About this Course

This online course aims to create awareness and strengthen water education through increased knowledge on how to embed it into a more challenging and meaningful approach towards Education for Sustainability and Global Citizenship.

In the current global context of acknowledged environmental hazards of pressing importance, Education plays a key role in fostering sustainability and empowering citizens to act locally while contributing to global challenges. Yet educational systems may need to adjust their practices to embrace the full potential that Education for Sustainability and Global Citizenship offers. Content-laden encyclopedic teaching, subject-based curriculum designs and top-down school management approaches can be replaced by student-centered learning, interdisciplinary project-based curriculums and distributed leadership management schemes.

Thus, when a school or university dives into a wholistic approach towards sustainability and global citizenship, other forms of improvement of its teaching and management practices come in the wake, and bring forth paradigm shifts that make the school or university a scalable model for sustainable communities.

Sponsored by a partnership of international development organisations, participating in the course as well as obtaining a certificate has no costs for participants.

Guiding questions

By the end of the course participants will have explored alternative answers to these overarching issues:

• What should water education be about?
• Can such a complex concept as Sustainability be tackled in schools/universities?
• What are the challenges facing Water Education for Sustainability and Global Citizenship?
• What teaching, learning and management approaches are more suitable to promote Sustainability and Global Citizenship?
• What examples / case studies / resources can be looked at for inspiration?

Participants

Participants representing various stakeholder groups from the entire water / education sector worldwide and who are interested in actively following the course, participate in all activities, and complete all modules to promote education for sustainability and global citizenship.

• school teachers, principles, managers, planners and policy makers,
• water capacity developers and researchers,
• anyone interested in exploring ways in which schools, universities and educational systems can foster Water Education by means of an approach based on Sustainability and Global Citizenship.

As this an introductory course, participants are not expected to have previous knowledge on water education for sustainability and global citizenship.

As this an introductory course, participants are not expected to have previous knowledge on water education for sustainability.

Contents and course structure

In each module participants will find valuable and updated readings, videos, suggested web sites, and experiences from the ground.

• Module 1: Making sense of sustainability at school/university
• Module 2: Focusing on Teaching Approaches
• Module 3: Planning for Water Education in Schools/university
• Module 4: Learning from other models

Course approval criteria and certificate

Responding to the quiz at the end of each module and obtaining at least 60% correct responses is a condition to move into each next module, completing the course, and receiving the certificate. There are three opportunities to reach 60% of correct answers, and in all cases the platform will indicate the wrong answers.

Certificate

After completing the 4 modules, participants are invited to answer a short feedback survey of the course. Once this survey is answered, participants may download their certificate. Participation in the course, as well as the download of the certificate, has no cost for the participants.

Registration

This is a self-paced course. There are 300 vacancies opened to take this course. Enrolled participants must complete the course before November 15th. Passed that day, participants will have access to the course content, but they will no longer be able to advance in their modules or have the possibility of completing the course and getting a certificate. Later, the opening of a new edition of the course for more participants will be announced.

Participants interested in taking this course are welcome to enrol by clicking in the button "Apply now".