Green Gown Awards 2014 - Courses and Learning - Aston University - Finalist

The Aston MSc Social Responsibility and Sustainability – developing responsible leaders of tomorrow

Linking the part time/distance learning (DL) students with the full time students has facilitated the opportunities for shared learning. The DL students are often working in CSR/Sustainability roles in different countries and industries across the world.

The programme offers a number of online seminars and lecturers where both on campus and online distance learning students are invited to participate. Students’ communication assignments include producing a short video - these are screened throughout the campus during Aston’s Go Green week and are also made available to online DL students on Aston’s virtual learning environment.

Additionally, a number of related public engagement/education events are held with business and community organisations on campus, in public venues such as the Library of Birmingham and online via Aston’s VLE.

Top 3 learnings

1 An interdisciplinary approach to the MSc presents challenges but these are outweighed by the new understandings gained by staff and students being exposed to different perspectives
2 Making the MSc available to students on other courses extends the ‘cross fertilisation of ideas’ to spread beyond the course itself
3 The use of personal reflection and reflexivity surfaces the sharing of personal, cultural and societal values to underpin the learning experience.

Videos

• The Aston MSc Social Responsibility and Sustainability – developing responsible leaders of tomorrow (click to hide)