Registration for the ESD Exchange conference is open now: visit the Registration page on the event website to sign-up to attend.
What should I expect?
We have received over 80 high-quality contributions from across the UK and Ireland, focussed on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Green Skills in higher education.
The programme will include a mix of practice-based talks, workshop sessions, thought-provoking lightning talks and plenty of time to network and socialise with over 100 other staff and student attendees from across the country.
The keynote session, convened by SOS-UK will showcase student’s journey with ESD in higher education, through inspiring short talks from students and graduates who have made sustainability a priority based upon their experiences at university.
Is this relevant to me?
The programme covers four thematic areas, ensuring there is something relevant for academic staff, students, leaders at institutional/sector level and anyone with an interest in sustainability and green skills in higher education. Parallel sessions cover one of four themes:
– Practice-based presentations, detailing how ESD and Green Skills are being addressed across a wide range of subject areas, ranging from management, biomedical sciences, graphic design, economics, fashion and many more…
– Strategic-focussed sessions, relevant for people working across departments, faculties institutions or the whole HE sector. These address issues such as staff development, mapping sustainability in the curriculum and measuring successful student outcomes in relation to ESD.
– Student leadership on ESD, whether this is student-led initiatives, staff-student collaborative projects and any other initiative where students are driving action.
– Big ideas, including the challenge and opportunity of Artificial Intelligence in relation to ESD, perspectives from decolonising the curriculum, the role of emotions and activism in higher education and much more…
What if I’m not free on April 16-17?
Attendees are welcome to join for just one day or both. We have also organised two follow-on webinar sessions:
- Monday 20th April, on Staff Development to support ESD
- Tuesday 28th April, on Student Projects with real-world impacts
How else can I hear about the conference contributions?
Before and after the event, we will share blog posts based upon submitted contributions on the event website. Our first blog submission from Rinal Sahputra (University of Manchester) on Gamified Assessment is online now here.
What’s the cost? How do I sign up?
Our event is designed to be low-cost, inclusive, and with a range of fee options designed to remove barriers to participation, and free attendance for students and staff from host institutions. Register here.
For more information about De Montfort University and travelling to Leicester, visit our travel homepage: Venue and Travel – ESD Exchange 2026.
If you have enquiries about the event, please contact Andrew (areeves@dmu.ac.uk) or Bessie (bessie.lester@dmu.ac.uk) in the first instance.
We look forward to welcoming you to DMU in April!
ESD Exchange 2026 Organising Committee
