Supported by CHARM-EU, this webinar-series shares the background of Trinity College Dublin’s (TCD) ‘Enacting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Trinity’ staff development module in the context of the Joint Educational Activities (CHARM-ED) partnership between TCD, ELTE and UB.
The Enacting ESD project will enable staff to experience, and then integrate the student-centred, action-oriented and transformative approaches into their teaching envisaged in UNESCO’s preferred pedagogical approaches. The project will adapt resources previously used for professional development in TCD to create a micro-credential format shareable across the CHARM-EU Alliance. Spotlighting the experiential workshop in the theme ‘exploring worldviews, perceptions and values’, (supported by video’s and teaching guides available as Open Education Resources at TCD), this first, 50-minutes webinar (to be followed by two more), will outline the background to development of the Enacting ESD module in TCD, and then introduce the theory underpinning the workshop design. The final section will provide opportunity for Q&A.
‘Exploring worldviews, perceptions and values’ is one of five related blocks forming a module, collaboratively developed by an interdisciplinary staff-student team in TCD (2023-2024). Videos are grounded in the Sustainable Development Goals, Rockstrom and Colleagues’ planetary boundaries and Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics shortfall dimensions providing core insights from experts. Mining in the Congo provides real-world case studies, developed by student interns, helping learners to question their worldviews, perceptions and values related to sustainability dilemmas from community, policy maker and corporate perspectives. Workshop activities incorporate cycles of role play and peer debate that induce learners to accommodate alternate perspectives presented by their peers using established techniques for moral reasoning competencies development. Reflection on Raworth’s social equity and gender equality dimensions are prioritised. Having experienced the workshop process as a learner, facilitated exploration of the theoretical underpinnings, or pedagogical approach, used in workshop design supports Teaching Practice development for those enacting Education for Sustainable Development.
Date: Monday, 15 December
Time: 10:00-11:00 UTC / 11:00-12:00 CET
Format: Online panel discussion (live stream + sound recording available afterwards)
Join here: Teams
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This event is open to all CHARM-EU members and anyone beyond who is curious to learn. No registration required.
Stand by for two more upcoming Enacting ESD webinars on 19 January and 16 February 2026!
Acknowledgements
The Trinity College Dublin, Eötvös Loránd University and the University of Barcelona partnership is supported by CHARM-ED (2025-2026) funding to support the development, enhancement, or redesign of higher education and lifelong learning activities across the CHARM-EU Alliance.
Module content and activities were developed collaboratively by six ESD Fellows (Carlos Rocha, Cicely Roche, Sarah-Jane Cullinane, John Gallagher, Clare Kelly, and Felix Mezzanotte) and four student interns, (Maryam Yabo, William Reynolds, Freddie Fallon and Tom Hegarty), as part of TCD’s ‘Enacting Education for Sustainable Development in Trinity’ programme in 2023-2024. A wide range of students and staff actively engaged with and impacted positively on piloting and continuous improvement of workshops during late 2023-2024. Content was edited to OER format by Mr Kevin O Connor at the Centre for Academic Practice in TCD (2025).
The work on the Enacting ESD module was funded by the National Forum/Higher Education Authority (Ireland) under the Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund.
Dr. Cicely Roche
Cicely Roche joined the TCD Education for Sustainable Development project, as a Fellow in ESD, in May 2023, and is currently on secondment (September 2023) from her TCD Education Fellow/Academic Developer position with the Centre for Academic Practice. Cicely’s key interests are in the areas of development of ethical/moral reasoning competencies, ePortfolio for experiential learning, use of curriculum design to drive competencies development, reflective practice and Programme-Focused approaches to assessment. Her PhD (2016) explored the development and evaluation of moral reasoning competencies in pharmacists, i.e. abilities underpinning decision-making through the ambiguity inherent in moral dilemmas (Roche & Thoma, 2017).
She continues to research approaches to curriculum design that scaffold participants’ development of competencies that support ethically defensible decision-making through ambiguity. Dr Roche’s current research explores the adaptation of this approach for use in Academic Online Modules associated with in-service placements for 4th year pharmacy students (Roche et al, 2019) and in Interprofessional Learning (FHS Dean’s Innovation in Teaching Award 2018 and 2022).
Contact: rocheci@tcd.ie