Background

Professional education programmes play a crucial role in preparing individuals to tackle global challenges, making the integration of sustainable development principles into these programmes essential. The emphasis on sustainability in professional education programmes is on the increase, and it is seen across various fields, including business, engineering, healthcare, and education, among others. There is a perceived need to explore how sustainability issues may be incorporated as part of professional education programmes, to ensure that future professionals are equipped with the knowledge and skills to address sustainability challenges. It is against this background that the Symposium ‘Teaching about sustainable development in professional education programmes’ is being organised.

Objectives of the event

The symposium ‘Teaching about sustainable development in professional education programmes’ pursues the following objectives:

• To present and discuss interdisciplinary teaching and learning methods that combine insights from various fields to provide comprehensive education on sustainable development.
• To showcase research and innovation in sustainable practices within professional fields, encouraging students and faculty to engage in projects that contribute to sustainability.
• To promote collaborations between academic institutions, industry, government, and non-governmental organizations to enhance the practical relevance and impact of education on sustainable development.

Finally, the symposium will discuss how best to engage learners more actively in sustainability initiatives and projects, to enhance their understanding and commitment to sustainable practices in their future professional roles.

Format of the symposium
The event will start at 9:00 and finish at 16:30.

It consists of:

• Plenary Sessions: With keynote speakers discussing overarching themes.
• Breakout Sessions: Focused group discussions on specialised topics.
• Exhibition Space: For organisations to showcase their works on sustainability education in professional education programmes.

The symposium will tackle a critical and timely topic, which may significantly contribute to sustainable development goals by fostering innovation and collaboration in the field of sustainability education in professional education.

Publishing opportunity

The experiences of the presenters will be documented and promoted in the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, the leading journal in this field. All papers are subject to peer-review and there can be no guarantee a given paper will be accepted by the journal. The standard peer-review procedures apply.

How to participate: submission of abstracts
Researchers may submit any complete, original, and unpublished research papers, either conceptual or empirical. The Turnitin similarity index must be below 20%.

We kindly request interested colleagues to submit an abstract of 200 to 300 words, along with the authors' names and full contact details, as soon as possible before 20 May 2024.

Full papers are due by 20 November 2024. Abstracts should be submitted to: sdevents@mmu.ac.uk.

Early submission of abstracts is strongly encouraged. The deadline for submissions of abstracts should not be regarded as the date the abstracts are due. Rather, it is the last possible day. Therefore, authors who submit their abstracts at a later stage should be mindful of the fact that presentation slots may be taken, and only poster presentations may be possible. Please submit your abstract as soon as you can, to avoid possible problems.

Fees
In other to offset some of the costs with the organisation of the event, we'll charge a registration fee of £120 per delegate. The fee also includes the coffee breaks and lunch on the day.