Putting Sustainability Theory into Practice: Developing Networking and Consultancy Opportunities in the Curriculum to Create Real Value Add

Abstract

This paper presented the findings from an innovative collaborative final year undergraduate module that has been designed to focus on real life sustainability challenges. The module has been designed based on the premise that young people, who are transitioning from higher education into management roles, have the potential to be key players in championing and driving sustainability and sustainable development goals (SDGs). For students to ‘be the change’ universities have the opportunity to work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders to create innovative opportunities to allow students to put theory into practice in safe and supported places and spaces. Using an appreciative inquiry approach (Cooperrider and Srivastva, Pasmore and Woodman (eds), Research in Organization Change and Development, 1, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, 1987;Cooperrider and Srivastva, Pasmore and Woodman (eds), Research in Organization Change and Development, 25, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, 2017;) the module was introduced in the academic year 2020/21, developed further in 2021/22 and 2022/23 in the Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) Business School. The module uses a reformative and capacity building approach (Sterling in Higher education and the challenge of sustainability: contestation, critique, practice, and promise. Kluwer Academic, 2004) with students provided with the opportunity of connecting their theoretical understanding of sustainability with real life unique projects sourced from real life clients. These projects focused on SDGs 7, 8, 9 and 12. This paper presents the results achieved to date from a growing number of projects. Details of an ongoing research project that focuses on developing more complex measures of value to add the understanding value from a multi-stakeholder perspective are also presented.