A systemic approach to incorporate sustainability into university courses and curricula

This article is based on an analysis of Lund University that took place during the summer and autumn of 2004 (available for download at www.iiiee.lu.se, click library and publications). The university had experienced a loss of momentum in their progress regarding environmental issues. The purpose of the study was to identify barriers to including sustainability-related content throughout Lund University curricula, and eventually to develop solutions to eliminate/overcome these barriers. The article describes how Meadowsʹ “Places to intervene in a system” [Meadows D. Leverage points: places to intervene in a system. Hartland, VT, USA: Sustainability Institute; 1999] was used as a tool to systematically discover these barriers. The same intervention places are used as a basis for deriving solutions to eliminate/overcome the barriers. The main conclusions of this article are that Meadows list can be a useful tool to a. systematically identify and characterise the barriers towards achieving the organisational objective of incorporating SD into courses and curricula; b. identify ways to overcome these barriers; c. increase chances that these barriers are addressed with sufficient leverage.The authors also experienced that the work method described here provides excellent fuel for creativity.