The project is foreseen to be implemented in 3 phases:
Phase 1. Awareness phase: This phase will focus on an awareness and campaigning process which is required to comprehensively address sustainable development, and allow some restructuring of the academic functions and learning process such that the education become culturally appropriate and locally relevant. Designing educational contents and methods cannot be adequately done without first defining which learning goals are to be aimed at and which competencies the learner should acquire. UNESCO has provided descriptors for ESD in connection with the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), but these describe the characteristics of the educational offering (inputs), where outcomes for students (outputs) are to be defined. This phase will be implemented throughout the academic term of the university in the form of series of interactive lectures and workshops as described in the Table(1) below.
Phase 2. Preparation phase. The second phase is aimed at developing the scientific and educational base necessary to address key environment and sustainable development priorities, including ecosystems management; climate change adaptation; management of the world’s freshwater and marine resources; and responses to disasters and risks, sustainable energy sources, green cities, etc. This phase requires the formulation of focal groups from each faculty to work on evaluating the sustainable development content of curricula in each faculty using different tools available , followed by mainstreaming sustainable development and sustainability science in the curricula. The mainstreaming should focus on not what should be taught, but what should be learned, what abilities for acting, which concepts and problem-solving strategies should be acquired as a result of the learning process.
Phase 3. Sustainability in practice. This third phase aim at improving the quality and relevance of Higher Education in a context of global change, and should be relevant to the discipline, programme, institutional mandate and sustainable development issues and opportunities. It will focus on the implementation of a change project for sustainable development in practice articulating a global vision in local terms. This phase will address the sustainable development goals and ways towards their achievements through small case projects in different faculties Pharos University. It will be implemented by students and young researchers to demonstrate Institutional development activities (e.g. policy development / green campus development / student initiatives etc.)