to develop core sustainability competencies (e.g., systems thinking, by exploring how different aspects of the natural and social environment interrelate to result in disasters; anticipatory thinking, by encouraging reflection on the consequences of a range of actions aiming to reduce disaster impacts).

Assessment:

Students have two assessments, both valuing authenticity and reflecting real-life activities in the discipline. They first prepare a policy brief, setting out why disasters are not natural, and then in groups they complete the necessary background research to design and present a poster on the hazards affecting a given city and potential mitigation options. Assessments require students to practice and demonstrate a range of sustainability competencies that have been introduced in class workshops.

Module taught by Joel Gill.

Content:

This module covers different ways in which our societies and their economic systems manage the natural environment, and the consequences for capitalist development of the relationship between business and nature. We offer a critical standpoint drawing on political economy, theories in sustainability studies and critical management studies, covering topics such as resource use, climate change, deforestation, environmental standards, the circular economy, and environmental crimes and disasters.  

Delivery and Pedagogy:

The delivery is based on a flipped approach, where the learning materials are provided to students before class, and class time is dedicated to students’ engagement with the ideas covered through in-class activities, including case analyses. In this way, students critically appraise a variety of ways in which organizations attempt to manage nature and address interlocking sustainability crises. 

Assessment:

All elements of assessment for this module address sustainability. Students’ critical engagement with the in-class activities is assessed through short written reflections on, for instance, the assumptions implicit in different approaches to particular sustainability challenges. Student groups also present to the class their analysis of particular empirical cases related to each of the five core sustainability approaches covered in the module. The final piece of assessment is an individual essay that demands detailed analysis of two of these core topics, drawing on empirical cases of the students’ choosing, emphasising the complexity of dealing with environmental issues. 

 Module taught by Marcus Gomes and Genevieve Shanahan. 

Content:

The module explores the complex relationship between society and economy by delving into theories that explain how societal changes happen or are hindered. First semester students get an overview of capitalist societies and the social and environmental challenges of our time, shedding light on the governance relationships between civil society organisations, businesses and the state. The second semester focuses on empirical cases based on cutting-edge research within the Business School exploring how public value is created (or hindered). Climate change and other environmental issues and social movements features amongst the topics.

Delivery and Pedagogy:

An integral part of the module is the Public Value Leadership Academy (PVLA), in which students take their learning outside of the classroom and develop actions to tackle issues faced by the wider Cardiff community. The PVLA is co-designed and co-taught with Citizens Cymru Wales and fosters an environment in which the students learn leadership skills while developing an action to deepen their understanding of how change occurs and who can be impacted. In the 2022/23 academic year, students led actions focusing on carbon literacy in schools within Cardiff and better public transport for school children.

Assessment:

There are three assessment modalities. Throughout the year students must write five reflective posts – short texts using the mandatory readings to analyse specific contexts. Secondly, during the PVLA sections of semester 1, students develop their action campaigns and prepare a group presentation. From these pool of potential actions, some are selected and caried out during semester 2. The final piece of assessment is an individual reflection based on student engagement with the action developed.

Module taught by Marcus Gomes and Deborah Hann.

Content:

The module 'Environmental Histories' explores human-environment interaction over the past millennium.

Delivery and Pedagogy:

Designed for students with no prior knowledge, a flipped classroom approach was followed with lectures introducing themes and methods, followed by workshops where students apply them to case studies like the history of coal in Wales or the impact of the Little Ice Age.

Assessment:

Students analyse their own chosen sources and participate in group presentations. The module concludes with an in-class exhibition where students bring objects representing human impact on the environment, using them to explain the Anthropocene epoch.

Module taught by Professor Keir Waddington.

Read more about this module HERE.

MSc in Chemistry for Sustainability

Content:

The MSc in Chemistry for Sustainability aims to equip students with the skills needed to address global sustainability challenges, using the UN SDGs as a framework.
The programme covers Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Materials, Sustainable Food, and Sustainable Health. Students will learn to identify and avoid greenwashing and engage in critical thinking.

Delivery and pedagogy:

Students will participate in mini-group projects and summer research projects, focusing on sustainability issues they are passionate about. They will conduct literature reviews and develop research plans with support from supervisors.

Industry and academic experts will deliver seminars on current trends and activities in sustainability.

A practical module will introduce students to sustainable chemistry practices.
The programme culminates in a hands-on research project in state-of-the-art facilities, with topics tailored to student interests, such as recyclable materials and low carbon energy generation.

Assessment:

Core material will be assessed through posters, oral presentations, written reports, and peer assessments. Practical skills will be continuously assessed, and optional modules will include exams and class tests.

Read more about the programme HERE.