Sustainability Teaching Network
Are you currently teaching sustainability or are interested in learning more about it?
Both academic and professional staff are welcome to join the new Sustainability Teaching Network, a community of staff who are intrigued to learn more about what is going on in this space and what might be possible in the future.
Network meetings will be held monthly via Zoom. Each meeting will feature two staff members sharing their teaching practice, breakout group discussions, and updates on any relevant opportunities.
* UoA staff login required.
For general enquires, please email: stn@auckland.ac.nz
Regular meetings
Meetings for the STN will be every two months for the rest of 2024.
Please feel free to share this seminar information and meeting link around your networks. We look forward to seeing you at the seminar.
Friday 26 July, 1 – 2pm
Dr Alessandro Premier on teamwork strategies and Dr Dan Tisch on teaching climate change at scale.
Friday 20 September, 1 – 2pm
Assoc. Professor Jamie Gillen on teaching climate change and sustainability in Global Studies and Dr Wender Martins on sustainable practices with real-world business cases.
Friday 15 November, 1 – 2pm
Prompts for presenters
Members of the network are encouraged to present, but this is not compulsory.
- What key concepts do you teach?
- What do you hope your students are learning?
- How do you conduct yourself as a teacher?
- How do you approach assessment?
- What do you find challenging?
- Do you want to try something new?
Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable World
In between our regular meetings we invite you to join us for the Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable World seminar series.
November presentations
Gigi Lim: Fostering Collaboration and Transdisciplinary Skills: The Key to Sustainable Solutions
By Gigi Lim.
In an era where sustainable solutions are essential to address complex socio-ecological and geopolitical challenges, fostering collaboration and transdisciplinary skills is key. This presentation, Fostering Collaboration and Transdisciplinary Skills: The Key to Sustainable Solutions, explores how Higher Education can utilize networked knowledge systems to prepare future leaders to engage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and navigate a rapidly changing world. Using a case study assessment on collaborative learning, this presentation illustrates how collaborative learning not only equips students with the skills necessary for problem-solving across disciplines but also cultivates attitudes of cooperation, shared responsibility, and systems thinking. These competencies are critical for effective sustainability practices, as they enable students to approach global issues with a mindset geared toward collective action, innovation, and ethical stewardship. By integrating these principles into contemporary programs, Higher Education can produce graduates equipped to address the challenges of sustainable development with both technical proficiency and a collaborative spirit.
Bio: Gigi Lim, Senior Lecturer at the School of Nursing, is a registered nurse in New Zealand with over 30 years of experience, including international work in the USA and the Philippines. Committed to equity and sustainability, she began her career leading community health initiatives on maternal and child nutrition, empowering mothers to tackle malnutrition with locally sourced foods. Her Master’s research under Professor John Raeburn focused on skill-building for the unemployed, while her PhD examined prescribing competencies. Currently, Gigi teaches interprofessional collaboration and sustainable healthcare practices to prepare nurse prescribers for complex challenges in collaborative prescribing, aiming to improve patient outcomes.
Trudi Aspden: Reducing the Environmental Harm of Our BPharm Pharmaceutical Compounding Classes: Making a Start
by Trudi Aspden, Ellen Zhao, Amy Wei, Lynn Gregory, Susan Liu and Stella Dawkins.
Pharmacists are dedicated to optimising health outcomes through the effective use of medicines. One example of this is compounding, where pharmacists prepare formulations tailored to individual patients, using tools like a mortar and pestle or an ointment slab. This practice has been a part of pharmacy for centuries and still occurs today. Compounding remains an essential skill to teach pharmacy students but, like all areas of healthcare, we must consider and reduce the environmental impact of this practice while ensuring that neither the learning experience nor patient outcomes are compromised.
This short talk will describe how the School of Pharmacy compounding teaching team, primarily comprising pharmacy technicians, has successfully reduced the environmental impact of teaching BPharm students how to extemporaneously compound medicinal products.
Bio: Trudi Aspden is a senior lecturer in pharmacy practice in the School of Pharmacy, FMHS. She primarily teaches in the early years of the BPharm programme, with a focus on supporting students to develop the foundational skills essential for pharmacists. In recent years, along with colleague Dr Sara Hanning, she has introduced aspects of environmental sustainability into her teaching. This has involved making changes to both teaching content and delivery.