A Game-based approach to ESD and Digital Engagement

Workshop W2 – GamED

Date: June 17
Time: 14:00 – 18:00

Introducing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into the curriculum can be challenging for a number of reasons, including lecturers’ concerns about sustainability frameworks and how to use them in the teaching and learning process, how to introduce sustainability into different disciplines and subject areas, and the role of digital and pedagogical skills.

The purpose of the workshop is to offer a new and exciting approach to ESD through a game-based learning and educational technology. The workshop will demonstrate how technology can promote engagement and understanding of ESD in a contextualised and innovative way and share some practical pedagogy for embedding ESD into participants’ individual fields of knowledge. It will also focus on the approaches to design participants’ own activities with various digital elements, including a game-based and UDL approach.

This workshop focuses on improving and enhancing innovation and collaboration in the classroom. It will also encourage reflection on ESD delivery and the cross and multidisciplinary ways of embedding sustainability into teaching and learning and showcase the competencies that can be gained.

The learning here can be applied to introducing other curriculum improvements, including EDI and active learning approaches.

Objectives

  • Stimulate engagement through the production of new ideas and future collaboration and networking between universities, staff and students.
  • Provide workshop participants an opportunity for practical experience in designing innovative and collaborative game-based activities with SDGs.
  • Encourage lively debates and sharing of knowledge among the participants about digital technology and embedding ESD practices for teaching and learning.
  • Provide workshop participants an opportunity for practical experience in developing an implementation plan for embedding ESD in all disciplines and all types of modules.
  • Encourage future research in the field of digital technology and education for sustainable development.
  • Demonstrate examples of change and best practices in ESD and digital technology in an interactive atmosphere.

Intended audience

The workshop will bring together educators, both experienced and early-career, students who wish to gain an understanding of ESD and digital tools and participants across various disciplines, including those not typically associated with ESD. The workshop is suitable for all levels of expertise in ESD and educational technology and all levels of technical skills. The expected number of participants is about 20 and more people.

The workshop is most suitable for people who wish to:

  • Get practical knowledge in Activity Design through digital tools
  • Embed Sustainability within their Teaching & Learning
  • Learn how Digital Tools can be used to enhance student engagement
  • Apply Innovative approaches to Teaching & Learning

Agenda

Content

The workshop will cover the following topics:

  • The role of educational technology and digital tools to empower ESD, game-based approach, UDL and collaboration
  • Peer-to-peer learning and the use of innovative pedagogy for teaching and learning
  • Approaches to designing engaging activities and embedding ESD implementation plan in the module
  • Approaches to mapping SDGs and competencies with the teaching and learning content
  • Practical examples of ESD game-based activities and real-life scenarios

Dynamics

The following is a rough outline of the proposed agenda for the workshop. This workshop uses a participatory approach, where participants actively engage with the workshop content. The participants will get a real-life and practical experience of how digital tools can be used to promote and empower ESD, EDI, UDL, active learning and game-based approaches and activities’ and implementation plan design.

  1. Introductions, including engaging Ice-breaker SDG-focused game and various interactive activities aimed at showing the use of ESD pedagogies, transformative learning and holistic approach
  2. Interactive presentations, including discussions, peer-to-peer learning, real-life challenges and case studies
  3. Practical activities, including future thinking scenarios, debates, simulations and provocations
  4. Networking Break, socialising & networking
  5. Consolidating activities, including game-design activities and an implementation plan for embedding ESD into all discipline areas

Organizer

Dr. Nataliya Romanyatova (SETU, Ireland) is an Instructional Designer and a Postdoctoral Researcher working in Education for Sustainable Development & Digital Transformation in South East Technological University (SETU), Ireland. Her background is in the area of education, sustainability, linguistics, research and instructional design.

Nataliya worked as an English language lecturer, associate professor, and instructional designer in several universities in Ireland and abroad. Since her undergraduate degree, she has been passionate about pushing the boundaries of Higher and Adult Education, looking beyond the norm and evaluating how staff and students can be supported and engaged through innovative pedagogical approaches. Nataliya is managing several key university projects on sustainability, which include SETU Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) community of practice, Sulitest pilot launch, ESD Toolkit and Climate Fresk Game SETU CEKO programme. Nataliya is the Climate Justice Universities Union SETU Representative and the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education SETU UDL Lead. Email: nataliya.romanyatova@setu.ie, SETU, Ireland

Dr. Niamh Power (ATU, Ireland) is the current Chairperson of the Environmental Science Association of Ireland. She is a Lecturer and Researcher, in Munster Technological University (MTU), Ireland.

She received an honours degree in Civil & Structural Engineering coming top of her class, before pursuing her PhD in the area of waste management, anaerobic digestion and biogas as a transport fuel. Her interests focus on the area of sustainability with particular expertise in waste management, anaerobic digestion, renewable energy from wastes & crops, nutrient recycling, nutrient recover from wastewater, life cycle analysis and policies & drivers for change and the circular economy. She is involved in a number of large national and EU research projects on the circular economy, solar PV (InVEST) sustainable use of nutrients these projects including (ReNu2Cycle, ReNu2Farm and Phos4You,) and future resilience of the farming sector (SIMONE). Dr. Power also worked on the N-TUTORR project as the sustainability lead for MTU and looked at embedding education for sustainable development within Higher Education. Email: niamh.power@mtu.ie, MTU, Ireland