The University of Salford is committed to embedding Sustainability Education across its degree programmes. Salford Business School created a Carbon Literacy programme, approved by the Carbon Literacy Project, to deliver and certify students and staff in Carbon Literacy. The University has a moral duty, responsibility and opportunity to ensure that students acquire the knowledge, skills, attributes and values necessary to respond to global challenges such as the climate crisis. This also supports meeting industry needs and improving the employability of our graduates.

The Carbon Literacy Course was developed in response to the growing necessity for students to gain the knowledge and confidence to tackle climate change. With global temperatures rising and emissions driving extreme weather events, urgent action is required. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) warns that we have just over a decade to significantly reduce emissions to prevent irreversible damage. As climate concerns increasingly shape business, and everyday decision-making, it became clear that students needed a structured, action-oriented approach to understanding carbon emissions and sustainability strategies. Our purpose is to empower and drive change through knowledge and understanding of what is happening in our world. Our shared values and purpose was driven by empowering change based on the knowledge of our students and how they perceive their future, making changes for themselves and others to live a sustainable existence.

The new QAA Quality Code for Higher Education now explicitly refers to sustainability as a key component of quality education provision. The Carbon Literacy course addresses this with sustainability embedded into modules across multiple disciplines in the Business School, ensuring climate action is not a stand-alone topic but a core learning outcome.

The curriculum design combines e-learning and face-to-face learning to deliver an interactive and engaging climate education experience. The e-learning modules cover key topics like Introduction to climate change, carbon footprint and emissions, policies and agreements, and future trends, innovations, and actions, using digital avatars to guide learners through interactive activities. In the face-to-face session, students engage in interactive games and a drawing activity to encourage personal reflection, allowing students from diverse global backgrounds to visualize their understanding to address climate challenges for the UK context and in their home countries. This approach ensures that the course is not only educational but also empowering and inclusive for all participants.

The course was piloted with 4 postgraduate modules resulting in 65 students submitting a pledge and gaining certification along with 16 business school staff. As the submission was voluntary measures are in place to increase participation to reach 1200 in the next academic year. The course has significantly increased students’ confidence, knowledge and ability to engage in actions reducing carbon emissions. Individual and group pledges per student focus on what they can change, and what a collective group change can be. The impact of this was measured using a mixed methods approach with a pre and post session questionnaire. Student and staff data are being analysed to measure the extent to which behaviours have changed towards a sustainable work and lifestyle.

Keywords: Education, sustainability, curriculum design, students, e-learning.