Sometimes, it’s hard to know what to make of the EAUC. For example, it is smart enough to have persuaded the Scottish Funding Council [SFC] to part with £400k over 3 years to:
“deliver support for Scottish institutions on carbon reduction and reporting. The aspiration is to inspire further improvement and commitment from the rest of the UK and internationally.”
Commenting on this, Jenny Jamieson, policy officer for the SFC said:
“The Scottish Funding Council are proud to support the pioneering work that EAUC deliver and the effect that it has had in reducing carbon in Scottish universities and colleges. The EAUC are putting sustainability at the heart of the sector ensuring we have effective institutions and engaged students.”
Just so. However, in the same breath, EAUC is credulous enough to deal with those promoting a multiple choice sustainability literacy test, which, it is claimed, is designed for any student enrolled in any university, anywhere, working at any level, and studying anything at all. I have commented before on the foolishness at the heart of this enterprise, but it’s worth repeating its key claim which is that:
"All of the questions in this assessment will ensure that future graduates have basic knowledge on sustainable development and both individual and organisational sustainability and responsibility."
No they won’t. Tests don’t “ensure” anything. Not even teaching “ensures” anything in this sense. Learning might, of course – on a good day. Surely, someone in EAUC understands this.
So, how to explain such contradictions. Well, it's hard to say. Lapses of concentration, perhaps, or maybe the organisation has been spending too much time in Edinburgh's New Town with the SFC, and has imbibed too freely of the spirit of RLS.
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