Goal 13: Climate action

Goal 13: Learning and teaching

Climate action depends on people having the knowledge, skills and confidence to understand a changing climate and contribute to solutions through their future professions and communities.

At ARU, climate and sustainability learning is not confined to environmental degrees: we have made a commitment to include sustainability across all courses, supported by our Education for Sustainability programme, which equips students with the knowledge, skills and values needed to build a more responsible future.

Students can also explore climate action through interdisciplinary Ruskin Modules, which are framed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals and form part of most undergraduate degrees, bringing students from different subjects together to tackle challenges including sustainability and natural-resource use. This innovative approach has received national and international recognition, with the Ruskin Modules winning the Green Gown Award for Next Generation Learning and Skills in 2023 and receiving a Highly Commended award at the International Green Gown Awards in 2024.

Student engagement in commercial-scale sustainability trials on peat-free growing media
In December 2024, ARU in Writtle launched a new partnership with ICL focused on advancing sustainable horticulture through trials of peat-reduced and peat-free growing media. The collaboration provides students in Writtle with industry-standard growing media and products while enabling BSc and MSc Horticulture students to undertake commercial-scale research trials. Students are testing the performance of peat-free growing systems, including trials of ICL's biostimulant products and technologies designed to improve the performance of sustainable growing media. The research is generating practical evidence to support growers as the horticulture sector transitions away from peat-based growing systems, while providing students with hands-on experience of sustainability challenges facing the industry. The partnership explicitly combines industry-led learning, applied research and knowledge exchange to support more sustainable production practices within horticulture.

Tackling climate action through Ruskin Modules
Ruskin Modules are part of most undergraduate degrees at ARU and are explicitly framed around the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 13. They bring students from different disciplines together to examine complex societal and environmental challenges, building skills in collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving. This innovative approach won the Green Gown Award for Next Generation Learning and Skills in 2023 and was Highly Commended at the International Green Gown Awards in 2024.

Particularly relevant modules in the Sustainable Futures pathway include:

  • How can we protect water, land and air? connecting environmental protection with pressures on natural resources.
  • How can we connect more deeply to our environment? encouraging students to examine people's relationships with the natural world.
  • What does sustainability mean to me? providing space for students to consider sustainability and their own capacity to contribute to change.
  • How can we balance food waste with food insecurity? connecting consumption, resource use and food-system challenges.

Together, these modules enable climate education to reach students well beyond environmental science courses, encouraging learners from different disciplines to understand sustainability as a complex societal challenge rather than a purely technical environmental problem.



Last updated: October 2026

To request additions, corrections or changes to the information in these pages, please contact: Dr Zareen Bharucha: [email protected]. Please use the subject line ‘ARU SDG’.