Bridging the Gap: SOHACK

The reason behind SOHACK project

Over the past twenty years, there has been a big push in higher education to teach sustainability, aiming to prepare future professionals to tackle environmental challenges. Universities have made significant efforts in launching sustainability-focused courses and/or adding sustainability topics to their courses. However, most of these efforts have been about what to teach and how to teach it, but the link between the sustainability skills and teaching methods is still underexplored.

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Even though some studies have proposed new ways to improve sustainability education, a major gap remains: there's still not much research on how these teaching methods actually affect students' sustainability skills.

Our contribution to sustainability education

The SOHACK project aims to bridge the gap in sustainability education by combining theoretical knowledge with practical, hands-on experiences.
The program’s structure integrates sustainability skills and teaching methods, creating
a cohesive learning environment where student and teacher training complement each other. It draws on R. Lozano's et al. research on sustainability competencies and employs diverse teaching methods like project-based learning, interdisciplinary team teaching, and community service learning.
SOHACK offers two courses: one for students and one for teachers. The student course combines training on sustainability skills with an immersive hackathon experience. The teacher course is an e-learning platform designed to equip educators to effectively coach students in sustainability practices, using student experiences as practical examples.
Key methodologies include placemaking and hackathons. The student course follows a mission-based approach inspired by M. Mazzucato, involving collaboration with stakeholders to tackle real-world sustainability challenges. This approach fosters critical thinking, interdisciplinary work, personal involvement, collaboration, empathy, and systems thinking.

SOHACK in practice

The methodology was piloted in three universities – the NOVA University of Lisbon, the University of Macedonia, and Vilnius University. In addition to courses for students and teachers, three hackathons took place at the partner universities, offering twofold results. On one hand, it was a great opportunity to test the methodology, identifying its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. On the other hand, it provided students and the wider university community with the chance to review their sustainability situation and generate potential solutions in an inclusive, participatory manner.

Ultimately, this initiative represents an important step towards fostering a sustainable future through education. By bringing together students and teachers in a collaborative learning environment, it not only enhances individual competencies but also creates a community-driven approach to addressing sustainability challenges. This innovative model promises to generate impactful, long-term benefits for both the university and the broader society.