arjen.wals@wur.nl interdisciplinarity and transboundary thinking as a pre-requisite for learning our...

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arjen.wals@wur.nl Interdisciplinarity and transboundary thinking as a pre-requisite for learning our way out of unsustainability Arjen E.J. Wals Slide 2 arjen.wals@wur.nl Today 1.Unsustainability & urgency 2.Learning our way out? 3.Redesigning education, learning & research Slide 3 arjen.wals@wur.nl www.chrisjordan.com 60.000/5sec2.000.000/5min Slide 4 arjen.wals@wur.nl Slide 5 Slide 6 www.chrisjordan.com Slide 7 arjen.wals@wur.nl Slide 8 Slide 9 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). (D. Orr). Slide 10 arjen.wals@wur.nl Who knows? Who cares? 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) Slide 11 arjen.wals@wur.nl Post-normalism Complexity Uncertainty and indeterminacy Contestation and controversy extinction of truth Shallowness and hyper-connectivity erosion of meaning Emergence - reflexivity Slide 12 arjen.wals@wur.nl Slide 13 www.chrisjordan.com426.000/day Slide 14 arjen.wals@wur.nl Whats it made of? Where does each component come from? How does it affect our lifes? Is there a future for cell phones? How does it affect the lifes of others? Slide 15 arjen.wals@wur.nl 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. Slide 16 arjen.wals@wur.nl Slide 17 Slide 18 Chromium: Production and Consumption emissions in Sweden Slide 19 arjen.wals@wur.nl Slide 20 Slide 21 Slide 22 Slide 23 Slide 24 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 Slide 25 arjen.wals@wur.nl 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 Slide 26 arjen.wals@wur.nl Blinding insight - intermezzointermezzo 1.If you have done it before dont say a thing! 2.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. 3.Your goal is to count how many times the ball is passed by those wearing white shirts. Its that simple. 4.Remember, count just the passes of the ball by those wearing white shirts! 5.Write down the number of passes. Slide 27 arjen.wals@wur.nl Slide 28 Slide 29 Slide 30 Sustainability Competence (1) Transformative learning Trans-spatial Gestalt Trans-cultural Gestalt Trans-temporal Gestalt Trans-disciplinary Gestalt Slide 31 arjen.wals@wur.nl 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) Sustainability competence (2) Slide 32 arjen.wals@wur.nl 3rd generation university Slide 33 arjen.wals@wur.nl Thank you!