Education and sustainability

From science and engineering to cultural studies and business economics, we’re equipping students with the knowledge and skills they’ll need to help create a sustainable future.

Our undergraduate and postgraduate courses aim to provide students with holistic insights into global challenges and support them to become respectful, ethical global citizens.

'Sustainability-focused' courses

The following undergraduate and postgraduate courses have been identified:

Undergraduate Courses

Degrees

Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental) (Honours)

Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning

Majors

Postgraduate Courses

Master of Environmental Management and Sustainability

Download 'Study Environment in 2025' brochure

Download 'Study Engineering in 2025' brochure

Download 'Study Science in 2025' brochure

Get involved

General enquiries sustainability@flinders.edu.au

Student Association Environment Officer environment.officer@flinders.edu

Flinders has additional courses that look at sustainability challenges, so if your preferred course is not in the above lists, make sure you check our other courses in the study areas listed below.

See all degrees at Flinders

Science

Indigenous and Australian studies

Outdoor Education

Flinders University is dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusiveness in higher education through a comprehensive array of admissions pathways designed to support underrepresented groups

Flinders actively encourages students from various backgrounds—such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, rural and remote communities, military veterans, and women in STEM—to pursue their academic goals. These initiatives not only facilitate access to higher education but also promote a more equitable and supportive university environment, ensuring that all students have the opportunity to thrive academically and contribute to their fields.

Learn more about our wide range of admission pathways

Sustainability-focused courses

What is a sustainability-focused course?

"A unit of instruction that has a primary and explicit focus on the integrated concept of sustainability and/or the interdependence of ecological and social/cultural/economic systems.This focus must be demonstrated in the title or high level description of the course."

Sustainability-focused courses may include:

Foundational courses with a primary and explicit focus on sustainability (e.g. Introduction to Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Sustainability Science).
Courses with a primary and explicit focus on the application of sustainability within a field (e.g. Architecture for Sustainability, Green Chemistry, Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Business). As sustainability is an interdisciplinary topic, such courses generally incorporate insights from multiple disciplines.
Courses with a primary and explicit focus on a major sustainability challenge that requires students to consider the interdependence of ecological and social/cultural/economic systems (e.g. Climate Change Science, Environmental Justice, Global Poverty and Development, Renewable Energy Policy). The focus of such courses might be on providing knowledge and understanding of the problems and/or the tools for solving them, but they should bring a systems thinking approach to the challenge.

Why is my course not on this list?

For course coordinators: this list was created by the Sustainability team based on information available in the Handbook and Study Program descriptions and reviewed by College Deans of Education. We are currently working on integrating this with other curriculum-related information (e.g. in the Handbook).

If a course meets the definition of being 'sustainability-focused', but is currently missing from this list, please email sustainability@flinders.edu.au to request we add the course.

Embedding Sustainability into the Curriculum

At its core, Flinders University is a leading education and research institution that brings knowledge and research into the world in impactful ways.

Our 2030 Sustainability Strategy shows a commitment to addressing sustainability throughout our entire curriculum by embedding sustainability in graduate outcomes (reaching all our students), topics and courses.

The Embedding Sustainability into Curriculum Working Group, which is reporting to our Sustainability Advisory Group, is tasked with implementing the actions in ‘Strategic Pillar 1.1 – Learning and Teaching’ in the Strategy.

This includes building on our already strong presence of sustainability in our curriculum to increase the number of sustainability-focused and inclusive undergraduate and graduate-level degree courses, as well as, assessing and tracking sustainability literacy of our students. An additional aim is to formally designate sustainability topics in the form of an identifying symbol or code to help students distinguish sustainability courses from other courses.

The Working Group is also aiming to embed sustainability education in our graduate outcomes.

Our institutional learning outcomes and curriculum are recognised by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) as part of our Gold STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System) rating.