The Future of Sustainability Education: Life in the New World Order

I haven’t had a chance to write here because the past two weeks have been busy on campus. We launched our first executive course on the energy transition and welcomed the sixth cohort of the Master of Arts in Sustainable Energy to their onsite residency.

As I was working with my students, I reflected on the future of sustainability education. Times have changed, and we need to adapt to the new world order.

1. What went wrong

Until last year, the basic framework for sustainability education was simple. Despite some fluctuation around the trend, human civilization would become increasingly enlightened over time. Despite some rough patches, the general direction was clear.

That assumption is no longer valid. The whole idea of sustainability has come under fire, as many governments and corporations have given up on the pursuit of decarbonization and circular economy.

The reasons behind this setback are many.

First, the energy transition has cost a lot of money, yet it has not yet delivered all that many tangible wins for the broader public. From bad policy design to technological growing pains, we have spent a lot of money. For most people, the energy transition has not yet made a difference. Eventually it will, but voters are impatient.

Second, the energy transition has reached a point where the costs are increasing. When most countries had almost no variable renewable resources, adding windmills and solar panels was easy. Throw into the mix generous subsidies by the Chinese taxpayer and life was good.

But now variable renewables have reached a point where curtailment, grid stability, and storage capacity are critical issues. Even though solar power generation is cheaper than ever, the increased systems costs offset those gains. Adding more renewables now requires battery storage, grid modernization, and regulatory reform. These technological obstacles can and will be overcome, but that takes a lot of work over the coming years.

Finally, our human civilization is less cohesive than it used to be. We do not have a shared vision of an exciting future. Voters are increasingly choosing between nihilism and rage, instead of constructive cooperation. Life is still hard and society is moving in the wrong direction.

2. So what

This situation requires some changes to sustainability education.

First, the idea that we are preparing highly skilled professionals to meet an ever-growing demand is not valid. The sustainability professionals of the future need to ...