This case study examines the collaborative design of a transnational certificate programme in Sustainable Engineering Management, developed by the University of West London (UK) and Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico). By focusing on the design phase as a site of epistemic negotiation, this study extends transnational education (TNE) scholarship beyond delivery and quality assurance frameworks. It integrates systems thinking, decolonial principles, and stakeholder co-creation as a combined approach to transnational curriculum design. Specifically, it asks how these approaches inform curriculum design in bilateral TNE.
The process involved pre-pilot workshops with staff, industry partners, and students, plus pedagogical alignment and needs assessment. Workshop outputs and reflections were thematically analysed through a system and decolonial lens. External examiners have since reviewed the curriculum.
Three findings emerged. (i) Students reframed learning for employability, calling for hackathon-style scenarios and artefacts addressing problems drawn from their own contexts. (ii) Industry participants framed learning as a personal journey towards organisational impact, developing artefacts addressing their own sustainability challenges. (iii) Meaningful North-South academic dialogue did not emerge spontaneously; it required facilitated epistemic conversations to surface tensions between dominant and Southern sustainability frameworks.
Recommendations include: embedding decolonial principles in TNE governance and design, not just in content; treating co-creation as power rebalancing; building assessments around learner-generated, context-specific artefacts; and protecting time for North-South epistemic dialogue at the design stage. The study contributes design-phase knowledge to TNE practice, with attention to capacity building and shifts in institutional power.

Authors:
Mohammad Sakikhales, University of West London, United Kingdom

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Mohammad Saki, Senior Lecturer in Sustainability and Green Technologies. Sustainable Development, Climate Impact, Digital Construction, Transnational Education.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Sunday Schedule

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