Still Only One Earth: Lessons from 50 years of UN sustainable development policy Today the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) sent out a relatively short-for them- reflection on how far we have progressed over the past 50 years on the journey towards a sustainable future . It struck me as a prescient and harshContinue reading “Doing More with Less: Ensuring Sustainable Consumption and Production”
Category Archives: Systems Thinking
Sustainability needs new approaches to adult learning: a role for citizens’ assemblies.
Adult learning for citizenship needs to respond to rapid global change which is economic, political, social, cultural and ecological. The destruction of the environment, and the various initiatives and actions, by individuals, communities, organisations and movements like the Climate Change school ‘strikers’ and Extinction Rebellion, set a bold and urgent context to repurposing adult citizenship education andContinue reading “Sustainability needs new approaches to adult learning: a role for citizens’ assemblies.”
What’s in a name? – why ‘the environment’ can be a misleading myth
Guest blog by Stephen Sterling, Emeritus Professor of Sustainability Education, University of Plymouth I see myself as an environmentalist. And have done so ever since my early teens – which was a long time ago. So why would I be writing a blog with such a title? On the face of things, perhaps it seemsContinue reading “What’s in a name? – why ‘the environment’ can be a misleading myth”
Learning for Sustainability in Times of Accelerating Change
Edited by Arjen E.J. Wals and Peter Blaze Corcoran. Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2012. 550 pages. (€) 69.00 (hardback) ISBN: 978-90-8686-203-0. I reviewed this massive book for the Journal of Education for Sustainable Development in 2012 and set it in the context of a prescient album by the Indie Group ILiKETRAiNS: “And we regret theContinue reading “Learning for Sustainability in Times of Accelerating Change”
Twelve Principles for Reinventing the 21 Century University
Universities are much in the news, but it is not good news. The rise in the pandemic R number in the UK is having a profound impact on university students as they return in their thousands to campuses to find in many of them that they face total lockdown. So, no immersive quality campus experienceContinue reading “Twelve Principles for Reinventing the 21 Century University”
Michael Crow and the New Realms of Learning at Arizona State University
I have just watched a short video(made in June 2020) of Michael Crow-President of Arizona State University articulating clearly and convincingly this university’s approach to learning post Covid. I would describe it as visionary, comprehensive and accessible, along with many new features; one in particular called by the extraordinary name “Alien Zoo” which they areContinue reading “Michael Crow and the New Realms of Learning at Arizona State University”
Climate Assembly UK: Talking about the whether…
Guest Blog by Barry Carney, Research Associate with Change Agents UK The UK is legally committed to net zero emissions by 2050. This target was put forward by the Government’s statutory advisor, the Committee on Climate Change, for delivering on the UK’s commitments to the Paris Agreement. The measures are a continued response to theContinue reading “Climate Assembly UK: Talking about the whether…”
A HIGHER PURPOSE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
….in order to act as a driver for change, education itself needs to change, to become transformative, to change values and behaviours. ( Leicht, Combes, Byun, Agbedahin 2018, p29).Steve Sterling and I recently argued in a short paper for the International Association of Universities( https://iau-aiu.net/IAU-Horizons) that in our experience there is a growing and urgentContinue reading “A HIGHER PURPOSE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION”
CIVIC UNIVERSITIES and CIVIC RENEWAL
There is a growing interest in the idea of civic universities. It’s an idea which has a new resonance with many who believe its time for a reassessment of what a university is for(see my earlier blogs on From Green Academy to Ecological Universities and What is a University For?). I was particularly struck byContinue reading “CIVIC UNIVERSITIES and CIVIC RENEWAL”
IS ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY A TRANSFORMATIVE UNIVERSITY?
I once wrote a book review on effective executive sustainability leadership in our universities in which I declared that, in my experience, there were none who could live up to this accomplishment. I can now report that there is at least one: Michael M Crow, the President of Arizona State University. Today I listened toContinue reading “IS ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY A TRANSFORMATIVE UNIVERSITY?”
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