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
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