Emergent Sustainability: The Concept of Sustainable Development in a Complex World

The ability to make criteria-based and thought-out decisions in everyday life as well as to answer questions pertaining to society at large, such as those regarding climate change and the loss of biodiversity, is becoming more and more important against the backdrop of an increasingly complex world with a wide range of options for action or inaction. Using the method of “data-based decision making,” this article presents a decision-making strategy for improving the evaluation competence of students that is particularly suitable for teaching socioscientific issues in the context of sustainable development. Using the example of human consumption of insects (sometimes termed “entomophagy,” although this term is defined as the consumption of insects by any organism), the students will evaluate the potential for insects as an alternative, sustainable source of protein as compared with conventional meat.

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5. Dealing with Wicked Global Problems: An Inter-Disciplinary Approach

Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching ◽

10.22329/celt.v2i0.3199 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. 24

Author(s):

Bland Tomkinson ◽

Charles Engel ◽

Rosemary Tomkinson

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Delphi Study ◽

Royal Academy ◽

Skills Training ◽

Pilot Project ◽

Wicked Problems ◽

Complex World ◽

The World ◽

Global Problems ◽

The Uk

The world faces a number of complex challenges that are sometimes referred to as ‘wicked problems.’ Universities have been relatively poor at preparing graduates for such challenges, yet it will be the future professionals who need to tackle the problems. This essay looks at two related projects that have attempted to advance the skills training of graduates for a complex world, in the context of educating engineers and scientists in sustainable development.A Delphi study conducted in the UK suggested that systemic, student-centred approaches were vital to the appropriate development of undergraduates to become engineers with skills in sustainable development. A pilot project sponsored by the UK Royal Academy of Engineering developed an inter-disciplinary course unit, using student-centred principles, to embed the principles of sustainable development, in its broadest sense, in the curricula of engineers and scientists. The essay includes an evaluation of this approach.

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