Introducing Kathleen Calder and Paul Astles: The Co-Chairs of the New Digital Sustainability SIG

Written by the Digital Sustainability SIG

About the Digital Sustainability SIG

The Digital Sustainability SIG is an open and inclusive network fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing among educational institutions committed to taking meaningful sustainability focused action. We aim to empower colleagues by providing a space for cross-institutional conversations, learning, and collaborations. Our focus encompasses sustainable digital practices and pedagogy, and the intersection of equality, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA) with sustainability

About us

Kathleen Calder has 20 years of experience working in the design, development and project management of learning and teaching content and technology at the Open University. Areas of specialism include sustainability, analytics and evaluation, assessment, production systems, student experience and staff development. She is a member of the Open University’s (OU) Sustainability Coordination Group and established the OU Learning Design team’s sustainability working group, connecting with university-wide sustainability initiatives. She mentors for the OU’s APPLAUD AdvanceHE fellowship scheme and the OU Women’s Development Network. Prior to working in HE, Kathleen worked in systems development, nature conservation and environmental biotechnology. She’s interested in the sustainability impact of technology and what that might mean for the role of educators in terms of decision making, impact and influence, knowledge, student experience and EDIA.

Paul Astles, SFHEA. Learning Designer at the Open University. Drawing on sector specific research and scholarship he works with academic teams through a learning design process which enables module material to be developed and delivered using an evidence based approach. Prior to joining the Open University Paul became a qualified teacher and maintains a membership with SET. He worked predominantly with a focus on students with special educational needs at FE level as a programme coordinator. Paul has a particular interest in sustainability and is a member of the Green Gown Award ‘Highly Commended’ OU Learning Design sustainability working group. Recently, Paul has co-written a peer reviewed chapter (soon to be published by Springer in the summer of 2025) detailing the contribution of the work of the learning design group and how they support the embedding of sustainability in the curriculum. A vital part of this work is strong engagement with and use of student voice in the development of resources to support colleagues. Paul is a climate ambassador and works with his local primary school to support their sustainability journey. In parallel to his work with sustainability he also has a keen interest in promoting the ethical use of AI, supporting colleagues to consider how AI might intersect with assessment strategy and develop thinking around authentic assessment for students.

Why the Digital Sustainability SIG?

Awareness of sustainability considerations is gaining momentum in the sector. Digital sustainability is an area that is systemically complex with many stakeholders, so what skills do we need to help us navigate that? In our roles as designers, educators, producers and advisors how do we ensure our digital impact is sustainable and meets the needs of students? What’s the best way to develop sustainability skills and informed use of technologies, ensuring policies for data handling and retention are achievable, streamlining practices to avoid duplication and choosing the best tool and format for the purpose? Finding opportunities to partner with other institutional strategies is another way to achieve impact, looking for overlap with other institutional goals, quality assurance, utilising OERs and developing sustainable resources. Digital sustainability is a skill that we need to develop in ourselves and support our colleagues and students with. There are steps that we can take as individuals, in teams and at institutional level while helping each other to do that.

We were keen to put this group together to help support colleagues in the sector with these challenges and opportunities so were excited to have been invited to launch the SIG at ALTC 2024 in Manchester. You may have met Kathleen there as she launched the SIG in person while Paul was promoting the SIG via the ALT radio channel. He was a guest on a segment hosted by Mark Childs that played out ‘on the way home’.

Our SIG’s remit is to:

• Enable ALT members to support each other with the wide and interconnected impact of our choices and recommendations in the context of the 3 pillars of sustainability: environmental, social and economic.
• Provide a space to share good practice, success stories and resources to support raising awareness about sustainability in learning technologies, learning design and delivery.
• Promote cross-institutional learning and collaboration in this evolving area.
• Use the knowledge and expertise of members to identify strategic solutions to issues and challenges.

Since our launch, the Digital Sustainability SIG Officers have been working hard to plan areas of focus for the next 12 months. We’ve developed a mission statement building on the goals outlined in our remit to provide a vision for our values and focus of SIG activities. We’re now actively planning the development of webinars and other communications including our LinkedIn page where we hope to connect with colleagues across the sector to build a strong community of practice and develop partnerships.

If you’re reading this and would like to put forward ideas for future sharing or events please reach out to us using the information in the ‘Join Digital Sustainability SIG’ section below.

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If you would like to get involved in the organisation of the Group and its activities, let us know by expressing an interest.

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