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Metaphors of nature and economic development

Neoliberal discourse often conceptualizes nature in relation to its market utility and economic development. This article will address the role of metaphors in shaping neoliberal discourse in business education. The aim of this article is to reveal reasoning patterns about environmental problems and economic development in students of sustainable business minor. The case study described in this article involves business students at The Hague University in The Netherlands. This case study aimed to explore a shift in student understanding of environmental problems and economic development before and after the intervention. The results suggest that critical curriculum can inform students about the alternative conceptions as well as instruct them about potential solutions to the sustainability challenges. The article culminates with the argument that without goal-oriented education for sustainability; neoliberal education may not permit transcendence from unsustainable practices. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6117496 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/

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Metaphors of nature and economic development

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Economic Intelligence For Cities: Strategies And Pitfalls

Why cities need economic intelligenceThe economies of Europe’s cities are changingfast, and it is not easy to predict which segmentsof the local economy will grow and which oneswill decline. Yet, cities must make decisions as towhere to invest, and face a number of questionsthat are difficultto answer:Where dowe putour bets? Should we go for biotech, ICT, or anyother sector that may have growth potential?Do we want to attract large foreign companies,or rather support our local indigenous smallerfirms, ormustwe promotethestart-up scene?Or is it better not to go for any particularindustry but just improve the quality of lifein the city, hoping that this will help to retainskilled people and attract high tech firms?

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Sustainability in Environmental Education: New Strategic Thinking

Recently environmental education (EE) literature has been supportive of pluralistic rather than goal-oriented learning. Researchers argue that sustainability is not fixed but socially constructed and that sustainability issues should not be represented as indisputable targets. Countering this trend in environmental education research, this article argues that unsustainability should be treated as a concrete challenge that requires concrete solutions. The author will argue that there is a need for clear articulation of (1) what (un)sustainability is; (2) what are the key challenges of (un)sustainability; and (3) how the sustainability challenges can be meaningfully addressed. This article will outline a number of helpful frameworks that address obstacles to sustainability, ranging from population growth to unsustainable production and consumption practices. Solutions include investment in family planning to counter the effects of overpopulation, and alternative production frameworks, such as Cradle to Cradle that differs from the conventional frameworks. This article will conclude with the broader reflection that without goal-oriented critical learning explicitly providing sound models of sustainability, open learning may never permit transcendence from unsustainability. This article will develop a number of comprehensive frameworks targeted at solutions to sustainability issues both from ethical and practical perspectives. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in "Environment, Development and Sustainability". The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-014-9584-z https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/

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Sustainability in Environmental Education: New Strategic Thinking

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Setting The Scene: Economic Transitions In European Cities

In the recent ‘Regional outlook’, the OECD (2014) convincingly argues that cities can be the drivers of national growth and recovery: in principle, their diversity and density makes people and companies more productive and innovative. This is not only a tale of large cities: over the last decade, as recent studies demonstrate (e.g. Dijkstra, 2013) many smaller and medium-sized cities across Europe were important economic engines. But this did not happen automatically: to make that happen, ‘getting cities right’ is the key challenge, and action on the city level matters! As demonstrated by recent OECD data (OECD, 2014), poorly organised cities fail to reap their economic potential.

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Setting The Scene: Economic Transitions In European Cities

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Teaching value-loaded critical thinking in philosophy education

Value-loaded critical thinking refers to a combination of critical thinking, moral value development and reflection. It is important to teach value-loaded critical thinking in secondary education and philosophy seems the pre-eminent subject to do so. This article describes the theoretical foundations of value-loaded critical thinking, its educational objectives, and what is known about effective teaching strategies. Value-loaded critical thinking is best taught in teacher-led philosophical dialogues. Four design principles summarize effective teaching strategies for teaching value-loaded critical thinking in dialogue: teachers should (1) explicitly address moral values in dialogue; (2) apply moral values to engaging or realistic examples; (3) promote critical reasoning about moral values; and (4) provide opportunities for reflection.It is important that secondary school students learn to reason critically about normative issues. Philosophy teachers can contribute to this educational objective by promoting value-loaded critical thinking during philosophical dialogues. Value-loaded critical thinking is critical and reflective reasoning focused on deciding what is the right thing to believe or to do (Frijters et al. 2008). This paper describes the theoretical foundations of value-loaded critical thinking and presents four design principles for promoting value-loaded critical thinking during philosophical dialogues. The four design principles are: teachers should explicitly address moral values in dialogue (1), apply moral values to engaging or realistic examples (2), promote critical reasoning about moral values (3), and provide opportunities for reflection (4). To provide authentic illustrations and practical suggestions for teachers, each design principle includes selected excerpts of classroom dialogues of 10th grade philosophy classes in Dutch.

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Teaching value-loaded critical thinking in philosophy education

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Scientists warning to humanity

At present, leading international agencies, such as the United Nations Environmental Programme, are largely focused on what they claim to be ‘win-win’ scenarios of ‘sustainable development’ rhetoric. These combine social, economic and environmental objectives. However, as noted by the ‘Scientists’ Warning to Humanity’, environmental integrity is the essential precondition for the healthy functioning of social and economic systems, and thus environmental protection needs to be prioritized in policy and practice. Ecological sustainability cannot be reached without realizing that population growth and economic growth, with attendant increased rates of depletion of natural resources, pollution, and general environmental degradation, are the root causes of unsustainability. This article argues that to strategically address ecological unsustainability, the social, economic and political barriers to addressing the current economic model and population growth need to be overcome. Strategic solutions proposed to the current neoliberal economy are generic – namely, degrowth, a steady-state economy, and a ‘circular economy’. Solutions to demographic issues must be sensitive to the countries' cultural, social, political and economic factors to be effective as fertility differs from country to country, and culture to culture. As discussed here, Mediterranean countries have the lowest fertility in the world, while many countries in Africa, and some in Asia, South America have stable but consistently high birthrates. This is discussed using three case studies - Tanzania, Italy, and Cambodia, focusing on the "best case" policy practice that offers more realistic hope for successful sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-019-0139-4 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/

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Sustainability: new strategic thinking for business

Some researchers insist that sustainability should be represented as a continuous quest, doubting that there is the ‘right’ way to be sustainable. Acknowledging the immensity of sustainability challenges, this article takes a different perspective, arguing that without understanding of concrete barriers and seeking solutions, the challenge of addressing unsustainable practices becomes unsurmountable. This article will summarize research in sustainability literature that indicates that sustainability requires a constant human population, as well as ecologically benign method of production. This article will survey a number of helpful frameworks that address the key obstacles to sustainability, namely population growth, and unsustainable production and consumption. These frameworks are discussed in the context of business-level solutions and production systems. As illustrated by examples of best practices as well as potential pitfalls associated with each system, these systems have the potential to move the quest for sustainability beyond ‘business as usual.’ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-015-9723-1 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/

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Sustainability: new strategic thinking for business

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Design-thinking & Frugality

This full paper works towards merging ‘frugality’ and ‘design thinking’ into a simplified framework for a workshop routine as a stepping stone for SMEs in developed countries to create and capture value of frugal innovations. Innovations which are born out of the notion that we can do more with less, or for less. This framework is aimed at reaching a specific group of SMEs, in this paper called the peloton of SMEs, a large group of SMEs which generally have lower growth ambitions and growth potential in comparison to the frontrunners. This group is often overlooked by (regional) governmental innovation programmes due to a primary focus on the same industry’s frontrunners. The framework was first tested with students, discussed with experts and eventually tested with SMEs from the Agribusiness sector in the Netherlands. Frugal Elements added to the design thinking process are; (a.) a Frugal Lens (b.) Frugal Business Model Patternsfor BMI (c.) Frugal leadership development (d.) Frugal Validation of the solution (e.) Frugal Intervention (limited time, limited theory, vertical learning community, practical tools). Although the first Pilot has been a succes in terms of helping participating SMEs to create innovations, more research is necessary for the design of a final framework which is expected to contribute to the frameworks that are currently available to SMEs in frugal and sustainable business modelling.

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New urban economies

What is this publication about?In this publication on ‘New urban economies’, we search for answers and insights to a key question: how can cities foster economic development and develop ‘new urban economies’. And, importantly, how can they do that:◗ in concertation with different urban stakeholders, ◗ responding adequately to key challenges and developments beyond their control, ◗ building on the cities’ own identity, industries and competences, ◗ in a sustainable way, ◗ and without compromising weaker groups.

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Metaphors of nature and economic development

Economic Intelligence For Cities: Strategies And Pitfalls

Sustainability in Environmental Education: New Strategic Thinking

Setting The Scene: Economic Transitions In European Cities