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Teaching

In TU Dresden’s teaching mission statement and university development plan, sustainability in
teaching is established as a holistic approach at TU Dresden and is to be structurally anchored
and promoted as part of the teaching strategy currently being developed. In line with the
United Nations’ Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD),
the aspect of sustainability in teaching is understood to be a cross-sectional task that is dealt
with in subject-specific modules and in interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning.
The environmental relevance of new courses of study is already being outlined when they
are being set up. The Studium Oecologicum certificate program affords students the option
of acquiring skills that complement their normal course of study. The Public Climate School,
which takes place every semester, and the teaching awards from the Association of Friends
and Sponsors of TU Dresden (Gesellschaft von Freunden und Förderern der TU Dresden,
GFF) provide incentives for implementing ESD in teaching. The teacher-training courses
at TU Dresden in particular include mandatory ESD modules. In addition, interdisciplinary
courses in environmental education and ESD, as well as service-learning opportunities in the
context of sustainability, are offered. The teaching opportunities are open to society at large
in cooperation with the climate schools, the Citizens’ University, and the Seniors’ Academy.
Internationally, for example, joint teaching programs are being developed in the combined
M.Sc. program on Water Security and Global Change at the ABCD-Centre.

The courses and modules of Education for Sustainable Development currently
implemented at TU Dresden and their monitoring represent good practices for
strategically anchoring, internationally expanding, and structurally promoting
sustainability in teaching in the future, accompanied by appropriate quality
management. The aim is to ensure a high quality of ESD in the courses offered at
TU Dresden by having appropriately trained teaching staff in order to empower
students to think critically and reflectively and to act responsibly with regard to
ecological sustainability.

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