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The SSH project is student‐led, aligned to the formal curriculum, and aims to enact social change through providing opportunities for exploration of sustainable living for future students, inspiring and informing a wider student body about sustainable living, developing change agency skills, and changing habits and behaviors of the students residing in the SSH itself. We therefore feel this project deserves the moniker of “activist learning.”

As with most activism‐oriented educational projects, the SSH project is limited in its lack of longitudinal evaluation of the impacts of such an approach. Such evaluation across a range of timescales is needed to help us understand what makes quality, not just any, activist learning.

In Table 2.3 we provide a series of recommendations that can be used to support activist learning across the formal, non‐formal/informal, and hidden curriculum.

Table 2.3 Recommendations to support activist learning.

Curricula position of activism	Recommendation for educators
Activism projects in the formal curriculum	Create a range of project opportunities to suit different students and stages of activist engagement, from student‐initiated projects to choices of prescribed projectsBe sensitive to different cultural interpretations and associations of activismEncourage reflection on links between activist projects and the Sustainable Development Goals and sustainability competenciesUse sustainability competency frameworks (e.g. UNESCO 2017) to support reflection framingProvide support for students particularly with negotiating different avenues of power, governance, and decision‐making, but include students as partners in the processBuild in evaluation of the impact of activism projects on students at different timescales (gaining permission/communication channels for future contact for longer‐term longitudinal evaluation)Encourage and support more staff to engage students in activism projects throughout their degrees
Using the formal curriculum to support informal and hidden curriculum activism	Include theories of activism and activist learning in the formal curriculumEmphasize the importance of inclusion and participant diversity as part of activism and sustainability requirementsIntroduce reflective models and case studies of reflection used in activismEmphasize the role of reflective practice in learning and project successEncourage students to question what they see and what they want from the campus environmentEncourage students to understand their power and agency as key stakeholders in the university and wider communities.Help students to understand the structures of universities and other organizations that can support change (such as Students' Unions)Develop a curriculum which aims to inspire and empower students to take actionUse the formal curriculum to develop effective group and communication skills, techniques, and understanding.Encourage quality relationships with academic and non‐academic staff, providing a safe place to seek support to initiate projects
Informal activism with staff involvement	Ensure clear boundaries, responsibilities and expectations of staff and students are discussed at the start and reviewed. What support do students want from staff?Encourage consideration of the impact of activities on inclusion of diverse participantsInvolve academically neutral staff (e.g. university sustainability practitioners) as direct contact with students to reduce tensions and conflicts between different staff roles, particularly with projects in the student's more private spheresBuild in facilitated reflective review opportunities, with academically neutral staff where appropriateUnderstand that students have different starting points and expectations of activism projectsProvide support for students particularly with negotiating different avenues of power, governance and decision making, but include students as partners in the process throughoutSupport student ideas for activismSupport the continuation of projects, maintain relationships with key stakeholders, support the transfer of knowledge between student yearsSupport students with managing and interpreting failure
Informal activism without staff involvement	Foster a culture of openness and support for activism within the universityBe available as a critical friend

As an ESD practitioner it is all too easy to uncritically extol the virtues of activist learning projects, and the role of such activist learning projects in the informal curriculum for the potential development of a wide range of sustainability competencies. Yet, our reflections uncover questions about the limitations within the informal curriculum, including whether the informal curriculum alone can deliver the learning potential the projects are capable of, without at least some informal structure for guided reflection and discussion. Yet, imposing a structure for reflection detracts from genuine student‐ownership of projects, and might not be possible in genuinely student‐led activity.

We might then look to the formal curriculum to deliver the potential of activist learning. The formal curriculum might allow us space for student‐initiated activist projects and opportunities to structure assessment around a set of sustainability competencies, allowing deeper reflection and development of these competencies (see Robinson and Molthan‐Hill 2021), and space for critical discussion and debate around deeper, systemic issues. Publicly declaring an activist agenda in learning and assessment design is itself controversial, with the risk of accusations of promulgating a particular political agenda or being at odds with other educational priorities and agendas. Yet activist learning projects can deliver to many different educational agendas from employability, student experience, and students as partners. It is also difficult in the formal curriculum to genuinely provide the space for mistakes and failure. Activism projects can also come with serious challenges from burnout to conflict, and the formal curriculum does not allow students to walk away from projects which are no longer working for them.

Working toward a more sustainable future needs action, and a holistic approach, engaging head, heart, and hands. It needs action which is underpinned by understanding, critical thinking, reflection, and inclusion, and allows students to drive change in their own areas of interest. A traditional knowledge‐based education does not give students the experience of taking action and applying their knowledge and thinking skills to driving change in the real world. Therefore, it is imperative that our universities provide spaces for students to take action and to become activist learners and provide the motivation and skills to both drive change, but to also reflect and learn. This requires the development of “activist learning for sustainability” opportunities within the formal, non‐formal/informal, and hidden curricula, that can provide an exciting and innovative approach to meeting the aspirations of a range of agendas within higher education and empower our learners to drive the change they want to see in the world.