A new Environmental Agenda publication, the Curriculum Greening
Resource Pack, has recently been produced by the Environmental
Teaching and Research Office (ETRO). This concise pack lays out the
rationale for curriculum greening and outlines suggested methods for
integrating environmental perspectives into existing courses in ways
which are relevant to the subject being taught. If you, or any
other member of staff would like a copy of the pack please email the
ETRO secretary (Amanda.Miller@ed.ac.uk) or return the tear-off form
below. (The pack is free to Edinburgh University staff and is also
publicly available on-line at http://greeninfo.ucs.ed.ac.uk/).
The University's policy on curriculum greening is that "all
undergraduates, at some time in their course, should be exposed to
teaching about the wider and more fundamental issues of society's
relationship to the environment, including complex social, economic
and ethical questions (as well as) some understanding of basic
technical issues". This is relevant to staff in all faculties. For
example, Arts subjects can introduce students to issues of
environmental ethics, environmental history and the cultural
representation of nature. Teaching in the natural sciences can
stress the complexity of environmental problems and the fact that
solutions often lie in an interdisciplinary approach. In other
disciplines there are specialisms such as sustainable architecture,
cultural ecology, ecology and Christian theology, environmental
health, environmental law, green political thought, and the sociology
of the environment and risk - these are often taught as options, but
some of the material can also be introduced into core courses. With
many subjects it is also possible to use environmental examples to
illustrate arguments and as `material' when teaching techniques or
skills.
The resource pack is designed as a `why' and `how' guide to support
staff who want to explore the potential for greening in their own
subject area. It includes extracts from relevant papers and reports,
contact details for Environmental Agenda staff and the library's
interdisciplinary environmental contact, as well as listing starting
points for various other sources of information. This should prove
to be a useful resource - send for your copy now!
Yours sincerely,
Professor Colin Bell
Vice-Principal
Dr Anna Ashmole
Environmental Teaching and Research Office