Higher Education for Sustainable Consumption: Concept and Results of a Transdisciplinary Project Course

We introduce the notion of sustainable consumption as a transdisciplinary challenge to higher education through the presentation of a concept sem
inar designed as a response to this challenge. The seminar aimed to equip students with the skills and competencies needed to design informal learning settings in close collaboration with campus service-providers (e.g. coffee shops, canteen, campus vegetable stall, bike repair shop) with the goal of
incorporating sustainability principles into students’ experience while obtaining or consuming those services. The student projects were informed and guided by the didactic first phase of the seminar where transdisciplinary collaboration for sustainable development, informal learning theories, consumer competence models and project management were covered.
Results of the project course comprise (a) self-reported competence increase in designing and providing settings for sustainable learning on side of the participating students, (b) highly visible imprints of sustainable consumption on the entire campus and (c) an increased awareness of the principles and objectives of sustainable consumption for the participating service-provider partners.