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Creating space for sustainability literacy: the case of student-centered symposia

Camille Ouellet Dallaire (Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada)
Kate Trincsi (Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada)
Melissa K. Ward (Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada)
Lorna I. Harris (Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada)
Larissa Jarvis (Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada)
Rachel L. Dryden (Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)
Graham K. MacDonald (Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada)

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education

ISSN: 1467-6370

Article publication date: 24 April 2018

Issue publication date: 30 April 2018

569

Abstract

Purpose

This paper reflects on the Sustainability Research Symposium (SRS), a long-term student-led initiative (seven years) at McGill University in Montréal, Canada, that seeks to foster interdisciplinary dialogue among students and researchers by using the sustainability sciences as a bridge concept. The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of the SRS in fostering sustainability literacy.

Design/methodology/approach

Past participants of the SRS were invited to complete a survey to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of the symposia from a participants’ perspective. A mix of descriptive statistics and axial and thematic coding were used to analyze survey responses (n = 56). This study links theory and practice to explore the outcomes of symposia as tools for students to engage with sustainability research in university campuses.

Findings

Survey findings indicated that participants are from multiple disciplinary backgrounds and that they are often interested in sustainability research without being identified as sustainability researchers. Overall, the survey findings suggested that student-organized symposia can be effective mechanisms to enhance exposure to interdisciplinary research and to integrate sustainability sciences outside the classroom.

Practical implications

Despite being a one-day event, the survey findings suggest that symposia can offer an “initiation” toward interdisciplinary dialogue and around sustainability research that can have lasting impacts beyond the time frame of the event.

Originality/value

Although research symposia are widespread in university campuses, there is little published information on the effectiveness of student-organized symposia as vectors for sustainability literacy. This original contribution presents a case study of the effectiveness of an annual symposium at one Canadian university, organized by students from the Faculties of Science, Arts and Management.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to extend special thanks to Dr Tim Moore and Dr Nigel Roulet from the Department of Geography as well as Dr Bruce Lennox, Dean of the Faculty of Science at McGill, for their constant support for the SRS and its organizers throughout the years.

Citation

Ouellet Dallaire, C., Trincsi, K., Ward, M.K., Harris, L.I., Jarvis, L., Dryden, R.L. and MacDonald, G.K. (2018), "Creating space for sustainability literacy: the case of student-centered symposia", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 839-855. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-08-2017-0126

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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