The role gave me the chance to use the skills I gained from my humanities background and new skills I picked up during my time as a MA Digital Humanities student. Combining my research skills and critical perspective with technical skills and knowledge allowed me to handle data-focused projects and tasks with nuance, which is crucial for sustainability tracking and reporting which requires good data as well as an understanding of what sustainability encompasses and its intersectional nature.
The curriculum audit was the main project I worked on, and one that I was incredibly lucky to see to its end: from researching and assessing audit methodologies used by peer institutions, learning about sustainability measurement frameworks, doing preliminary testing of keyword scanning tools and presenting my findings to the team, to the actual running of the OSDG tool we used to conduct the quantitative curriculum audit.
Working on the university-wide curriculum audit, I encountered the challenge of quantifying something that is qualitative in nature and the difficulty in establishing an institution- as well as a sector-wide benchmark. Through having conversations with the team, I gained a more holistic understanding of sustainability. I learned about Education for Sustainability (EfS) at King’s and had the chance to examine the UNESCO EfS Competency Framework and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) closely. Additionally, as the project was university-wide, it was particularly interesting to get a glimpse into other faculties at King’s and see their efforts in integrating sustainability into their teaching.
Working with Katie Agar, my manager, made my time with KCS an extremely meaningful learning experience. Katie’s thoroughness and attention to detail when working with data as well as her way of seeing data as inextricable from its context and the way it was collected was inspiring; she helped me see the importance of good data and establishing metrics to measure organisational progress, but also the necessity of questioning those very metrics and methods of quantification — what is captured and what is not, what can be captured and what is challenging to capture. I also gained a better understanding of how tracking and reporting data can directly shape strategic decisions.
Across the 6 months, I found myself in a team where support was felt in the conversations we had, and the commitment to making an impact at King’s was not just a vision but something the team actively works and improves on. I’m extremely grateful for the experience working with KCS on the data side, and even more excited to apply the skills and knowledge in my next role that will contribute towards building a more careful and sustainable future.