New sustainable learning qualification developed with Dollar Academy
Glasgow Clyde College (GCC) has partnered with The Futures Institute at Dollar Academy (FIDA) to create a new qualification focussing on sustainability, aimed at young learners.
The new course, Foundations in Sustainable Futures, explores what a sustainable society may look like in years to come, and develops an understanding of relationships between environmental, social and economic issues on a global and local level.
As part of the qualification, pupils will investigate real-world sustainability challenges and will be tasked to come up with practical solutions, from designing robots to remove plastic from the ocean, to creating pop-up buildings to be deployed in natural disasters. The project-based course will aid in developing critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills.
The course has been created as an SCQF Level 4, and follows on from the success of the FIDA International Sustainability Certificate at Level 5 and Diploma at Level 6, which launched in 2024 and are now running in 15 schools across Scotland. The course will be piloted with the S2 year-group at Dollar Academy this year, before the full course is rolled out to schools across Scotland for the 2027-28 session.
In an exciting new development, from April 2027 students will be working in a state-of-the-art Futures Institute building that reimagines how learning and teaching spaces might look. Its dome structure, designed by one of the architects of the Eden Project, encompasses spaces for collaboration, design, testing and communicating ideas.
Julie Wales, Head of Sector, at Glasgow Clyde College said: “Our world faces some serious pressures, including climate change, biodiversity and socio-economic challenges, and it's important we equip our young people with the knowledge and skills to think of ways to overcome these.
“Young people are our future, and we want to empower them to feel like they can take action when it comes to sustainability issues later in their lives. This new course could be just the beginning of that journey, and we hope that they feel inspired to be an advocate for our World.
“Working with FIDA has been fantastic and we’re very proud of the new course offering. We’re looking forward to seeing how it’ll benefit our young learners for years to come.”
Jacqueline Smith, Director of FIDA, said “The courses we have created with Glasgow Clyde College enable learners to understand complex real-world challenges, develop innovative responses and turn ideas into meaningful action. They are designed to cultivate not only knowledge and skills but also agency, capability and hope. At a time of reform in Scottish education, they demonstrate the value of learning that cuts across traditional subject boundaries and asks young people not simply what they know, but how they will use it to shape a better future. We are enormously grateful to colleagues at Glasgow Clyde for their unwavering support and commitment to help us make these new qualifications a reality.”
Top image shows L-R Shreyas and Lexie