Cathy d’Abreu

SFHEA, MSc Education for Sustainability (EfS), DELTA, DELE superior, BA (Joint Hons) English & Drama

Senior Lecturer, Education for Sustainability

Oxford Brookes Business School

Role

I module lead INFO3013 Global Issues and INFO3009 Culture & Communication on Pathways and PREM6005 Managing Yourself on the Pre-Masters programme. I teach and lecture on Environmentally Sustainable Business BMGT5007.

I also lead the Future Pathways ESD Project and curate the ESD 'Learning Lunches' professional development series.

The core focus of my role is embedding education for sustainability pedagogy and practice into Higher Education.

Teaching and supervision

Courses

Modules taught

INFO3013 Global Issues
INFO3009 Culture and Communication
INFO3029 Critical Thinking & Problem Based Learning
PREM6005 Managing Yourself
BMGT5007 Environmentally Sustainable Business
MOFL5001 Professional Communication

I also develop and write teaching materials. I have written a series of ELT course books and pedagogical guides for Younger Leaners of English, as well as Teacher Training materials for OUDCE Online Teaching Academy (OTA) teacher training courses for Oxford University.

Research

My research focuses on developing Education for Sustainability pedagogy and practice through Transformative Learning and Hope based pedagogy.

Projects

Projects as Co-investigator

Collaborative Community for Sustainability Mindset Education (led by Université de Neuchâtel)(01/10/2023 - 30/09/2025), funded by: Movetia, funding amount received by Brookes: £8,759, funded by: Movetia

Publications

Other

Finnegan W and d’Abreu C (2024) The hope wheel: a model to enable hope-based pedagogy in Climate Change Education. Front. Psychol. 15:1347392. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1347392
d'Abreu, C. (2024) What is the purpose and possibility of an HE education?. Teaching Insights, Available at: https://teachinginsights.ocsld.org/what-is-the-purpose-and-possibility-of-an-he-education/.
d'Abreu, C. (2022) ‘Educators as Changemakers: Teach the change you want to see’, Brookes Learning and Teaching Conference, 15 June 2022, Available at: https://sites.google.com/brookes.ac.uk/future-pathways/educators-as-changemakers-blog (Accessed on 20/12/2022)
d'Abreu, C. (2022) 'Learning and Change', Sustainability and Environmental Education SEEd, 20 May. Available at: https://se-ed.org.uk/learning-and-change/ (Accessed: 20/05/2022).
d’Abreu, C. (2022) ‘Future Pathways; Engaging HE with ESD’, Advance HE Sustainability Symposium. (Accessed on 23/04/2022)
d'Abreu, C. (2022) 'Pedagogies of Purpose: Education for a fairer, fitter future', InForm, Issue 21, pp. 7-11. Available at: https://static.reading.ac.uk/content/PDFs/files/Inform/InForm-Issue21.pdf (Accessed on 23/05/2022)
d’Abreu, C. (2021) ‘Pedagogies of Purpose; Sustainability for everyone’, Advance HE Sustainability Symposium. (Accessed on 14/05/2021)
d'Abreu, C. (2021). ‘Speed Research Pods: A flexible tool for collaborative and authentic learning experiences’. Teaching Insights, Issue 1, October 2021.Available at: https://teachinginsights.ocsld.org/speed-research-pods-a-flexible-tool-for-collaborative-and-authentic-learning-experiences/
d'Abreu, C. and Bogdanova, V. (2022). ‘Space to breathe, allowing students to think outside the box’. Teaching Insights, Issue 2. (Student collaboration paper). Available at: https://teachinginsights.ocsld.org/space-to-breathe-allowing-students-to-think-outside-the-box-through-meaningful-assessment/ (Accessed on 20/03/2022)
d’Abreu, C. (2014) Oxford Teachers Academy, Oxford University Department of Continuing Education, OUDCE, Oxford University Press.

Professional information

Memberships of professional bodies

Chair SEEd, Sustainability and Environmental Education https://se-ed.org.uk/
Co-Chair Our Shared World
EAUC: Sustainability Senior Leadership Alumni 2021
Advance HE: SFHEA mentor
UN UK&I PRME, Principles of Responsible Management Education: Sustainability Mindset
working group, LEAP member
BALEAP, British Association of Lecturers for English for Academic Purposes: BALEAP PIM 'EAP for a more Sustainable World' Organising Committee 2023
Our Shared World: SEEd co-chairs this coalition
Wellington Festival of Education, Sustainability Strand: Organising Committee with Wellington College and WWF

Conferences

RIKE network SRF Conference (2024) (Keynote speaker) 'Embedding SDGs/ESD competencies into teaching and learning ESD development'.
RIKE network Children and Young People's network Festival, invited speaker - 'The Hope Wheel, a model to enable hope-based pedagogy in Climate Change Education'.
CEDHE Forum (2024) The Community for Environmental Disciplines in Higher Education Institute of Environmental Sciences - Innovating Environmental Science Education: sharing a vision for optimism, evidence, and skills. (Presentation on The Hope Wheel).
Oxford University, Addressing Climate Change Impacts: OCRN Annual Lecture & Panel Discussion with Climate Research. (Poster presentation on The Hope Wheel)
BITLC 2024 Staff Day Convenor ‘Open space: What are the priorities for meaningful change in Higher Education?
Brookes International Teaching and Learning Conference (2023) (Keynote speaker) What is the purpose and possibility of HIgher Education?
d'Abreu, C. (2022) ‘Moving from Safe to Brave Spaces’ University of Glasgow, Centre for Educational Development and Innovation Sustainability in Teaching and Learning, Advance HE Connect. Available at: https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_899805_smxx.pdf
d’Abreu, C. and Nukui, C. (2021) ‘Pedagogies of purpose: education for a better future’,
Inform Conference, University of Reading.

Consultancy

Museum of Climate Hope: Interdisciplinary climate education collaboration and knowledge exchange, Oxford university Cultural Programme, 2024
Oxford University Press, OIC Sustainablity Curriculum Review (1 & 2) 2023

I mentor on and lead transformative ESD learning sessions for SEEd's Sustainability Leadership Changemakers course and contribute widely to their consultancy work.

Further details

Projects as co-investigator:

Collaborative Community for Sustainability Mindset Education (led by Université de Neuchâtel) (01/10/2023 - 30/09/2025) funded by: Movetia"