About Us
The Sustainability Mindset Toolkit provides open educational materials (OERs) available at no cost on a variety of topics that emphasizes a sustainability mindset. This Repository was inspired by the successful Anti-Poverty Toolkit, which was created to promote education and teaching on numerous topics relating to poverty and has 500+ educational resources and has received global attention and awards.
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After the proposal for the project by Dr. Tay Keong Tan, a student research team was formed at Radford University to work on the Repository. This Repository is envisioned to provide educators around the world with the tools to prepare future generations of business leaders, public managers, and civil society activists to practice their professions with a sustainability mindset.
The website acts as a convenient database filled with free educational materials in one location. Moreover, this website serves as a vital resource and is a substitute for textbooks. This would help relieve financial stress without sacrificing the quality of education especially for those in developing countries or low-income communities who may not be able to afford the high cost of textbooks. Currently, the average price of a textbook in the USA is about US $50; the annual cost for college textbooks is between US $1,000 US $2,000 for students in the United States.
The Scholarly Network
The United Nations Principles of Responsibility Management Education (PRME, http://www.unprme.org/index.php) Sustainability Mindset Working Group Co-Chair, Dr. Isabel Rimanoczy, worked with the Radford University's (RU) research team to create a Repository on Sustainability Mindset. The team consists of Dr. Tan and Ms. Anna Selin Ogan, student researcher and website designer for the Repository. The PRME Working Group on Sustainability Mindset has about 143 scholars in 132 universities in 43 countries, who are currently practicing or have been published in the field of sustainable development or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Meet the Team
Anna Selin Ogan
Student at Charles University
Personally, this toolkit project has had a positive impact on my life, as I believe to be a part of something that could benefit the world. Despite what at times may feel like endless hours staring at a computer screen, the Sustainability Mindset Toolkit’s goal to create a globally accessible website that could eliminate the cost for textbooks continues to empower me to put my best work forward. I am genuinely grateful to have been given this opportunity and only hope that I have been able to live up to the expectations set by Dr. Tan. Additionally, throughout this experience, I have learned valuable information for a subject matter that I am passionate about. This project has allowed me to grow outside of the classroom and enhanced my ability to research, cite sources, communicate concisely, and expand my creativity by creating the website and logos.
Tay Keong Tan, Ph.D.
Professor at Radford University
This Sustainability Mindset Repository is an open, universally accessible, online portal of educational resources for scholars interested in sustainability-related topics. The tools in this site have been organized around the 12 Principles of Sustainability Mindset developed by Dr. Isabel Rimanoczy and promulgated by the United Nations PRME Sustainability Mindset Working Group. It is my great pleasure and honor to be part of Radford University team that created this website and sourced its first hundred artifacts. I sincerely hope this website will advance sustainability education and prepare future generations of public leaders, corporate managers, and civil society activists to practice their professions with values, principles, and worldviews shaped by concerns for global sustainability.
Isabel Rimanoczy, Ed.D.
Co-Chair for the UN PRME Working Group on the Sustainability Mindset
In 2014 I convened colleagues to create a learning community about the Sustainability Mindset. We called it LEAP (Leverage resources, Expand awareness, Accelerate change and Partner). It became the United Nations PRME Sustainability Mindset Working Group in 2015. Today, we are over 145 members in 46 countries teaching sustainability and developing a new mindset with their students. The network has developed the award-winning Sustainability Mindset Model, organized around 12 Sustainability Mindset Principles, which is further explained in my recent book by Routledge in 2020. One task that we have been pursuing year after year has been to organize the scattered pedagogical resources for developing a Sustainability Mindset. Because of the geographical spread and cultural diversity of the Working Group members, this collection of educational resources in the Repository has immense value. I am thrilled to see this dream made reality under the leadership of Prof. Tan!”