Abstract:

In a rapidly changing world, we need students who are flexible, resilient and show sustainable actions to make a difference in their careers and overall society. Hasselt University wants to meet these new challenges from its civic engagement. Sustainability is therefore one of the important central themes in the educational policy plan of our university.

In order to prepare our students to tackle the complex sustainability challenges in our society, we developed a university-wide competence framework. This competence framework consists of an integration of 21st century skills and sustainability competences, which we want all our students to achieve, to make them “future-proof”. These 4 competencies are: inclusive collaboration, systems thinking, ethical and sustainable reflection & sustainable action.

During the development of this competence framework, we regularly consulted with our faculties and students. That way, this competence framework is applicable in various disciplines, which makes it possible to integrate this into all curricula of our university. This implementation process will be supported by the central office of education. On the one hand, we offer university-wide support, e.g. staff professionalization, sharing of good practices and a toolbox. On the other hand, we offer tailor-made support to programs. This is how a new generation of future-proof students is formed.

Keywords:

Sustainability, skills, university-wide, education, bottom-up.