Resources, Further Reading, CPD & Reflection Tools
Where to go next: tools and resources to use in your teaching, further reading, CPD signposting, reflection tools, and how to get support from the Bradford College Sustainability Lead.
Track your ESD growth
The most powerful way to see your progress is to retake the self-assessment now that you've worked through the Learning Journey. Compare your ESD profile before and after.
Resource Hub
Frameworks, planning tools, activity ideas and links to the key organisations supporting ESD in FE. Come back any time.
Gathering your resources…
Access EAUC resources through your membership
Bradford College is a member of the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges. As a staff member, you can access CPD, benchmarking tools, and the Green Gown Awards programme.
CPD pathways for ESD
Once you've completed the Learning Journey, here are formal routes to deepen your ESD practice and gain recognition for it.
ETF — ESD Resources & CPD
The Education and Training Foundation's ESD professional development resources, subject-specific examples, and CPD offers for FE staff. Counts toward ETF professional standards.
Visit ETF ESD →EAUC — CPD & Events
Bradford College's EAUC membership gives you access to webinars, benchmarking tools, the Green Gown Awards, and a network of ESD practitioners across FE and HE.
Visit EAUC →ETF — Development & Training Resources
The Education and Training Foundation's library of free professional development resources, guides and training for FE teachers and leaders.
Browse ETF Resources →UCL CCCSE — Teaching for Sustainable Futures
Practical professional development specifically focused on climate education for teachers. Short courses, resources, and community for educators who want to go deeper on climate and sustainability.
Explore CPD →Fusion Skills ESD Toolkit
A practical, downloadable ESD toolkit developed by Bridge Skills for FE teachers — activity ideas, planning frameworks, and examples across subject areas.
Download Toolkit (PDF) ↓Reflective questions for teaching teams
Use these questions in team meetings, department reviews, or for personal reflection. They're designed to help you think about ESD as a team — not just individually.
Do your learners understand how the topics they study connect to current, real challenges in society, the environment and the economy? ESD works best when learners can see why it matters — in their community, their future workplace, and in their own lives.
Suggested team activity: Take one unit and ask: what real-world issue does this connect to? How could we surface that connection more explicitly for learners?
ESD isn't about transmitting correct views — it's about developing the skills to engage with complex, contested issues. Do learners have genuine opportunities to question, debate, form their own perspectives, and make decisions? Is there space for learner voice and action?
Suggested team activity: Audit a recent lesson: how much time were learners listening vs doing, questioning, deciding? What's one change that would shift the balance?
Project-based learning is one of the most effective vehicles for ESD because it develops multiple sustainability competencies simultaneously — collaboration, critical thinking, agency, real-world relevance. Are there opportunities in your curriculum for learners to work on extended, authentic challenges?
Suggested team activity: Identify one unit where a traditional assignment could be replaced or supplemented with a project that addresses a real sustainability challenge in your sector.
ESD requires exposure to multiple perspectives — local and global, majority and marginalised. Bradford's diverse community is an asset: do your examples, sustainability spotlights, and materials reflect the range of experiences learners bring? Are the people most affected by sustainability challenges visible in your curriculum?
Suggested team activity: Review the examples and sustainability spotlights you currently use. Who is present? Who is absent? Where could you add a more diverse or local voice?
Awareness is the starting point, not the destination. ESD develops three things together: knowledge (understanding sustainability challenges and opportunities), skills (critical thinking, systems thinking, collaboration, leadership), and attitudes (values, empathy, civic responsibility, agency). Are all three present in your ESD practice?
Suggested team activity: Map one activity you deliver against knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Which is strongest? Which could be developed further?
Frameworks & guidance
UNESCO — What you need to know
The global authority on ESD — UNESCO's definition and framework, essential reading for the 'why' and 'what' of ESD.
Read on UNESCO ↗Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy — GOV.UK
The DfE's strategy for sustainability and climate change in education — the policy foundation for Bradford College's ESD work.
View on GOV.UK ↗Leading for Sustainability — A Toolkit for FE Leaders
The ETF's toolkit for leaders in FE and skills, including the ESD competency self-assessment framework.
Open the toolkit ↗Key organisations & links
SOS-UK
The student-led sustainability collective for UK further and higher education.
Visit SOS-UK ↗EAUC
Bradford College is a member — access CPD, benchmarking tools and the Green Gown Awards.
Visit EAUC ↗The 17 Goals — UN SDGs
The official home of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals — data, targets and the global framework.
Explore the SDGs ↗Green Jobs Taskforce — GOV.UK
Understanding the green jobs market and how FE curriculum connects learners to the sustainable economy.
View on GOV.UK ↗ESD in FE and Skills — ETF
The Education and Training Foundation's ESD offer for the FE and skills sector — resources, CPD and subject guidance.
Explore ETF ESD ↗Meet your Sustainability Lead
I'm Bradford College's Sustainability Lead, and I'm here to support you in embedding ESD across your curriculum — whether you're taking your first steps or wanting to go deeper.
I can help you with: SDG mapping, lesson planning, finding relevant activities and resources, connecting you with colleagues who are doing similar work, or just having a conversation about what ESD might look like in your subject.
You don't need to have all the answers before reaching out. That's what I'm here for.
What I can offer
- 1-to-1 curriculum review and SDG mapping support
- Team CPD sessions and ESD workshops
- Help finding relevant activity ideas for your subject
- Connecting you with EAUC and ETF resources
- Support with cross-department ESD projects
- Helping you document and share your practice as a sustainability spotlight
Where do you go from here?
You've taken the first steps. Now it's about turning this into action. Here are three things you can do today.
Try one thing
Take one teaching strategy from Section 5 and try it in an upcoming lesson. Start small — one activity, one discussion, one dilemma.
Share what works
When you find something that lands with learners, share it. Spotlight your example — or just mention it to the Sustainability Lead.
Retake the assessment
Come back and retake the self-assessment after a term of practice. Compare your ESD profile and see how far you've come.