STEM2020 - Sustainability matters: How can we engage our students in thinking about sustainability issues?

The term sustainability encompasses diverse areas relevant to healthcare and the training of medical students. Renewed emphasis both specific to healthcare and the introduction of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals has emphasised the importance of increasing awareness of sustainability through education. Aligned with Keele’s own commitment we devised a small group teaching event with a supporting keynote lecture. We further developed the session into an integrated workshop drawing on contemporary issues in sustainability and local social issues, making explicit links to the SDGs and education for sustainability theory. This successfully encouraged engagement and broadened students’ understanding of sustainability issues.