Radical Transformation of Universities to Prepare the Next Generation of Climate Champions
Date
2021
Authors
Creed, Irena
Ramaswamy, Meghna
Wolsfeld, Matthew
Calvez, Stryker
Fulton, Murray
Liber, Karsten
Marciniuk, Darcy D.
Ottman, Jacqueline
Turner, Nancy
Zink, Laura
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Brill
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Book chapter
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Abstract
The threat and reality of climate change must be acted upon individually and collectively. Universities have a decisive role to play in this regard – by creating the capacity in all its academic activities to lead in taking on the challenge and by graduating students with the capacity to solve the problems that the climate change situation poses. To take on these roles, universities must accept a “radical transformation”. Radical transformation is a process that requires two integrated activities: radical thinking and transformative action. We propose that it is radical to think of universities as microcosms of society; that is, universities face the same need as everyone else to find ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change. We also propose that it is transformative for universities to inspire and be agents of change for the world: by creatively developing strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change, universities can become global leaders in demonstrating workable solutions capable of being broadly diffused and scaled up. We present a set of design aspirations that can help universities undergo a radical transformation and thereby make headway in addressing the climate crisis.
Description
© UNESCO IBE, 2021 | DOI: 10.1163/9789004471818_005
This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 License
Keywords
design aspirations, living laboratory, diverse learners, innovative ecosystems, public engagement
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Part Of
Curriculum and Learning for Climate Action: Toward an SDG 4.7 Roadmap for Systems Change
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DOI
10.1163/9789004471818_005