10 ESD in Action: Practices and Approaches at UCC

Dr Catherine O’Mahony explores how ESD is being embedded in practice across UCC, highlighting approaches that support staff, students, and community partners in engaging meaningfully with sustainability.

She begins by situating ESD within the UN SDG 4.7, which calls for education that fosters the knowledge, skills, and values needed for sustainable living. At UCC, this has translated into multiple entry points for staff: some connect naturally with the SDGs, while others work through the lens of competencies such as systems thinking, critical reflection, or normative values. Recognising this diversity, UCC has encouraged flexible pathways into ESD.

Pedagogically, UCC emphasises transformative learning through the “head, heart, and hands” model—building knowledge, engaging emotions and values, and enabling practical action. This is realised through methods such as case-based learning, project-based learning, cooperative inquiry, and community-based research. Dr O’Mahony illustrates this with examples including postgraduate modules in community-based participatory research, where students co-design projects with local organisations, and creative approaches in the humanities, such as applying sustainability frameworks to the study of German literature.

Mapping exercises reveal that 75% of UCC’s undergraduate programmes now explicitly reference the SDGs, particularly Goals 3, 4, and 5. This stepwise integration—ranging from introductory engagement to full programme design—shows how ESD can be embedded progressively across disciplines.

Dr O’Mahony concludes that while approaches differ, what matters is creating opportunities for transformative learning, collaboration, and student leadership, ensuring sustainability becomes part of everyday academic practice.

About the author

name: Dr Catherine O’Mahony

institution: University College Cork

Dr Catherine O’Mahony is the Director of the Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) at University College Cork.