Building on the Millennium Development Goals, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Education for Sustainable Development Goals (ESDG) were established. Despite the willingness of many educational institutions worldwide to embrace the SDGs, given escalating sustainability challenges, this article questions whether ESDG is desirable as “an education for the future”. Many challenges outlined by the SDGs are supposed to be solved by “inclusive” or “sustainable” economic growth, assuming that economic growth can be conveniently decoupled from resource consumption. Yet, the current hegemony of the sustainability-through-growth paradigm has actually increased inequalities and pressure on natural resources, exacerbating biodiversity loss, climate change and resulting social tensions. With unreflective support for growth, far from challenging the status quo, the SDGs and consequently, the ESDGs, condone continuing environmental exploitation, depriving millions of species of their right to flourish, and impoverishing future generations. This article creates greater awareness of the paradoxes of sustainable development and encourages teaching for sustainability through various examples of alternative education that emphasizes planetary ethic and degrowth. The alternatives include Indigenous learning, ecopedagogy, ecocentric education, education for steady-state and circular economy, empowerment and liberation. “This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in 'Journal of Environmental Education' on 01/20/20, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00958964.2019.1710444 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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The research explores what the SDG Framework, on the basis of the two major SDG challenges -the complexity challenge and the silo challenge-, are demanding of HEIs in terms of SDG Governance, the formulation of its Third Mission, its internal alignment to integrate the SDG and equip the Research and Educational departments with the right SDG competences. The research uses the conceptual approach of Intended SDG Policies, Actual SDG Practice and SDG Perceptions. Recent and relatively young SDG literature is explored and it draws conclusions that there are assumptions on the feasibility of achieving them. Are SDGs aspirational or inspirational? And should the Framework be considered a temporarily binding guidance rather than a global enforcement mechanism to prevent depletion of our social and natural capital? Much SDG research stops at providing analytical frameworks and tools to grapple with the complexity of SDG’s synergies, tradeoffs and spill-over effects. Some literature and tools are available on SDG pathways of urgency and priority ranking but this contradicts the Transformational claims of the SDGs of being Integrative, Indivisible and Universal. A theoretical and practical gap is observed how the SDGs must be viewed in the global community of national policies. But also as a derivative : How can organisations, private and public, view and address the challenges of the SDG Framework?
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Anthropocentrism is the belief that value is human-centered and that all other beings are means to human ends. The Oxford English Dictionary defines anthropocentrism as “regarding humankind as the central or most important element of existence”. Anthropocentrism focuses on humanistic values as opposed to values found in non-human beings or ecosystems. With the popularization of the concept of ecosystem services, the idea of protecting the environment for the sake of human welfare is reflected in the SDGs. Within the SDGs, the instrumental use of the environment for the sake of alleviating poverty, combatting climate change, and addressing a range of other social and economic issues is promoted. Since the conception of the SDGs, there has been a discussion about anthropocentrism in ‘sustainable development’ (e.g., Kopnina 2016a and 2017, Strang 2017, Adelman 2018; Kotzé and French 2018) and how the SDGs can be antithetical to effective responses to sustainability challenges. The SDGs’ accent on economic growth and social equality as well as environmental protection actually result in ethical as well as practical paradoxes. While central to the SDG’s is ‘sustained and inclusive economic growth’ (UN 2015), the prioritization is on the economy, NOT the planet that nurtures both social and economic systems. Anthropocentrism, in this case, refers to the exclusive focus on short-term human benefits, whereas biodiversity loss is not considered a great moral wrong (Cafaro and Primack 2014). The three overarching anthropocentric SDG goals, economic growth, resilience, and inclusion, will be critically examined below and ways forward will be proposed. “This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in 'Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Life on Land'. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71065-5_105-1 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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ALE organised an event with Parktheater Eindhoven and LSA-citizens (the Dutch umbrella organisation for active citizens). Five ALE students from the minor Imagineering and business/social innovation took responsibility for concept and actual organisation. On Jan 18th, they were supported by six other group members of the minor as volunteers. An IMEM-team of 5 students gathered materials for a video that can support the follow-up actions of the organisers. The students planned to deliver their final product on February 9th. The theatre will critically assess the result and compare it to the products often realised by students from different schools or even professional ones, like Veldkamp productions. Time will tell whether future opportunities will come up for IMEM. The collaboration of ALE and IMEM students is possible and adding value to the project.More than 180 visitors showed interest in the efforts of 30 national and local citizen initiatives presenting themselves on the market square in the theatre and the diverse speakers during the plenary session. The students created a great atmosphere using the qualities of the physical space and the hospitality of the theatre. Chair of the day, Roland Kleve, kicked off and invited a diverse group of people to the stage: Giel Pastoor, director of the theatre, used the opportunity to share his thoughts on the shifting role of theatre in our dynamic society. Petra Ligtenberg, senior project manager SDG NL https://www.sdgnederland.nl/sdgs/ gave insights to the objectives and progress of the Netherlands. Elly Rijnierse, city maker and entrepreneur from Den Haag, presented her intriguing efforts in her own neighbourhood in the city to create at once both practical and social impacts on SDG 11 (sustainable city; subgoal 3.2). Then the alderman Marcel Oosterveer informed the visitors about Eindhoven’s efforts on SDGs. The plenary ended with very personal interviews of representatives of two impressive citizen initiatives (Parkinson to beat; Stichting Ik Wil). In the two workshop rounds, ALE took responsibility for two workshops. Firstly the workshop: Beyond SDG cherrypicking: using the Economy for the common good’, in cooperation with citizen initiative Ware winst Brabant en Parktheater (including Social innovation-intern Jasper Box), secondly a panel dialogue on local partnerships (SDG 17) for the sustainable city (SDG 11) addressing inclusion (SDG 10) and the livability (SDG 3) with 11 representatives from local/provincial government, companies, third sector and, of course: citizen initiatives.
De onderzoeksprogramma’s van de Aeres Hogeschool (Gezond leven in de groen stad [Almere], Duurzaam Ondernemen [Dronten] en Wijsheid [Wageningen]) willen we verder professionaliseren. Veranderingen rondom de Centres of Expertise, de kansen uit de Nationale Wetenschapsagenda en de toenemende samenwerking met Wageningen UR dragen bij aan de doorontwikkeling van deze onderzoeksprogramma’s. We willen opschalen naar meer en betere koppelingen aan (inter)nationale en regionale ontwikkelingen, maatschappelijke trends en wereldvraagstukken. De kwaliteitsborging van onderzoek willen we binnen Aeres Hogeschool en in directe samenwerking met andere hogescholen verder ontwikkelen en implementeren. Hierdoor creëren we een innovatie-ecosysteem met verschillende actoren die het HBO-onderzoek verder doen groeien. Vanuit de hogeschool worden de in impulsgelden gebruikt om een goede infrastructuur te ontwikkelen voor CoE Groen (Aeres, HAS Hogeschool, Inholland en Van Hall Larenstein) en CEW (CoE waar Aeres Hogeschool in wil participeren). Deze impuls aanvraag is bedoeld om de basis te leggen voor de invulling van een meerjarige infrastructuur. Doel is optimale versterking via hao-brede onderzoeksclusters om bij te dragen aan focus en massa op relevante maatschappelijke thema’s in het groene domein. Vanuit faculteit Wageningen wordt onderzoek verricht naar kennisopbouw en –uitwisseling ten aanzien van bekwaamheid van beginnend HBO professionals op het terrein van de Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) en hoe HBO’ers hun rol als docenten, opleiders of adviseurs zouden kunnen invullen om de SDGs bekwaamheid van beginnend HBO professionals zeker te stellen. De onderzoeksinfrastructuur wordt daarin versterkt door verdieping in breder verband en versterking van de samenwerking met zes hogescholen in het Competencies for Sustainable Development (Goals) Consortium verder te verstevigen en te intensiveren. Doel is om dit te vervullen door inzet van Impuls gelden in te zetten voor een NWO-regeling of RAAK Pro aanvraag. Strategisch is het voor Aeres Hogeschool belangrijkrijk om het unieke van onze faculteit in Wageningen verder te ontplooien.
Hogeschool Utrecht wil professionals opleiden die kunnen bijdragen aan duurzame ontwikkeling, zoals beschreven in de Sustainable Development Goals van de Verenigde Naties (SDGs). Bij de ICT-opleidingen staat dit nog in de kinderschoenen, dit onderzoek wil daarom handvatten aanreiken om vorm te geven aan duurzaamheid binnen de ICT-opleidingen.Doel Duurzaamheid is nog weinig zichtbaar in de ICT-opleidingen. Docenten hebben beperkt zicht op het belang van de SDGs voor de professionele ICT-praktijk, en hebben weinig ervaring met de onderwijsaanpakken die nodig zijn om duurzaamheidsthema’s op een effectieve manier in de opleiding te integreren. Dit project beoogt om beide problemen aan te pakken door binnen het docententeam samen te werken aan de ontwikkeling van een good practice op dit gebied. Resultaten Het project levert een good practice van duurzaam ICT-onderwijs. Daarnaast worden er ook inzichten verkregen in het effect op studenten, docenten en opdrachtgevers. Daarbij wordt een set aan tools gerelateerd aan de beroepstaken en SDG’s opgeleverd, waarmee de integratie voor andere vakken makkelijker wordt. Hierbij wordt gebruik gemaakt van tools uit o.a. value-driven design. Met dit resultaat heeft de opleiding concrete handvatten hoe de SDG’s verder te integreren en zo betere professionals op te leiden. Looptijd 01 mei 2020 - 01 december 2022 Aanpak Dit project kent een iteratieve aanpak waarbij in overleg met stakeholders per afstudeerrichting beroepstaken worden geselecteerd en tools worden gekozen/gezocht. Daarvoor worden instructies en beoordelingscriteria met verhelderende voorbeelden ontwikkeld. Hierbij worden verschillende werkpakketten opgeleverd.
