http://www.rucastoolkit.eu/

The RUCAS Toolkit was developed through a Tempus Project entitled "Reorient University Curricula to Address Sustainability" funded by the European Commission. The RUCAS Project initiated a wide range of activities to develop resources, revise and develop new curriculum initiatives, build capacity amongst university staff, develop appropriate infrastructure, and strengthen national and regional institutional networks, in 12 higher education institutions (6 in three Middle East Countries- Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon and six in European Union). Curriculum review and revision has been carried out in the disciplines of Educational Sciences, Social Sciences, Economics/business Sciences, Health Sciences, Engineering and Applied Sciences. The RUCAS on-line Toolkit consists of eight modules to help faculty members learn the basics of the processes and practices for re-orienting university curricula to address sustainability. The specific objectives of this Toolkit are to:

Explain the main concepts and elements of RUCAS

Design effective RUCAS programmes

Apply new methods and approaches to teaching and learning

Use a participatory approach in course design and revision

Apply experiential, constructivist and transformative learning

Use a participatory curriculum development approach

This Toolkit emphasizes an active learning approach, based on a process of experience, reflection, construction, action and transformation. This approach challenges traditional roles of instructors and students or trainers and trainees. To use this Toolkit effectively, university teaching staff and trainers need to reflect on their own roles in the teaching and learning process. They will need to understand and practice effective facilitation and communication skills, as well as “paradigm shifts” in their roles as educators and teaching practices. The Toolkit focuses on the design of a RUCAS programme using a Participatory Curriculum Development approach. In this sense, curriculum is viewed not merely as a prescribed body of content and methods, but as a process, context and praxis.