Implementing Sustainability at Universities. Adding “Responsible” is not enough

Some keywords from the conversation:

Innovation can destroy the world.
The last decade we have added “Responsible” to innovation. We need a more fundamental shift…
Unnovation - the way to real sustainable innovation?
We can’t just optimize the systems. We need a transition away from the expansion-growth-thinking.
Do we use the word “rethink” too easy?
How should HVL get sustainability into the DNA?
What do we do with the contradictions, like flying to participate in conferences, meetings and giving presentations? Is our ecological “handprint” higher than our ecological “footprint”?
Also statistics and mathematics are important topics. For instance they enable us to understand the UN IPCC reports.
We need to make things more complicated rather than more simplified. There are no easy answers.

Arjen has a main position as Professor of Transformative Learning for Socio-Ecological Sustainability at Wageningen University.
He is also Adjunct Professor at NMBU (Norges Miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet) in the area of Whole Institution Approaches to sustainability. In addition he is a Adjunct Professor at the BarnKUNNE center at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL).
He is UNESCO Chair of Social Learning and Sustainable Development.

Read more about Arjen Wals:
https://www.nmbu.no/ans/arjen.wals
https://www.wur.nl/en/Persons/Arjenprof.dr.ir.-AEJ-Arjen-Wals.htm

Video-lecture by Arjen Wals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fWIJHhULtY

Blog by Arjen Wals:
https://transformativelearning.education/