If we can imagine the future we we want then we can learn a lot about how to get there
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Only continual learning and adjusting gets us towards the future we want
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In Australia transport accounts for 18% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Although we anticipate that the number of cars owned and the distance driven by cars is likely to increase in the future, we are less certain if carbon emissions from the transport sector will increase, decrease or plateau out. Scenarios can help us engage with […]
In order to be useful for decision makers, scenarios must be plausible. They must also be integrated, coherent and internally consistent. Scenarios should be analytically sound with regard to use of data and scientific theory. Scenarios should not only incorporate the global scale but be able to be dis-aggregated to a regional and, ultimately, sub-regional […]
Scenarios can have qualitative or quantitative aspects or both. Qualitative (descriptions) and quantitative (modelling) aspects of scenarios can also be complementary. Commonly, the approach has been a story and simulation approach that combines a descriptive story line with numerical modelling. Qualitative aspects of scenarios are typically a family of story lines. Story lines are particularly […]
In a previous post on less doom and gloom in sustainability, a small innocuous table from Tilbury and Cooke compared traditional and critical approaches to environmental education. One particular row in the table talks about the transition from seeing sustainability as a process of problem solving to one of creating alternative futures. The Learning and […]
Intuitively the concept of sustainability has been taken up as an aspiration across the world. Try to find a definition and you’ll come across thousands of variations. The lack of consistency has contributed to making the concept highly contested. It is incorrectly assumed that we must choose the ‘right’ definition of sustainability and this will […]
There is no doubt that a transition to a 100% renewables electricity sector will have its challenges. Any transformation at such a system-wide scale will. It will require courage, the best minds from a range of disciplines, and social and political will. We will also need tools which can test policy alternatives to inform our […]
Teaching used to be about lectures, and learning about memorising information. But in a field such as sustainability where new ways of acting are the ultimate purpose, just knowing more is not enough. Certainly, knowledge and understanding is important, but the rate that new knowledge develops and the rate of change in the sustainability field […]
Ever since I could remember I knew my dream job would involve ‘saving the planet’. In my work I feel a sense of hope, purpose and inspiration about what I do and the reason I do it. Not everyone is as lucky to know what their ‘thing’ in life is. Despite this there have been […]
Critical reflection is required in all disciplines if deeper learning is to be achieved. It occurs when we test information, try to find holes in it and prove to ourselves that it is either authentic or false. In learning for sustainability this type of thinking is vital (Rieckmann, 2012). It empowers us to examine and […]
Recently we investigated how students could learn oral communications in the online learning environment (here’s the full report). None of us involved in the trial had tried this before and we were all a little nervous. Our shared experiences as teachers really helped us learn from one another but what really helped the most was […]