In 2011, the University of Winnipeg launched a new Post Baccalaureate Diploma in Education (PBDE) in Education for Sustainability. The program was designed to:
- suit the needs of teachers, team leaders in science and social studies, educators in informal educational settings such as museums and outdoor education institutions; and
- give students a comprehensive overview of formal and informal approaches to sustainability education.
Courses offered include a range of electives (e.g. field based learning, problem-based learning) and core courses (e.g. cultural perspectives and sustainability, comparative and international education.
The initial core course, Introduction Teaching for Sustainability serves as the foundations course for the Diploma. Dawn Sutherland and Natalie Swayze, Professors of this course, said:
“we opted to use the Earth Charter as a framework for the course. The Earth Charter provides a very broad perspective on sustainability and thus is helpful for educators who wish to develop a comprehensive approach to education for sustainability. The Earth Charter is also a document that invites the reader to develop an ethic around sustainability before creating and initiating lessons that address sustainability topics.”
Prof. Swayze and Sutherland were also very pleased with how easily they were able to apply the Earth Charter into the course.