Interdisciplinarity and transboundary thinking as a pre-requisite for learning our way out of unsustainability Arjen E.J. Wals

Unsustainability & urgency Learning our way out? Today Unsustainability & urgency Learning our way out? Redesigning education, learning & research

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“The conventional wisdom holds that all education is good, and the more of it one has, the better.… The truth is that without significant precautions, [it] can equip people merely to be more effective vandals of the Earth” (D. Orr).

Who knows? Who cares? 25/04/2017 Deepwater horizon Nuclear radiation in Japan Increased infertility in men Calcium supplements for women Runaway (?) climate change Organic – sustainable – for all? Paper or plastic? …. ‘ We are drowning in information while starving for wisdom’ E.O. Wilson, 1998, p. 300)

Post-normalism Complexity Uncertainty and indeterminacy 25/04/2017 Complexity Uncertainty and indeterminacy Contestation and controversy – extinction of ‘truth’ Shallowness and hyper-connectivity – erosion of meaning Emergence - reflexivity

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What’s it made of? Where does each component come from? How does it affect our lifes? How does it affect the lifes of others? Is there a future for cell phones?

Mireille Faist Emmenegger, et al, “Life Cycle Assessment of the Mobile Communication System UMTS: Towards Eco-Efficient Systems,” International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 11, 4, (2006): 265 – 276.

Chromium: Production and Consumption emissions in Sweden

Lessons learned & competencies developed Local and global issues are connected Information is everywhere, how to choose? Sustainability is multi-dimensional: ecological, economic, ethics, environment, etc. Becoming critical of consumption & consumerism Alternatives are possible! Interviewing, presenting, reporting, listening, googeling, critiquing…

An Education for Sustainable Development Lens Integrative – not only the ecological and the environmental, not only the present, not only the local, not only the human world Critical - questioning continuous economic growth and consumerism and associated lifestyles Transformative – exploration of alternative lifestyles (e.g. ‘voluntary simplicity’), values and systems that break from existing ones that are inherently unsustainable

Blinding insight - intermezzo If you have done it before – don’t say a thing! In the short movie you will see a small group of boys and girls wearing black or white shirts that are playing with two balls. Your goal is to count how many times the ball is passed by those wearing white shirts. It’s that simple. Remember, count just the passes of the ball by those wearing white shirts! Write down the number of passes.

Transformative learning 25/04/2017 25/04/2017 Sustainability Competence (1) Transformative learning Trans-spatial Gestalt Trans-cultural Trans-temporal Trans-disciplinary 30

Sustainability competence (2) Competence to think in a forward-looking manner & to deal with uncertainty Competence to work in an interdisciplinary manner Competence to achieve open-minded perception, transcultural understanding and cooperation Participatory competence Ability to feel empathy, sympathy and solidarity Competence to motivate oneself and others Competence to reflect in a distanced manner on individual and cultural concepts Sources: de Haan (2006); Michelsen and Adomssent (2007)

3rd generation university 25/04/2017

Thank you! 25/04/2017 25/04/2017 33