A collaboration between Cambridge Climate Society, Cambridge Zero and seven, largely vocational, departments to consider opportunities for developing climate and sustainability teaching and learning.
The University of Cambridge Climate Society (CCS) launched their Climate Change Education Project in collaboration with Cambridge Zero in the 2023-24 academic year. Recognising the importance of equipping students with the necessary knowledge and skills to combat the climate crisis, students and academic staff from seven University Departments, Faculties and Schools worked together to review opportunities within their respective curriculum.
At the Faculty of English, six CCS English student reviewers collaborated to assess the undergraduate English curriculum and provide suggestions for further integrating climate and sustainability education. During the Michaelmas term, the student reviewers picked 10 Papers and created a 57-page initial report based on available Tripos materials (such as lecture material, reading lists and examination papers), celebrating best practice and identifying specific opportunities within each Paper. The findings of the report were shared with members of the Faculty of English in a round-table discussion in late November 2023.
Although the subject of English may not often be associated with addressing the climate crisis, the CCS team made it clear that every subject has a role to play when it comes to equipping students with the necessary skills and knowledge to carve out a greener future.
The students noted a persistent lack of material explicitly linked to the environment, particularly across reading lists. One repeated suggestion throughout the CCS English report was to incorporate eco-criticism into teaching.
Ecocriticism is this big thought school that has been around for a while. It’s about how the environment is featured in literature and what that says about the way humans perceive the environment and how we interact with it.
Alice, student reviewer
The way the environment is portrayed can convey so much. Feminism, post-colonialism, Marxism - All of these other modes of looking at literature were very well represented in the course. […] It felt very strange that there wasn’t a lecture on eco-criticism or a mention of it, in the same way, for example, feminism was talked about.
Module convenors whose Papers were addressed in the report were invited to respond to the report. The Faculty of English commended the work and provided a report summarising responses. Their report agreed to include new additions to reading lists and encourage staff to consider climate and ecology for teaching and exam setting, recognising the ways in which climate education can be featured more in the curriculum. Furthermore, it was suggested that the Faculty of English Library could assist in the promotion of climate-related material through displays, by ordering relevant books or by hosting reading groups in tandem with the CCS.
However, the Faculty also noted some challenges and concerns, such as the desire to maintain academic freedom and the valuable autonomy of Directors of Studies. They noted that critical skills, including those needed to address the climate emergency, can be acquired through a variety of means and approaches throughout the course of study. Looking forwards, a greater focus on skills rather than specific content may provide further insight into effective climate and sustainability education within the Faculty of English.
Overall, this pilot project by the CCS was a great success and demonstrated the value of student initiatives and perspectives in facilitating educational reform to tackle the climate crisis. The CCS looks forward to continuing this project in the next academic year and expanding the project to more academic Departments across the University.