Important information for KAU applicants

Applicants from Karlstad University need to complete two registrations.

The registration form at the bottom of this page is Karlstad University’s formal course registration and places you on KAU’s participant list.

The HEDS application form provides the international HEDS course team with information needed to organise the course and form diverse PBL groups, including your professional background and the days and times when you are normally available for group meetings.

Please complete both registrations:

1. Complete the KAU registration form on this page.
2. Complete the HEDS application form.

Both registrations are required for KAU applicants.

Overview

Higher Education Didactics for Sustainability (HEDS) is an international online course for educators, pedagogical developers and others involved in curriculum design in higher education who want to explore how sustainability can be integrated into teaching and learning.

The course uses problem-based learning (PBL). Participants work in small, interdisciplinary groups, sharing experiences, perspectives and practices while exploring approaches and competencies relevant to education for sustainability.

HEDS is collaboratively organised by several universities, creating opportunities to learn across disciplines, institutions and national contexts. Previous participants have particularly highlighted the value of this diversity and of the professional networks that develop through the course.

The course language is English and the course is conducted entirely online. Most synchronous meetings take place in Zoom, while PBL groups may also use other digital tools according to their needs. Participants therefore need access to a computer and a sufficiently stable internet connection for online group meetings.

Content

The course develops participants’ understanding of approaches such as Education for Sustainability (EfS) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), combining theoretical perspectives with practical exploration of teaching and learning.

Through literature, discussions and collaborative group work, participants explore how sustainability can be meaningfully integrated into their own educational contexts.

The course is organised around four main content modules:

• Making Sense of Sustainability: Explores foundational questions about sustainability, including underlying principles and paradigms, and aims to deepen understanding of why sustainability is relevant to higher education curricula.
• Competencies, Frameworks, and Curriculum: Introduces key sustainability competencies such as systems thinking, values thinking and problem-solving, and explores how these can be integrated into existing courses and programmes.
• Didactical Models for Teaching and Learning Sustainability: Considers didactic approaches such as holism, pluralism and transdisciplinarity and relates them to teaching and learning for sustainability across different disciplines.
• The Future Role of the University: Invites participants to reflect on the evolving role of universities in relation to future scenarios and major sustainability challenges, including the ethical responsibilities of educators, academics and higher education institutions.

We value self-directed learning and encourage participants to adapt and apply the course content to their own context, professional responsibilities, teaching practices and values.

Expectations

The course corresponds to approximately 80 hours of study in total, or around six hours per week. The workload includes synchronous course webinars, regular meetings in your PBL group, individual preparation and reflection, and collaborative work between meetings.

Collaborative learning is central to HEDS. Regular attendance, active participation and engagement with your PBL group are therefore essential. The course community is built around values of presence, care, honesty, respect and engagement.

Because the PBL groups work together throughout the course, participants are expected to make time for regular synchronous group meetings. In the HEDS application form, you will therefore be asked to indicate days and times when you are normally available.

HEDS is collaboratively organised by a network of partner universities. Current information about the HEDS collaboration can be found at heds.network.

Participants from outside the partner universities are also welcome to apply as open learners through the HEDS application form.