Together for a sus­tain­able future: Lec­tur­ers at Univer­sität Inns­bruck develop inter­dis­ci­pli­nary teach­ing and learn­ing con­cepts for WS24

On the first day of the PLA, the participants, who came from a total of 10 of the 16 faculties, were welcomed by Irene Häntschel-Ehrhart, Vice-Rector for Digitalisation and Sustainability and Bernhard Fügenschuh, Vice-Rector for Teaching and Students, together with Prof. Dr Hans Stötter (UniNetZ) and the moderator team Franziska Allerberger, MSc. (UniNEtZ) and Mag.art. Bernhard Kernegger (University of Applied Arts Vienna).

The day began with a keynote speech by Prof. Dr Helga Kromp-Kolb (BOKU), followed by a lively discussion. After a short break, the event continued with the premiere of the Future box university, which was followed by an input from MMag. Helga Mayr PhD (PHT) on ESD and transformative education.

The participants then had the opportunity to give free rein to their creativity. This included the Crazy 8 process, followed by the further development of ideas in groups and a presentation and discussion of these in plenary, which, together with the creation of profiles, served as a further discovery phase for the planned team teaching.

The second day of the PLA began with the presentation of LOUIS (Learning Outcomes in University for Impact on Society), a model for describing transversal learning outcomes, by Prof. Dr Florian Friday (University of Duisburg-Essen) and JUDr Maxim Tomoszek, PhD (Palacký University Olomouc). The two experts from the Aurora European Universities Alliance showed how LOUIS, with its intuitive progressive descriptors, can be used as a common language and tool for teaching development and for more transparency in the communication and assessment of learning outcomes.

From this point onwards, experts from a wide range of fields, including student representatives, were available to the teaching teams on call on site or by telephone (for individual SDGs) to work on the specific course concepts.

The day ended with the eagerly awaited elevator pitches, in which the participants presented their ideas and outlines for courses. After the pitches, a feedback round took place where the participants received valuable feedback from students, colleagues and experts to further improve their concepts.

On the third and final day of the event, Prof. Dr Mandy Singer-Brodowski (University of Regensburg, NESCO ESD programme "ESD for 2030") was available to the participants for a short keynote speech and, above all, for individual feedback.

Towards the end of the event, the teachers once again had the opportunity to present their course concepts to the students, their peers and the experts in order to receive further feedback/suggestions. The group then reflected on the most important takeaways from the event and how these findings could be integrated into their own practice as well as into university teaching development.

After three very labour-intensive days, which were accompanied by members of the Rectorate on site, a community of teachers and students equipped with well-developed course concepts left the Bildungshaus St. Michael.

Thanks to the interdisciplinary cooperation at eye level and the commitment of all participants, the university's course programme for winter semester 2024 will be enriched by no fewer than eight innovative, interdisciplinary, learning outcome-oriented courses. These courses will make a visible contribution to further development towards sustainability.