Sustainability Curriculum Framework
The following framework outlines critical sustainability themes to integrate into your
curriculum.
Each theme, followed by specific examples, emphasizes one key aspect of Second Nature's
vision of sustainability. This tool is designed to simplify the complex process of
incorporating sustainability content into higher education curricula. By breaking down
sustainability into its essential (but inseparable) components, the framework provides
content to guide each educators unique teaching process.
The framework is always under development. We welcome your comments and suggestions
for improving its structure and content.
Critical Sustainability Themes
1. Scale
• time -- the immediate to intergenerational effects of human activity
• geographic -- the local to global effects of human impact (short- and long-term)
2. Human Connections to the Physical and Natural World
• humans are a part of nature
• humans can live in harmony with nature
• human inventions and activities that mirror natural systems
• the effects of the physical (i.e., built environment) and the natural environment on
human health
• the relationship of population, consumption, technology and carrying capacity to the
biosphere
3. Ethics and Values
• issues of equity, justice, culture and sustainable development
• different ways of measuring societal well being (e.g., the concepts of qualitative
change (development) and quantitative change (growth))
• individual and community improvement as important components of economic/social
development
• methods of decision making (e.g., the precautionary principle as well as the principle
of scientific certainty)
4. How Natural Systems Function
• natural laws govern the functioning of the biosphere
• interdependence and holism (e.g., if part of the system is sick, what is the effect on
the whole system?)
• ecosystems as communities with hierarchies of relationships
• partnerships, cooperation and competition
5. Technological and Economic Relationships to Sustainability
• technical, scientific and institutional strategies that foster sustainable development
• energy and natural resource efficiency and conservation
• shifting from nonrenewable resources (e.g., fossil fuels) to renewable resources
• prevention and control of pollution and waste
• design for the environment, industrial ecology and ecologically sustainable design
• remediation of current environmental problems and preservation of biological
diversity
6. Motivating Environmentally Sustainable Behavior
• social, legal and governmental frameworks for guiding environmental management
and sustainable development
• the relationships of population, consumption, culture, social equity and the
environment
• micro- and macroeconomic signals (i.e., prices or taxes that affect environmentally
sustainable or unsustainable action)
• how spirituality and cultural beliefs affect environmentally sustainable behavior
7. Pedagogical Strategies for Integrating Sustainability
• utilization of experiential and service-learning on campus and in the larger
community
• connection of theories that are discussed in class with conditions and situations in
the real world, including the hidden curriculum of the campus environment
• examination of topics from interdisciplinary and systemic perspectives, recognizing
the complex interdependence of social, cultural, economic, political, individual and
biospheric activity)
• encouragement of research that supports sustainable economic and technological
strategies, promotes energy and resource efficiency and productivity, and mirrors
natural systems
Second Nature is a Boston-based national nonprofit organization working to help higher education
prepare future professionals for the increasingly complex environmental and social challenges we
face. We offer colleges and universities a range of programs, training sessions, one-on-one
consulting and resources to make the integration of environmental sustainability thinking
"second nature" to higher education.
99 Chauncy Street, Sixth Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02111-1703
617/292-7771 • 617/292-0150 fax
http://www.secondnature.org
[email protected]