April 2016

  • Education and climate change – part 9

    I see that UCU and NUS have a conference coming up in Manchester on May 13th: The role of education institutions in tackling climate change UCU says: "On Friday 21 April  2016 the Paris climate agreement was signed in New...

  • Some progress made at UBC

    If the talk John Robinson gave at Edinburgh recently about the Living Lab approach at the University of British Columbia is anything to go by, some progress has been made there on the educational front.  Robinson was, until recently, UBC's vice provost for...

  • Where Charity begins and ends

    I know of some who think that when society is "sustainable", there will be no need for charities to exist as every need (and want, presumably) will be provided – though by whom is never really clear.  These folk often also...

  • UNESCO UK celebrates its wider value

    I went to UNESCO's reception the other evening to mark the publication of a report into the "wider value of UNESCO to the UK".  You can download it here.  The evening was well-organised, relaxed and informative. The report says that...

  • Deconstructing UBC

    I have written now and then (both here and in papers) about the University of British Columbia model of sustainability, and (less frequently) about its short-comings, particularly in relation to how its teaching and learning provision fails to keep up both...

  • Creative book titles

    I guess you have come across Palgrave MacMillan's pivot series of books?  Such a nice idea.  I've reviewing one at the moment for EER.  It's a very tactile thing with a brightly patterned silky cover. The very titles are inviting, which suggests...

  • Lightening up new pathways for alternative futures

    Whilst I do agree that most of those advocating ESD in universities ought to lighten up, that seems no good reason to devote a whole conference to it.  But this seems to be what is happening in Gibraltar in June...

  • Cinders in the wind

    DECC announced recently that, in 2015, 24.7% of the UK's electricity was generated from renewables – compared to 19.1% in 2014.  That's nearly a 30% increase.  The fuel that made way for this was, inevitably, coal. Meanwhile low-carbon activists were celebrating...

  • Smartwater

    We're now used to quite ordinary things being "smart" – smart phones, smart meters, smart cars, and smart goals, for example, and Coca-Cola Enterprises has now developed "smartwater" to add to the list. This is not ordinary water, as might merely...

  • Bronze and a lot of Silver and Gold – has CLOtC overstepped the Mark?

    There was a nice blog on the NAEE website last week about the Learning Outside the Classroom [LOtC] Mark.  This is a UK national accreditation for schools which, NAEE says: "recognises existing provision and also assists schools to develop LOtC further." Schools...