Eunice S. Q. NG* and YONG Jia Yu
Ridge View Residential College (RVRC)
Ng, E. S. Q., & Yong, J. Y. (2023). Navigating on a kayak: Transcending disciplinary boundaries in sustainability education. [Lightning talk]. In Higher Education Campus Conference (HECC) 2023, 7 December, National University of Singapore. https://blog.nus.edu.sg/hecc2023proceedings/navigating-on-a-kayak-transcending-disciplinary-boundaries-in-sustainability-education/
SUB-THEME
Interdisciplinarity and Education
KEYWORDS
Interdisciplinary education, sustainability education, environmental stewardship, experiential learning, outdoor learning
CATEGORY
Lightning Talks
ABSTRACT
The pressing sustainability crisis has resulted in an increasing number of educational institutions integrating sustainability into their formal curriculum as a way to develop sustainability-oriented attitudes among the youth of today (Leal Filho et. al., 2019). Yet, sustainability education is focused on providing students with a cognitive understanding of issues and challenges in sustainability from a specific discipline’s perspective (Kim & Coonan, 2023). As a result, sustainability education often overlooks leveraging the power of affective reactivity towards sustainability to promote deeper appreciation of sustainability and motivate sustainable behaviour (Brosch & Steg, 2021). Transcending disciplinary boundaries to foster students’ fundamental connectedness to nature – defined as “individuals’ sense of oneness with, and belonging to, their natural environment” (Coughlan et al., 2022, p. 1)—is vital to holistically developing their sustainability-oriented attitudes (Maller, 2018; Nisbet & Zelenski, 2013).
As a way to develop students’ connectedness to nature, Ridge View Residential College (RVRC) organised RV Kayak and Clean (RVKC), which provides marine trash clean-up experiences to undergraduate students. Offered beyond the formal academic curriculum, RVKC enables students from multidisciplinary backgrounds to have a common yet personal experience of being in direct contact with nature. Specifically, RVKC aims to achieve three student learning outcomes:
- Learn about the biodiversity within Singapore’s mangroves,
- Appreciate the extent of marine pollution in Singapore, and
- Relate the importance of sustainable living to individuals’ personal lifestyles.
First, students develop a deeper appreciation of Singapore’s biodiversity by kayaking through mangroves with explanations of wildlife sighting. Experienced kayak guides facilitate student learning by explaining the importance of mangrove ecosystems, allowing students to discover flora and fauna native to mangrove biomes. For example, students saw a Great Blue Heron and its nestling, a Strangler Fig Tree, and mud lobsters on a trip in February 2023, leading a student to reflect on “how important it is for us to preserve and protect nature for wildlife for future generations to be able to still kayak this route”.
Second, RVKC provides students with a first-hand experience in witnessing the extent of marine trash pollution, especially in hard-to-access areas around Singapore’s waterways and nearby islands. With students’ direct involvement in collecting marine debris, they obtain a visual representation of the impact of marine pollution. A recent trip in January 2023 saw 77kg of marine trash collected by 20 participants within half an hour (Figure 2). Trash collected is weighed and reported to Ocean Conservancy, which encourages students that their clean-up has made a difference, and reminds them that marine pollution is a far-reaching and ongoing problem.
RVKC also aims to facilitate personal appreciation and connection to the need for sustainable living. For example, students witnessed the rural, disconnected lifestyle by remaining residents on Pulau Ubin on one of the kayak trails. This facilitated site observation led students to rethink their assumptions: both that their current urban way of life and consumption levels are ideal, and how they can apply sustainable practices to their lives even without modern amenities.
RVKC allowed students to experience nature while being confronted with difficult issues of marine trash and personal lifestyle changes to be made for sustainability. Being in direct contact with nature has been effective in activating students’ affective response towards Singapore’s biodiversity and sustainability, transcending disciplinary backgrounds to foster their human- nature relationship instead.
REFERENCES
Brosch, T., & Steg, L. (2021). Leveraging emotion for sustainable action. One Earth, 4(12), 1693–1703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.11.006
Coughlan, A., Ross, E., Nikles, D., De Cesare, E., Tran, C., & Pensini, P. (2022). Nature guided imagery: An intervention to increase connectedness to nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 80, 101759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101759
Kim, E., & Coonan, T. (2023). Advancing sustainability education through a cross-disciplinary online course: Sustainability and human rights in the business world. Sustainability, 15(6), 4759. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15064759
Leal Filho, W., Shiel, C., Paço, A., Mifsud, M., Ávila, L. V., Brandli, L. L., Molthan-Hill, P., Pace, P., Azeiteiro, U. M., Vargas, V. R., & Caeiro, S. (2019). Sustainable Development Goals and sustainability teaching at universities: Falling behind or getting ahead of the pack? Journal of Cleaner Production, 232, 285–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.309
Maller, C. (2018, August 1). Embracing the chaos: By transcending disciplinary boundaries researchers can reconceptualise human-nature relations. London School of Economics. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2018/08/01/embracing-the-chaos-by-transcending- disciplinary-boundaries-researchers-can-reconceptualise-human-nature-relations/
Nisbet, E. K., & Zelenski, J. M. (2013). The NR-6: A new brief measure of nature relatedness. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00813
