Pathways for engaging climate, energy, and sustainability in the Russian language classroom

This chapter examines the ethical, linguistic, professional development, and program advocacy benefits that emerge from teaching topics in environmental sustainability in the Russian language classroom. Situated in the context of challenges facing foreign language programs in 2024 American higher education, the chapter considers how teaching sustainability concepts in Russian classes can support an educational advocacy strategy in the face of threats such as declining enrollments in the languages, the rise of generative AI, widespread legislative initiatives in state governments to eliminate DEI programs, and an acceleration of cuts to world languages and cultures programs, which are increasingly seen as expendable by higher education administrations. Building on recent innovations in teaching sustainability and environmental literacy in the broader field of world languages and cultures (de la Fuente, 2021; Melin, 2019), the author offers a roadmap for an intermediate-level Russian language unit that addresses topics such as sustainable cities and transportation; recycling and waste reduction; and environmentally conscious habits for daily life. Built around the UN Sustainable Development Goals framework, the lessons proposed here are designed to integrate easily into existing courses, empower instructors to engage in content-based instruction in STEM-adjacent fields, and to create opportunities for students to engage with their local communities and communities across the Russophone world. Teaching sustainability and climate literacy will help instructors of world languages and cultures continue to make the case for the critical role of foreign languages and intercultural competence training in higher education. Such cross-disciplinary integration will also support graduates as they enter professions that will require sustainability knowledge and skills to tackle the practical, economic, cultural, and technological challenges of global climate change.