Trainer Guide: Sustainability and Eco‑Justice in Everyday Research:
ModulesTrainer Guide: Sustainability and Eco‑Justice in Everyday Research:
What is this about?
This resource is designed to support educators in organizing training activities on sustainability and Eco-Justice in Everyday Research. It builds on the content developed for the corresponding course and is intended for trainers who wish to use and adapt this material in their own teaching.
The resource offers a range of activities that can be incorporated into training sessions and learning environments. It is intended as a flexible template from which trainers can select and adapt activities according to their specific teaching objectives, contexts, and participants’ needs.Familiarize yourself with the content of the course
Before delivering your training session(s), take time to familiarize yourself with the RE4GREEN course materials.
- Begin with the introductory micromodule to understand the course scope and approach.
- Explore the available materials and resources.
The RE4GREEN course is designed as a flexible toolbox. Trainers are encouraged to:
- Select content based on the intended learning goals
- Select content based on their target audience
About the course
The course follows a progressive learning logic that moves from foundational values to systemic analysis and critical engagement, then to future‑oriented reflection, and finally to practical action.
The course is structured as follows:
Section 1: Embodying Sustainability Values
- Introduces ethical and conceptual foundations
- Covers key principles such as environmental justice, planetary health, and care-based approaches
Section 2: Embracing Complexity
- Focuses on systems thinking and interconnected sustainability challenges
- Includes analytical exercises and reflection tools
Section 3: Envisioning Sustainable Futures
- Explores transformative thinking and future perspectives
- Encourages reflection on alternative research pathways
Section 4: Acting for Sustainability
- Focuses on practical implementation
- Translates concepts into actionable changes in research practices
Although designed as a sequence, each micromodule is self-contained. Trainers and learners can:
- Follow structured learning paths based on target audience, or
- Select modules based on specific needs and interest
Define Learning Goals
Develop clear and specific learning objectives for your session(s), aligned with the modules.
Expected learning outcomes are in line with the competence profile described in step 1 and may include:
- Understand the environmental, social, and ethical impact of research practices.
- Recognize the complexity and interconnected nature of sustainability challenges
- Identify opportunities to align research with societal and environmental priorities
- Apply practical strategies to make research more responsible and sustainable
Adapt your session to your audience. Not all materials are suitable for all learners.
Use the filtering functionality and consider the four stakeholder groups:
- Researchers
- Students
- Citizen scientists
- Ethics reviewers
Design your session(s) with a training template
Once you have familiarized yourself with the material and defined the learning goals for your teaching activity, you can begin planning your session(s). After establishing these goals, consider assigning participants the completion of those micromodules which can provide them with the foundational knowledge required to engage meaningfully with the activities in your session(s).
The session structure provided below can serve as a training template, helping you organize and deliver your in-class activities in a clear and effective way.
TRAINING TEMPLATE
Welcome & Introduction
- Introduce yourself and outline the session plan
- Present the learning objectives
- Start with a warm-up question:
- “What’s one word that comes to mind when you think of sustainability in research?”
- “What aspect of sustainability in research makes you feel excited or uneasy?”
You can collect answers using a virtual board or ask people to reflect on these questions with their neighbours.
- Briefly introduce the topics you are going to address (drawing on RE4GREEN materials)
Icebreaker Activity
The goal of this activity is to explore participants’ expectations and prior knowledge.
Option A: Mind Mapping (Small Groups)
- Divide participants into subgroups
- Provide a series of digital or physical boards (you can use flipcharts for this)
- Write one key work related to each topic on each board. For example, you can propose the following topics/key words:
- Environmental justice
- Ecofeminism
- Planetary health
- Sustainable research culture
- For each topic/board ask people to write on the board:
- What they already know about the topic
- What they want to learn more about relate to that topic
Invite people to move from table to table (or from board to board if online). Invite participants to brainstorm with other learners working on the same table/board. At the end of the activity go from board to board and summarize the input provided by participants.
Option B: Learning Goals (Mentimeter)
- Prepare a Mentimeter (or similar tool)
- Prompt: “After this session, I expect to be able to…”
- Ask participants to submit two goals
- Review and discuss responses together
Interactive / Expert Lecture
Introduce the topic through:
- An invited expert, or
- Your own lecture.
- An example introductory lectures is provided here.
Key elements:
- The competence profile developed by RE4GREEN
- Core ethical concepts related to the session topic
- Application of concepts to practical examples
- Use of RE4GREEN videos and materials
After the lecture:
- Allocate ~10 minutes for Q&A
- Prepare questions in advance if needed
Trainer Tip:
Keep the session dynamic by asking questions throughout. Consider including a short break.
Interactive Group Session
After introducing the main topics of your session via a lecture, invite participants to engage in shared reflection. You can use the micromodules for this. Whereas they are primarily designed for individual learning, many elements can be adapted for group settings.
Below we provide a list of activities presented in the micromodules which can be used in class to:
- Encourage discussion
- Foster group work and shared reflection
- Support case-based learning
For groups larger than 10 participants, divide into smaller groups.
Discussion Tools
- Competence profile - Sustainability and eco-justice in everyday research
- Environmental justice prompt cards - Addressing environmental justice in research & innovation
- Climate-conscious methodology matrices
- For researchers and ethics reviewers Doing research with communities affected by climate change: Climate-conscious methodologies matrix (for researchers and ethics reviewers)
- For students and citizen scientists Doing research with communities affected by climate change: Climate-conscious methodologies matrix (for students and citizen scientists)
Group Work Activities
· Crisis Tree Exercise - Mapping research connections to environmental justice: Crisis Tree exercise
- Map connections between research and environmental justice
· Myths and Rituals Exercise - Myths and rituals: Art-science, sustainable tech, and degrowth
- Create a ritual that embodies care within a research environment
Scenarios and Case Work
· Ecofeminist research dilemmas - Applying ecofeminist ethics to research practice
After the group work:
- Facilitate reporting back
- Summarize key insights
- Highlight connections across discussions
Final Reflection / Take-Home Messages
- Facilitate a discussion on relevance to participants’ work or studies
- Optionally use small groups
- Support participants in identifying key takeaways
Conclusion
- Revisit the icebreaker or learning goals
- Were expectations met?
- Share:
- QR code to evaluation form
- Links to online modules for continued learning
Close by:
- Thanking participants
- Encouraging application of insights in their work
- Inviting them to share and promote the RE4GREEN modules
