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

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Bland Tomkinson ◽  
Charles Engel ◽  
Rosemary Tomkinson

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.

Author(s):  
Ильмира Минигулова

Global problems of modern age make deep problems for the formation of socio-economic and political-legal stability in modern states. The most complex is poverty that provokes the new problems, such as the migration crisis. The international community follows the fundamental principles and norms of international law, tries to wipe out poverty, the practical implementation of this activity is reflected in the Concept of Sustainable Development.


Fisheries ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (6) ◽  
pp. 31-39
Author(s):  
Valery Vorobyov

Global problems and trends in the development of world fisheries and aquaculture are considered. The reasons and factors of the extensive development of the world industrial fisheries and the sustainable development of the production of world aquaculture products are shown. The contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to the GDP of the national economy of the countries is noted. Russia needs to actively develop industrial mariculture, based on the existing significant scientific and practical groundwork and the formation of regional clusters.


2010 ◽  
Vol 92 (10) ◽  
pp. 352-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
MD Gardiner ◽  
J Skattum ◽  
J Weston-Underwood ◽  
CT Frank Smith

The 2010 triennial College visit overseas was to Dubai and Bangalore. In advance of the trip the College was invited to hold a surgical skills course in Dubai. Basic surgical skills courses are well established in the UK as a key component of core surgical training. They continue to provide trainees with a safe way of performing common surgical procedures. There has been considerable international interest in the various courses and many have been successfully implemented around the world.


Global problems and crises are the actual reality of our time. Their prevention, solution and reduction of their impact concerns not only the existing generation, but also the future one, due to the fact that everyone should have equal opportunities and rights to access resources. Considering the pace of development of various spheres, we see that humanity tends to deplete resources, so the idea arose to solve these problems by coordinated actions of the global community. These ideas underlie the Concept of Sustainable Development, which today is supported and implemented, especially by many states of the world. But these ideas developed even before the concept was created, in particular, within the framework of the activities of the Club of Rome. The purpose of this article is to reveal how the activities of the Club of Rome influenced the process of formation and development of the concept of sustainable development. Аor this, the methods of theoretical generalization, analysis and synthesis of information were used. The activities of the Club of Rome began thanks to Aurelio Peccei (author of «Human Qualities»), who created a non-governmental organization that became world famous for a series of reports on the pressing and global problems of humankind. In particular, the 1972 study «The Limits to Growth» by D. and D. Meadows, who described models of the world in the future and a number of recommendations on how to avoid a catastrophic development of events. The publication had great resonance and was heavily criticized, but started a world-class discussion. In particular, the Club of Rome was involved in the discussion at the UN. So, the active work of the non-governmental organization Club of Rome not only started discussions about the global crisis, but also provided a solid theoretical and empirical basis for the development of the Concept of sustainable development. Club members took an active part in the development of sustainable development at a more local level in their regions. Thus, the organization has achieved its primary goal — to attract attention to the global problems and create an action plan to resolve them.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 11-28
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Gajak-Toczek

About some forms and methods of language skills training as part of speaking exercises in the project of Tadeusz CzapczyńskiThe purpose of the article is to present the proposal of a Polish language teacher from Łódź to bring closer the ways of learning by the student both various linguistic exercises and didactic methods of language elements that were determinants of his oral expression. The solutions applied in the interwar period led to the achievement of language skills, which, by making the classroom situations resemble authentic communication situations, naturally prepared for communicating themselves and the world of their values and learning about the world of others. It seems that even today it is worth using the opportunities of speaking exercises off ered by Czapczyński, adapting them to the specifi c didactic situation and remembering to provide the learner with the possibility of sustainable development of language competences.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (6) ◽  
pp. 23-41
Author(s):  
Zhanna Mingaleva

The article analyzes the main foreign approaches to the interpretation of the “sustainable development” definition, the directions for the formation of various concepts, programs, political attitudes based on the definition and ideas of sustainable development, identifies shortcomings of the most common approaches and concepts. An overview of the main approaches and theories of sustainable development is compiled, their classification is proposed, a spatial model of the conceptual areas of the concept of “sustainable development” and spheres of its application is presented. The study concluded that the alternative approaches to understanding the role of the environment in the existence of mankind, to the assessment of both the impact of industrial and agricultural production and the results of people’s livelihoods (especially in the context of a sharp increase of urbanization rate) on the global environmental situation, have led to the formation of various concepts of sustainable development that form the basis of national strategies and programs of sustainable development. As a result, the ideas, and the very concept of sustainable development, are increasingly becoming a field of disagreements and contradictions between states and individual regions of the world, rather than a common platform for combining efforts to solve global problems of mankind.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Orozco-Messana ◽  
Elena de la Poza-Plaza ◽  
Raimon Calabuig-Moreno

There is a growing recognition and acceptance that society needs to develop new pathways to achieve a more sustainable future. Our current model of development poses significant challenges when it comes to achieving a more just society based on respect for nature and human rights, and demands a sustainable economy supported by a new circular model supporting the UN sustainable development goals. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) accordingly have developed Master programs that are responsible for providing fundamental services in the joint effort towards sustainability. Meanwhile, leading Universities around the world have developed other very relevant programs. The open and unstructured challenge of sustainability poses an obstacle to existing academic structures. Specifically, the built environment is one of the leading contributors to challenges addressed in the programs such as: Anthropogenic climate change, resource depletion, waste generation and pollution, poverty, and inequity. The Interdisciplinary Sustainable Architecture lab (ISAlab) explores these issues as part of a multidisciplinary approach involving the collaboration of leading Universities from different areas on the world through an innovative initiative. This paper explores the experiences of the ISAlab workshop, which has been taking place yearly in Valencia since 2017. The workshop draws together students from a range of disciplines from across engineering and science, law and the social sciences and from a range of countries and backgrounds, including North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Its purpose is to facilitate a rich co-creative learning environment led by (engineering) academic faculties from across Europe (Spain, the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands and Ireland) as well as North America (the US and Canada), as well as local experts who helped provide participants with appropriate context and guidance. The objective is educating future engineers that are capable of finding robust ways to implement sustainability at a practical level on the built environment, taking account of the multidisciplinary perspective and with the incentive of solving real-life problems.


2021 ◽  
pp. 239965442110182
Author(s):  
Juan Telleria ◽  
Jorge Garcia-Arias

The article offers a critical analysis of the United Nations 2030 Global Development Agenda, whose stated aim is to "transform the world" in such a way that no one is left behind. Drawing on post-Marxist theory, we argue that the 2030 Global Development Agenda is a fantasmatic narrative seeking to conceal the conflictual causes and the antagonistic origins of global development and sustainability issues. Within this fantasmatic narrative, ‘sustainable development’ is the empty signifier that articulates and sustains the agenda’s discourse. Our analysis of the ontological assumptions underpinning the documents that frame the agenda shows that, rather than transforming, the agenda naturalizes and consolidates the existing status quo: a status quo that has created (and continues to perpetuate) the global problems that the agenda aims to solve.


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 474-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenka Veselovská

Nowadays sustainable development is a central concept for our age. It is both a way ofunderstanding the world and a method for solving global problems. It is currently a crucial concept for the world to understand and to implement. This research study focuses on examining the foundations of achieving sustainable development and main factors influencing this process at a national level. The aim is to characterize those factors which influence this implementation process mainly from the economic point of view. However, other noneconomic factors related to human well-being and organizational development are not omitted. Countries’ political and legislative environment are also evaluated since they can have significant implications for development of individual organizations conducting their business activities within countries' borders. The focus of examining the topic of countries’ sustainable development is on the cross-country comparison. Values of some important indicators are also provided in terms of comparison among selected countries which enables us to explain the reasons for differences in countries’ development, as well as predictions for the future. Historical perspective provides data which enable to evaluate influence of selected factors in terms of countries’ path to achieving sustainable development.


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