Anchored by (against?) a tide of idealism: the ebb and flow of academic engagement with

student activism for sustainability

Rehema M. White and Shona Russell

University of St Andrews

Wider contextContemporary narratives of academic changeAims and research questionsSustainability at the University of St AndrewsReflecting on:

Sustainability action and sustainability activism

Academics and students as activists Crossing the boundaries Towards new/old role(s) for the academic

Conclusions

Contents

How are we doing? Unsustainability is ‘not the work of ignorant

people [but those] with BAs, BScs, LLBs, MBAs and PhDs’ (Orr, 1994: 7)

“At present most of our universities are still leading the way in advancing the kind of thinking, teaching and research that only accelerates un-sustainability” (Wals, 2010: 32)

Universities should rather be ‘contributing to the intellectual and moral improvement of the human condition’ (Gough and Scott 2008)

Context Neoliberalism Environmental / social change Economic crisis and planned and unplanned

financial austerity Sustainable development?

http://theblogofprogress.com/?p=417 Seppo.net

Contemporary narratives of

academic change Tension between education as empowerment versus

Transferable Skills for employability (students as consumers)

Audit culture and managerialism Flexibilisation of academic labour force; gender and

race issues Emphasis on professional incentive, departmental

promotion, monodisciplinary reductionism (research assessment etc)

‘Theoretical’ research privileged over ‘applied research’

Research privileged over teaching? “Higher education still largely reflects the Western

intellectual legacy from whence it came” (Sterling 2013; Pain 2003; Castree 2000; Power 1997; Orr 1994)

To reflect on the inter-relationships between academic staff and student sustainability activists within a University context

To explore the roles of an academic within and outside of a ‘sustainable university’

Aims

Research questions What are sustainability action and activism? Should academics engage in sustainability

activism? How do academics and students perform

sustainability activism? What are the consequences of engaging with

student activism? What does this imply for the potential roles of

an academic in a ‘sustainable university’?

The University of St Andrews

• Small and ancient (600 years old)

• 7200 students, 47% in halls of residence

• World class research excellence

• Some sustainability focus

Sustainability focus: teachingSD Programme principles of critical enquiry, interdisciplinarity, transformative teaching, integration of theory and practice, and exploring examples and links between local and global aspects of SD.High student numbers

Sustainability focus: research

St Andrews Sustainability Institute (SASI) Virtual, facilitating bodyMission "To facilitate research, teaching, knowledge transfer and debate in order to enable the transformational change required to integrate sustainable thinking and actions into the foundations of everyday life."

Sustainability focus: estates

• Aim for carbon neutrality by 2016• Aim for BREEAM outstanding in new build• Representation on both Transition and

University senior management committees

Sustainability focus:

Transition• Launched in 2009 by

students and staff• In 2011-12, all university

members received e-mail or memo communication, over 750 students received face-to-face presentations, and 813 staff and students voluntarily attended events

• Currently employs 7 staff (some PT) and successful in CCF funding

Transition project areas

Smarter travel

Edible campus

Low carbon living

Re-using and re-economy

Transition together

Knowledge and research

Our rolesWhite Inaugural Director of Sustainable

Development Programme Founder member of Transition: UStA Steering Group member since launch Research focus on knowledge for

sustainability; community engagement; learning links

Russell Member of Steering Group for almost 18

months; teaches SD and MN Research focus on management,

accountability and community action

White Inaugural Director of Sustainable

Development Programme Founder member of Transition: UStA Steering Group member since launch Research focus on knowledge for

sustainability; community engagement; learning links

Russell Member of Steering Group for almost 18

months; teaches SD and MN Research focus on management,

accountability and community action

Professional and personal identities interwoven

Activist in schools, allotments, communities,

protest, global south/mother/partner…..

What are sustainability action

and activism?

Sustainability.. Action

Solving local problems

Associated with knowledge production

Considered outside of academia…..

Activism Developing practices Aiming for social

transformation Challenging power

relations, building solidarity and emotional connections

From Chatterton et al

Transition projects cross over blurred boundary e.g. edible campus aims to transform food culture; imperative of peak oil and climate change

Should academics engage in

sustainability activism?

Motivations for (our) academic activism

Idealism! Validation of value based existence; reclaiming the imperative; exhibiting the ‘why’ of academia

Emotional connection and partnership Fun, creativity and inspiration (see also Blomley) Theory-practice links – reflection, enhanced effect The purpose of critical thinking? Combine theory

and political action (support from Castree, Blomley, Pain)

Universities as intellectual hubs (see Orr, Castree)

Re-homed at the great giveaway StAnd-Reuse!

How do academics and students perform

sustainability activism?

JanFeb

Mar

Apr

May

JunJul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Retreat for Christmas

Students away 6 weeks

Staff markingResurgence of

ideas and actionPlanting in

gardens focus

Retreat for examsUG Students leave

for summerAcademics disperse Reflection and

preparationFew students/staff

presentGardens producing

Freshers arrive Recruitment &

ideasAcademic frenzyTransport focus

Settling inProjects

underwayRetreat for

assessmentsEnergy focus

Academic seasonal cycle

Sustainability action and academics as activists

Academic staff For staff sustainability

action means ‘thinking and writing’

Staff often focused on (internal) policy change

Activism and even action perceived to impede careers in western institutions

Staff constrained by publication in excellent journals; monodisciplinarity; promotion procedures

Students For students sustainability

action means ‘practical projects’

Students offer a sense of pragmatism; sense of humour

Students less constrained by career moves?

Creativity and spontaneity

Reflections Activism as a process as much as

outcome? The benefits of learning on and among students evident; may lead to long term outcomes elsewhere? Frustrations…..

Forms of student activism emerge – policy oriented, practical, topic-focused, protest, PR; jeans or suit possible. UStA polite activism!

Tendency to accept practices that are deemed appropriate or disciplined in the context of place and community

Activism can be policy change, protest, practice

What are the consequences of engaging

with student activism?

What does this imply for the potential roles of an

academic in a ‘sustainable university’?

Can any student study sustainable development without being an ‘activist’ in some sense?

SD demands reflexivity which demands exploration of self

We strive for ‘critical thinking’ – are we successful teachers if we create radical thinkers?

Is activism the ultimate transformational learning experience?

Teaching and learning

Sustainability actionCommunity

SD enthusiasts SD governance and structures

White and Harder (2013)

The virtuous cycle of sustainability action within a University

University community

Research: why, what and how?

Why: reinforces the imperative for social transformation; collective action stimulates motivation for change; defines impact as capacity and learning not just outcomes

What: has reinforced both theory and practice based research; has led to a new respect for the role of knowledge in sustainability action and activism; has led to a desire to provoke transformation within as well as outside the university system (see also Castree, Blomley)

How: has promoted participatory, reflexive, interdisciplinary, local yet global approaches commensurate with sustainability research (see White 2013)

Crossing boundaries Research/teaching/practice/engagement Academic staff/student Expert/learner Town/gown Space/time Professional/personal

Regaining the joy of academia?

learning

research

Towards a new model of knowledge production,

mobilisation and implementation

Knowledge mobilisation

Knowledge implementatio

n

Knowledge

production

Research Publication Funding Impact

(Community engagement) Teaching Administration

The commonly perceived roles of the

academic

Knowledge Production

The activism inspired roles of the academic

Sustainability action

Capacity release in others

Teaching

Administration

Sustainability advocate

Policy change

Community action

Sustainability research

Change university system

Attributes of the sustainable university

The sustainab

le university

Market driven model? Estates

Research

Global context of

higher education

Community

The student

experience

Pedagogy and

curricula

Wellbeing

Leadership

Regional – local

and global

The Green

Academy

Processes of the sustainable university

The sustainab

le university

Market driven model? Estates

Research

Global context of

higher education

Community

The student

experience

Pedagogy and

curricula

Wellbeing

Leadership

Regional – local

and global

The Green

Academy

action activism

communicationtheory

Student activists inspire academics with inspiration, fun and frustration; from the pragmatic to the surreal

Student activism should be a natural (disciplined?) consequence of SD teaching

Transition offers a hybrid space for both academics and students; a chance to re-create identities (but only so far)

Exploring activism and academia can shed new light on the interactions within a sustainable university and on new modes of knowledge production, mobilisation and implementation – and ‘impact’

Beware the dark side of activism: the ethics of working not with but through or on students; self serving agendas; the paradoxes of publication pressures

Conclusions

The sustainable university?

“It is essentially a transformative space; where transformational practices are theorized, modelled and imagined. An open space which is not known by its 'ivory towers'; its rigid traditions, or its allegiance to power, but rather by its creativity, and energy for change; a 'hub' of social transformation and social learning for a more sustainable, just and equitable future. At the heart of such a university lies independence of thought, critical debate and social critique, but perhaps more importantly, such critical debate and social critique should feed imagination and re-imagination that is creative, productive, and intellectually rich and stimulating” (Lotz-Sisitka in Sterling 2013)

Impact: conceptualisation

Instrumental – influencing policy, practice, legislation, behaviour

Conceptual – reframing debates and understanding

Capacity building – through personal and technical skills development (ESRC 2011 adapted from Nutley et al 2007)

NCRM definition of impact an effect of research; may be a clearly defined outcome, a shift in

mindset of researchers or research participants, may be a contributory factor in inducing change, may be positive or negative, can be unintended and unplanned. A process as much as an outcome; a ‘longterm conversation’; cumulative and partly serendipitous, facilitated by trust and relationships (Sanderson)

Form – sustainability research

Sustainability research needs to permit civil society to ask not just how but ‘why’ (Brand and Karnoven, 2007)

Limits of science (and sustainability science) Disciplinary breadth and depth As ESD contains curricula and pedagogy, so does

sustainability research consider sustainability issues plus research approaches

(White 2013)

Form – community Individuals adopting pro-environmental

behaviour Groups of people collectively focusing on

sustainability values and shifting social norms The institution as an organisation undergoing

change through effective governance for sustainability

(White and Harder 2013)

The university as… community – of place, interest, practice….. ‘community of values’ more than a place of work – a place of

discussion and mutual and collective action

Implications for the University of St Andrews

Holistic approach to sustainability essential

Will the permissions for sustainability activism be challenged?

Knowledge production

Knowledge mobilisation

Knowledge implementation