Movement practice for Future Sustainability Professionals

University study is largely characterized by long hours of sitting, screen-based work, and high cognitive load. While this mode of learning is productive in many ways, it often comes at the expense of students' physical and mental well-being. Research consistently shows that regular movement supports health, concentration, emotional regulation, and learning performance. For future sustainability professionals, however, movement is more than a compensatory health measure: it can become a formative learning space where self-care, care for others, and care for the planet are experienced as deeply interconnected practices. This course starts from the premise that sustainable action requires not only knowledge and skills, but also embodied awareness, resilience, and the capacity to relate responsibly to oneself, society, and the more-than-human world.

Over six weeks, students from all disciplines and study stages will explore a range of movement practices and reflect on their personal, professional, and societal relevance through self-inquiry-based learning. Movement is approached as a form of deep learning: a way of cultivating attention, adaptability, cooperation, and ethical sensitivity through lived experience. Drawing on insights from sustainability education research, the course invites students to examine how movement can foster sustainability competencies such as systems thinking, self-reflection, connectedness with nature, and inner development. Movement practices are introduced in the spirit of contemporary "movement practice" approaches (e.g. as promoted by Ido Portal), which emphasize versatile, mindful, and exploratory movement beyond performance optimization or single sports disciplines. Students will be encouraged to analyze how embodied learning can support their future professional roles, strengthen well-being, and contribute to more sustainable ways of living and working---grounded in the understanding that caring for the self, caring for others, and caring for the planet are inseparable dimensions of sustainability.

• Explain the rationale underlying movement practice in an educational context

• Reflect on the effects and usefulness of the offered activities in a differentiated, embodied way

• Engage with, verbalise, and reflect upon movement practice.

• Apply a basic form of thematic analysis to analyse the reported experiences with the course

• ? (50%) Students create a multimodal diary reflecting their experiences with the course.
• ? (50%) Students analyse their own diaries in groups using thematic analysis and summarize the results in a report.

No previous knowledge is required to participate in this course.

• Thurm, S., Frank, P., Greve, S., \& Schröder, S. (2023). Can learning to move foster sustainable development? A systematic literature review examining the potential of sport and physical activity in the context of environmental and sustainability education. *German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research, 54*, 29 - 42.