2012

  • Forget resilient; antifragile's the thing, ...

    .... os so reports Omah Malik in this week's THE in his witty, informative (but clearly infuriated) review of Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Antifragile: How to Live in a World We Don't Understand. Malik sums up the Taleb concept of a scale...

  • Nothing short of delusion?

    That is the Tim Jackson view of whether technological innovation can help 9 billion people live sustainably, and well, on the planet: "There is as yet no credible, socially just, environmentally sustainable scenario for continually growing incomes for a world...

  • The bad faith of learning outcomes

    Last week's THE brought a blast of clear air honesty in its wake: Frank Furedi on the bad faith of learning outcomes. Question: "Professor Furedi, how do you get around learning outcomes?" Answer: "I just make them up and ignore...

  • Measuring well-being and sustainable development – if you can

    A while back, I submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee's enquiry into measuring well-being and sustainable development, that focused on the thorny issue of sustainable development indicators.  The committee's report has just been issued. What a...

  • The Sustainable Schools Alliance

    The Sustainable Schools Alliance has gone through a difficult period since its birth in 2011, with two of the three parent organisations more or less abandoning it.  Fortunately, the remaining one, SEEd, has proved more tenacious, and a re-launch (you can...

  • Beware; Pambassadors abroad

    Did you see this report in the China Daily on the new Global Pambassadors scheme (thanks to Learn from Nature). The report begins, rather breathlessly, ... The audience burst into hearty laughter when Frenchman Serge Pouille said he loved the giant...

  • Do we really understand The Future we Want?

    Apparently, "November 2012 saw the launch of a UK dialogue process to explore the future of education for sustainability in the UK", or so EAUC reports.   "At the invitation of the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC) in collaboration...

  • Shockingly good news for Mr Gove – which he may not welcome

    The BBC reports an Economist Intelligence Unit paper on world education rankings which puts the UK 6th in the top 20 developed countries.  The usual suspects (Finland, South Korea,, Singapore, ...) are ahead of us – as we know.  This...

  • Top of the Eco-schools league

    I've been catching up with Eco-school stats for England.   The Untidy Britain Group has a helpful league table showing the top twenty local authorities where Eco-school registrations are compared with the number of schools in a particular area.  Unsurprisingly, perhaps,...

  • Too late for two degrees?

    Absolutely, says PricewaterhouseCoopers [pcw] in their latest Low Carbon Index Report.  This is the Report's Foreword by Leo Johnson, pcw Partner for sustainability and climate change: It’s time to plan for a warmer world. The annual Low Carbon Economy Index centres...