Sustainability in the Curriculum

Education for Sustainable Development

Being an educational institution, we guide our students, and communities through teaching academically and professionally accredited courses at a higher education level. This provides the opportunity to integrate ideas, concepts and behaviours into the curriculum providing learning opportunities for students to become aware of and understand the development that needs to occur to be a sustainable member of society and the skills needed in the workplace and as a global citizen.

ESD is a key area of our Group Sustainable Development Strategy whereby we aim for our education and student experience, research, enterprise and innovation to support the drive towards sustainable and ‘clean’ socio-economic growth. Specifically,

"We believe that delivering Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) across the Group is central to every student’s learning experience at the University. It empowers students with the skills, attributes and values to tackle complex real-world challenges, to apply insights and learning to support future workplaces, to innovate for positive change, and make informed decisions that matter.

"This approach directly supports the Coventry University Group 2030 Strategy by advancing inclusive, globally engaged education, responding to societal and economic needs, and equipping graduates with the tools needed to contribute to sustainable futures in a changing world."

Being able to deliver upon this statement is the purpose of the ESD steering group which consists of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Curriculum, the CEO of the Students' Union, the Head of Sustainability, student representation as available, Academic Development Specialists and Academic Development staff, and people working on extra-curricular activities.

The staff ESD Network is made up of teaching staff from around the group and provides a forum for to share case studies, wider learning on ESD and opportunities for training and events.

We are also privileged to be able to use our campus as a ‘living lab’ for students to gain practical knowledge of sustainability. The Delia Derbyshire building was host to DontWasteBuildings for a tour and discussion event. Having achieved the RIBA West Midlands 2025 Building of the Year: University of Coventry’s College of Arts and Society, the Delia Derbyshire Building is an example of a project where two older buildings have been attached by a new modern building to form one building; presenting a case study to considered reuse of buildings versus building new. Staff, architecture students (and other students) and the wider community were able to participate in the event to learn about the benefits and pitfalls of such refurbishments.

Our decarbonisation work is also paving the way for students on the Renewable Energy Management MSc course to apply learning to a real-life case study, using our decarbonisation works as a living lab example, see the case study for information.

Responsible Futures

Coventry University has retained the Responsible Futures Kitemark since 2015 and was one of the pilot institutions trialling the kitemark. Responsible Futures recognises UK Universities who are working to embed issues around sustainability and social responsibility within curricula across all colleges.

We also collect data on student views of sustainability through the NUS (SOS) annual Sustainability Skills survey. NUS surveys which consistently show more than 60% of UK students want issues around sustainability to be included within their courses - in recognition of the importance of this in future career paths.

We are continuously evolving the information and support we can provide staff on ESD, understanding staff needs in key to this and recent focus groups and training workshops have helped to build a clearer idea of the support staff would welcome and they also serve to provide guidance and information on resources that are available. Our staff ‘Padlet’ survey took place in Spring 2025 and was promoted within our Academic Development communications, the survey asks staff a series of questions on their experience of ESD in their teaching, and what support they would find helpful, this was complimented by a discussion workshop to share practice.

We have also run a ESD workshop with PGCAPP participants to consider ESD approaches for newly qualified teaching staff. Our Academic Development internal web pages contain an array of resources and complement the training offered.

Education for Sustainability often requires inter-disciplinary, cross-cultural, futures-focussed learning experiences which we know students gain from and enjoy.

Reports and Case studies

• Coventry University wins Times Higher Education Award for game-changing electronic waste project
• Coventry University students win Design Concrete 2023 competition with nature reserve creation that absorbs carbon dioxide
• PhD researcher nominated for Student Nursing Award 2025
• Course specification ESD analysis 2026 summary version
• Coventry University student views of ESD report
• Coventry University students pitch innovative business ideas to help city charity

Read our latest Sustainable Development Report for more information on sustainability within the curriculum.