By Francis Steptoe
The Global Systems institute returned in 2025 with its third assembly seeking to hear people’s answer to “How can we embed sustainability and climate change into the curriculum?”. Dedicated academics, students and members of the public gathered in the University of Exeter’s Roborough Studios to take part in this exciting conversation and with the university’s 2030 sustainability plans creeping ever closer, the answers to this question have never been more important.
The assembly was organised by 3rd-year Physics undergraduate Marco Agolzer and GSI Assistant Director Dr Raphaëlle Haywood, who have previously run similar assemblies on “how should we reduce our carbon footprint as a university?” in October and their inaugural assembly last March. The event was packed full of diverse ideas surrounding a sustainable approach to education, whether that be how we travel to field trips, or how to educate people on combating misinformation. Thanks to attendees’ feedback from previous events, an anonymous box was used for voting to prevent biases from forming. The 3 ideas voted as the highest priority to attendees were:
- A Core Module tailored to each discipline on navigating climate information and building sustainable practices.
- Ending research partnerships with and divesting funding from climate-damaging companies such as the fossil fuel industry and arms manufacturers.
- Hands-on community project work within the first year of study to build skills and connections.
For the complete list of ideas produced by attendees you can view the transcript here.
The GSI would like to thank everybody who took the time to participate, as your experiences can make a huge difference to the actions taken by the University. A special thanks also to the team at Roborough Studios, who kindly allowed the space to be used for the Assembly.
If you are interested in attending the GSI Community Assemblies you can sign up to receive email updates on all of our upcoming events by emailing infoGSI@exeter.ac.uk. Check out the GSI’s News and Events page.
To find out more about how the assembly went and for further details on the ideas presented, keep reading to hear my account from my time facilitating this assembly.
A facilitator’s point of view of the event
As a student myself, I found the event to be an excellent demonstration of the passion and care Exeter academics, students and members of the public have for teaching and practicing sustainability. Baking sustainable practices into education is vital, and the university should lead by example by making the most of the commitment the community shows to climate education. Although some of the ideas raise questions with regards to student rights and accessibility, with fine tuning they could provide excellent appeal to studying at the University of Exeter. But what were the events of the day in full? Find out below.
Preliminary Presentation- Dean for Taught Students and Students’ Guild Education Officer
Before the core discussion began, attendees first had the chance to hear from the Dean for Taught Students, Prof Beverley Hawkins and the Students’ Guild Education Officer, Sebastian Racisz to speak about the work already underway at the University of Exeter and how this aligns with the opinions of students on the climate crisis.
Beverley’s talk highlighted that each discipline should be able to convey how their graudates are benefitting the sustainable sector, through careers-enhancing schemes such as the Career Zone’s Green Consultants scheme . Additionally, the skills framework the University uses, vital for influencing programme delivery and setting students up for their future, must consider that student futures will involve dealing with the climate crisis. The University is looking to integrate this into undergraduate learning as part of its 2030 Strategy through the introduction of a “with sustainability” minor that can be added to any degree.
Sebastian gave a very compelling insight into how students view climate change, opening with data suggesting that a minimum of 80% of students were concerned about changes to the climate. However, when these same students were asked if they were involved in sustainable projects and campaigns, most said no. This was not due to lack of interest but because, fundamentally, students in the current system of education are time-poor. Whether due to requiring to work alongside university or due to excess workload, Students no longer have the liberty or capacity to easily contribute outside of their education. Sebastian made it clear that climate education was desired but it is essential that it be accommodated within the educational framework to maximise accessibility and progress.
The Conversation begins
Participants were eager to discuss the topic at hand and deliberate on the level of urgency needed at this current stage. The group I facilitated was quick to consider the University’s suggestion of a sustainability minor that will be optional to all students. They came to an agreement that whilst it is an excellent resource for people that are already climate-conscious, it would not ensure that less engaged people access education on climate change. Their solution, which proved to be popular, was to implement a core module that allowed students to engage with sustainability specifically in their chosen field as well as providing vital critical thinking skills for navigating media, policy, and research in the current era of misinformation. This would allow students to engage with the climate crisis within their own subject as well as build transferable skills on how to assess media they consume, without sacrificing time outside of their studies. This cross-disciplinary approach, as one participant put it, would ensure that everyone has a basic understanding of the potential challenges the climate crisis will bring, and of how their own expertise can be used to navigate the future.
Climate Apathy in education- what can we do?
Another topic my group discussed is how to prevent climate apathy or worse, climate doomerism from becoming the prevalent narrative amongst staff and students. Academics at the table recounted experience with students feeling disheartened when seeing graphs of increasing global temperature, often leading to them avoiding any approach to the climate crisis because of the daunting nature it has. Despite this, the group empathised with students, showing their passion for teaching, and was keen to incorporate ideas mentioned by Beverley to solve this. The group were enthusiastic about teaching proactive approaches alumni and colleagues had already taken in their fields to inspire a positive outlook on the climate and counter the apathetic narrative that can arise from discussing the climate crisis.
A Look at the top 3 ideas in more detail
With Discussions concluded, the room then voted on the top 3 ideas overall. These ideas were:
#1 – A core module tailored to each discipline on navigating climate information and sustainable practices.
Demonstrating the power of assemblies, multiple groups all contributed ideas similar to this, including the group I facilitated.
Content for this first-year module would be 20-30% basic climate science and assessing climate change information. The remaining 70-80% of the module would be subject-specific content, such as sustainable research practice or critical analysis of media narratives surrounding the climate crisis. The University of Barcelona follows a similar practice (as reported by the Guardian in 2022) and focuses on building skills and competencies, which suits the framework outlined by Beverley in her presentation. Finally, It was suggested that this could take the form of an online training module on ELE about sustainability, similar to the consent module or communication skills modules that are already in place.
#2 – Ending research partnerships with and divesting funding from climate-damaging companies such as the fossil fuel industry and arms manufacturers.
Being transparent with the University’s investment and partnership policies increases trust in the organisation and allows research to be critically assessed for biases. This idea seeks to inform students about University research partnerships and funding, citing the previous partnership with Shell and current research partnerships with arms companies as a priority to be reassessed.
#3 – Hands-on community project work within the first year of study to build skills and connections.
This idea involved a practical opportunity given to first-year students for credit, to increase awareness of social and local issues, connect with members of the wider Exeter community and put complex skills into practice all whilst also benefitting wellbeing.
Concluding thoughts
A core theme that I felt echoed across the event is that no matter which direction the University takes, an interdisciplinary approach is fundamental to success. It was clear that it will take every possible field of research to work towards a better future; and every possible generation of Exeter’s vibrant community should come together to improve sustainable practices. Interdisciplinary action is a core ideal of the Global Systems Institute and extending this to reach the entire University is a logical next step to create the positive changes our community desires.
Once again, thank you to everyone who participated in any of these assemblies, they are invaluable to producing open discussion about the climate crisis at the University of Exeter. You can find the full transcript of ideas here.
If you are interested in attending the GSI Community Assemblies you can sign up to receive email updates on all of our upcoming events by emailing infoGSI@exeter.ac.uk, and check out the GSI’s News and Events page.