MULTI-NATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT - 2025/6

Module Overview

This module brings students together from the University of Surrey and a foreign university to tackle an environment or sustainability problem. Students will discuss, investigate and analyse the problem through an interdisciplinary approach in a multi-national project team.

Module provider

Sustainability, Civil & Env Engineering

Module Leader

CHENOWETH Jonathan (Sust & CEE)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 5

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

NA

Module content

Working in small online groups, University of Surrey students will undertake a project related to the environment or sustainability together with students from a foreign university. Groups will choose a problem or challenge from a list of potential projects selected by academics at the University of Surrey and the foreign university. Using an interdisciplinary approach, each group will analyse the selected problem and identify relevant solutions which are appropriate to the socio-environmental context. Each group will be assigned a tutor and who will meet regularly with the group and support them as they define the problem, survey the relevant academic literature, gather data via field work or from existing datasets, analyse the data using appropriate data analysis techniques, and identify appropriate solutions and conclusions. Each group must communicate their findings creatively and effectively through online seminar presentations and a written report. Prior to the group project work, a series of lectures will be given on working effectively in groups in a professional context, online working, and an overview of the foreign country, its society and the foreign university partner. Following the completion of the group project, students will be required to reflect in an individual report on the challenges of working in an online multi-country group, and the challenges of applying sustainable development in widely differing contexts.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

If any of the groupwork units of assessments are failed, an alternative assessment based on individual work will be offered for the failed unit of assessment(s).

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in multi-country group project work. The summative assessment for this module consists of: - Interim Group seminar presentation (20%) - Group project report (40%) - Final Group seminar presentation (20%) - Individual report (20%) Formative assessment and feedback: Each group will be assigned a tutor who will meet with the group on a weekly or fortnightly basis and provide guidance and verbal feedback to the group as they prepare each of the group assessments. Students can prepare a draft individual report plan to discuss with the lecturer and receive verbal feedback on the planned structure.

Module aims

• provide students experience working as part of a multi-country project group.
• expose students to varied perspectives on implementing sustainable development.
• give students experience of remote working as part of a team.
• allow students to reflect on multi-cultural team working and the application of the sustainable development in varying contexts.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is based on applied learning through group project work supported by regular tutor meetings. The group project work is designed to give students the experience of working in a multi-country and cross-cultural context. The learning and teaching methods include: - Lectures, Captured content, Tutorials, Seminars, and Independent learning.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ENG2138

Other information

The Centre for Environment and Sustainability is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience, in line with the Surrey Curriculum Framework. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills and capabilities in the following areas: Sustainability: Students tackle a sustainability related problem in virtual small groups. This module will provide students with a practical problem to which they can apply sustainable development concepts covered in previous modules. Global and cultural capabilities: This module will help students develop competencies to engage effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds as Surrey students work collaboratively with students based at a foreign university. Students will develop an appreciation of the benefits and challenges which cultural diversity can bring by working for several weeks in a multi-cultural team when tackling an environment or sustainability challenge. Digital capabilities: In this module students are required to work effectively in virtual groups made up of students studying at different global universities. To do this students will learn how to make effective use of digital working tools and strategies in order to complete the required tasks. Employability: Some of the environment and sustainability problems may be developed in conjunction with industry partners and will mimic the sort of challenges that graduates may tackle in their professional life. Resourcefulness and resilience: This module adopts a student-led, solution-focused, independent learning approach. This is supported by small group tutoring to provide feedback and support to students. Many of the projects tackled by students in this module relate to an environment or local community in a different country, requiring creativity and resourcefulness if they are to be investigated and analysed from afar.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.