On June 6, 2025, the ENVIHEI Professional Development Program reached a new milestone with a double workshop session that empowered participants to both act and reflect on their journey as sustainability educators. Workshops 8 and 9, led by expert facilitators Aida Guerra and Dan Jiang, focused on applying the full range of skills and knowledge developed throughout the program to design meaningful educational interventions and explore personal growth through reflective teaching practices.
The first session of the day Workshop 8: Designing an Intervention for Sustainability Education, invited participants to translate learning into action. Educators worked in teams to design teaching and learning interventions that integrate environmental sustainability and problem-based learning (PBL) principles. Drawing on materials from earlier workshops, participants used a structured template to redesign either an activity or a course, addressing real pedagogical challenges within their institutions.
The main key learning outcomes included:
🌿 Designing and aligning interventions with sustainability competences
🌿 Integrating elements of PBL into lesson plans
🌿 Receiving and applying peer feedback based on constructive alignment and sustainability rubrics
The presentations that followed were rich in creativity and pedagogical innovation. Each team presented their design, followed by peer feedback guided by specific criteria, evaluating the integration of PBL, sustainability goals, and alignment between learning outcomes, teaching strategies, and assessment methods. This collaborative format allowed for mutual learning and highlighted how educators can become agents of change in their own academic environments.
Immediately after, Workshop 9: Reporting Your Professional Learning Journey, took participants inward with a session on reflective practice and professional development. The workshop emphasized the importance of documenting one’s learning journey—not only as a tool for personal growth but also as a foundation for professional excellence in sustainability education.
Using interactive activities, participants:
🌿 Envisioned the traits of an “excellent teacher” in the context of transformative learning
🌿 Reflected on their development during the ENVIHEI program
🌿 Explored frameworks like Cowan’s model for reflection and the role of teaching portfolio in fostering deep pedagogical insight
The session underscored that becoming a reflective practitioner means asking not only what and how we teach—but also why. Participants were encouraged to continue documenting their teaching development using reflective logs and portfolio templates available on Moodle, fostering a sustained habit of reflective growth.
As the ENVIHEI Professional Development Program progresses, these sessions reaffirm our commitment to equipping educators with both the tools and the mindset to embed environmental sustainability meaningfully into higher education.
Interested in attending the next sessions of our Professional Development Program? Learn more and register here: https://envihei.eu/professional-development-program/
Stay connected with us through our website and social media channels for the latest updates!
Discover more from ENVIHEI - Student-centered learning for ENVIronmental sustainability at Higher Education Institutions
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
