Creating space for sustainability literacy: the case of student-centered symposia
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
ISSN: 1467-6370
Article publication date: 24 April 2018
Issue publication date: 30 April 2018
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