TY - CHAP

T1 - Connecting sustainability and culture

T2 - Building competencies through virtual exchange

AU - Birdman, Jodie

AU - Çelik, Handan

AU - Pandarova, Irina

AU - Barron, Anne

AU - Benitt, Nora

AU - Schmidt, Torben

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

PY - 2025/4/8

Y1 - 2025/4/8

N2 - In A/Res/70/1 (the 2030 Agenda) the UN General Assembly presents a vision of universal values for a more sustainable future, including fostering intercultural understanding and global citizenship. One traditional approach to doing so is to include international exchange programs as part of the university experience. Such exchange programs are not equally available to all students for a myriad of reasons, including economic, social, and political. Virtual exchanges, while also not universally accessible, offer more students the opportunity to create international connections within a mutual learning environment. While virtual exchanges have long been of interest for competence development in language education, the potential for education for sustainable development (ESD) has yet to be explored. We designed a class with a virtual exchange at the core, and which connects students from Leuphana University, Germany with students at Trabzon University in Türkiye. Throughout the semester, the students worked in mixed groups to investigate and write a blog on a sustainability solution of their choice as it is embedded in their respective, local communities. They collaborated virtually while learning about intercultural competence, global citizenship, and the cultural aspect of sustainability in a blended-learning environment. In this paper, we will present an argument for the usefulness of methods used in language education for sustainability competencies. We then describe the course design and delivery as well as initial exploration of student learning outcomes using the students’ reflective journals. We found that the students found the project work in mixed, virtual teams motivating and added complexity to their understanding of interpersonal competence and sustainability solutions.

AB - In A/Res/70/1 (the 2030 Agenda) the UN General Assembly presents a vision of universal values for a more sustainable future, including fostering intercultural understanding and global citizenship. One traditional approach to doing so is to include international exchange programs as part of the university experience. Such exchange programs are not equally available to all students for a myriad of reasons, including economic, social, and political. Virtual exchanges, while also not universally accessible, offer more students the opportunity to create international connections within a mutual learning environment. While virtual exchanges have long been of interest for competence development in language education, the potential for education for sustainable development (ESD) has yet to be explored. We designed a class with a virtual exchange at the core, and which connects students from Leuphana University, Germany with students at Trabzon University in Türkiye. Throughout the semester, the students worked in mixed groups to investigate and write a blog on a sustainability solution of their choice as it is embedded in their respective, local communities. They collaborated virtually while learning about intercultural competence, global citizenship, and the cultural aspect of sustainability in a blended-learning environment. In this paper, we will present an argument for the usefulness of methods used in language education for sustainability competencies. We then describe the course design and delivery as well as initial exploration of student learning outcomes using the students’ reflective journals. We found that the students found the project work in mixed, virtual teams motivating and added complexity to their understanding of interpersonal competence and sustainability solutions.

KW - Language Studies

KW - English

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105002806686&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-031-80434-2_40

DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-80434-2_40

M3 - Chapter

SN - 978-3-031-80433-5

SN - 978-3-031-80436-6

T3 - World Sustainability Series

SP - 729

EP - 747

BT - North American and European Perspectives on Sustainability in Higher Education

A2 - Filho, Walter Leal

A2 - Newman, Julie

A2 - Lange, Salvia Amanda

A2 - Trevisan, Laís Viera

A2 - Corazza, Laura

PB - Springer Nature Switzerland AG

CY - Cham

ER -