CLCC collaboration features in Festival of Teaching and Learning

Junwon Hwang, Tina Lavithi, Anne Burke-Gaffney, Michael Weatherburn, Blerina Ahmetaj-Shala and Mark Pope

Drs Michael Weatherburn and Mark Pope spoke about their role in the Bioscience Futures MSc as part of the sustainability-focused FOLAT 2025.

As part of the university's Festival of Teaching and Learning 2025, two CLCC colleagues presented in the session "Sustainability: the golden thread through the MSc Bioscence Futures", held on Monday in the Sir Alexander Fleming Building.

The presentation was opened by Dr Anne Burke-Gaffney (Research Lecturer in Vascular Biology at the National Heart and Lung Institute), who outlined how sustainability was woven through the new MSc Bioscience Futures: Communication, Innovation and Entrepreneurship degree.

Dr Michael Weatherburn (HSS Field Leader); Dr Mark Pope (Change Makers Senior Teaching Fellow) and Dr Blerina Ahmetaj-Shala (Advanced Research Fellow: National Heart & Lung Institute), explained their teaching on the programme. Two students of the  master's then talked with enthusiasm about rethinking and reframing their approach to sustainability and its application in range of settings.

Collaboration and Horizons Bespoke

Staff from the Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication often teach within other departments of the university in what is know as Horizons Bespoke. This happens across all three Horizons Fields of Study and the Science Communication Unit. What makes this collaboration stand out is that  CLCC colleagues were involved in the course design from inception and worked with Dr Anne Burke-Gaffney and team to develop the range of approaches and perspectives on sustainability in the teaching and learning. This notion of collaborating from the outset formed part of the discussion during the session's Q&A session.

About the Festival of Learning and Teaching

The Festival of Learning and Teaching (FOLAT) is Imperial’s "annual collaborative and celebratory forum of educational innovation and achievement across the university". This year's festival took place from Monday 24 to Wednesday 26 March 2025 on the South Kensington campus. The 2025 focus was on sustainability in higher education from a range of angles: for Imperial students and graduates, in teaching and learning practices, in collaboration and community and beyond.

Michael and Mark were only two of the many CLCC colleagues involved in this year's FOLAT. Other CLCC colleagues presenting at the event included Paul Chauncy, Caroline Clewley, Tatiana Codreanu, Ana Costa Pereira, Daisy Pataki, Linda van Keimpa and Catherine Webb.