Developing Strategic Partnerships through a Sustainability Enrichment Week

Hitt, Sarah Jayne; Hairstans, Robert; Leitch, Kenneth; Connell-Skinner, Kirsty

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a mini-module focused on sustainability and timber engineering as a component of a strategic partnership designed to broaden Transnational Education, increase staff/student mobility, and further develop industry and community links within two universities. Edinburgh Napier University (ENU) draws students from around the world and is internationally recognised for timber construction and wood science. The New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE) is a new higher education provider in England pioneering an innovative approach to engineering education integrating business, engineering, the liberal arts, and professional skills. ENU and NMITE leveraged these strengths to develop a strategic partnership that brings together staff, students, industry, and the community for opportunities that create impact beyond traditional learning approaches. This can be seen through the development of a Sustainability Enrichment Week hosted by NMITE’s Centre for Advanced Timber Technology (CATT) and attended by ENU Master’s in Environmental Sustainability students. Students investigated interfaces between buildings, humans, and nature through experiential learning based around the construction of the CATT building, which has been developed as a Living Lab. Each day featured activities aligned to identified learning outcomes and was themed around one of five sustainability competencies: systems thinking, values thinking, strategic thinking, future thinking, and collaboration. The Sustainability Enrichment Week also served as a trial for a short course soon to be offered as part of a Timber Technology, Engineering, and Design programme. This project could be a model for other universities seeking to create similar strategic partnerships and learning experiences.

Citation

Hitt, S. J., Hairstans, R., Leitch, K., & Connell-Skinner, K. (2022). Developing Strategic Partnerships through a Sustainability Enrichment Week. In H. Järvinen, S. Silvestre, A. Llorens, & B. Nagy (Eds.), SEFI 2022: 50th Annual Conference of The European Society for Engineering Education (1967-1974)

• Conference Name: SEFI Annual Conference
• Conference Location: Barcelona
• Start Date: Sep 19, 2022
• End Date: Sep 22, 2022
• Acceptance Date: May 1, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-11
• Deposit Date: May 5, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: May 5, 2023
• Pages: 1967-1974
• Book Title: SEFI 2022: 50th Annual Conference of The European Society for Engineering Education
• ISBN: 9788412322262
• Keywords: Sustainability, Timber Engineering, Experiential Learning, Industry Engagement
• Publisher URL: https://sefi2022.eu/proceedings