Title: Spires, plateaus and the infertile landscape of Education for Sustainable Development: re-invigorating the university through integrating community, campus and curriculum

Authors: John Barry

Addresses: School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy, 21 University Square, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, BT 71NN, Northern Ireland

Abstract: Education for and research on sustainable development are currently not well served by the modern university, particularly in the UK. While there is rhetoric about supporting more interdisciplinary research and teaching the modern university system favours individual |spires of excellence| within strict disciplinary boundaries. Interdisciplinary and multiple-authored work are viewed as |intellectual plateaus| and of lesser value. However, there are examples of innovative models, such as the ||community, campus and curriculum|| one. This model is examined for its potential to re-orientate the modern university to produce and share knowledge that is |fit for purpose| for the challenges and opportunities of sustainability.

Keywords: education for sustainable development; ESD; community; campus; curriculum; green economics; sustainability; interdisciplinarity; citizenship; democracy; justice; engaged university; academic capitalism; centre for sustainable futures; higher education; universities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISD.2007.017949

International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 2007 Vol.2 No.3/4, pp.433 - 452

Published online: 24 Apr 2008 *

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