My favourite question for a long time has been: are universities places for civic engagement? Shouldn’t universities have a dual transformative role, i.e. unlocking the individual’s potential as well as improving a sense of collective wellbeing. Shouldn’t they “demonstrate the full power and potential of higher education for the individual, for the economy, for the environment and for society” (New economics foundation: University Challenge: Towards a well-being approach to quality in higher education, 2008).

At the moment this doesn’t seem to be the case. Let me explain a bit more.

A while ago I organised an event ‘Route map for Sustainability and Responsibility in Higher Education’ at my university (Westminster) together with ASP, Association of Sustainability Practitioners. We had participants from universities and colleges from all over the country. The questions we put forward included the following: are universities institutions that educate the future? Do they educate employees or citizens; consumers or community members? As an employer, do universities allow personal development in an environment which furthers sustainable values and practices? Do universities help people make wiser choices in life?  Are the environments and the buildings in which students are taught good examples of sustainable organisations and communities? Are they places of informed debate that may not provide all the answers but can help individuals understand various perspectives and make up their own mind? Are they centres of thought, even radical action, in terms of the pressing issues of sustainability facing modern society, in the way they may have been in decades past on issues such as civil liberties and inequalities?

There was a clear consensus that we could and should do much more. Universities are not ahead of the curve. In many cases we fall behind. One example is the 2009 Universities That Count report based on the BITC Index: the HE sector average score is 62% against 81% of the private sector average.

Then early this January I attended a first lecture of the LSE ‘Sustainability In Practice’ lecture series. The speaker, Sara Parkin, a co-founder of the Forum for the Future and a marvellous lady with an impressive career talked also about universities and their role in furthering sustainable development. Her view was that universities have all the evidence that is needed, but knowledge is not joined-up and we are still not educating sustainability literate graduates. Her entrepreneurial university looks like this: it focuses on people and behaviour change and socially beneficial. Interconnectedness is the key. Apart from graduates, universities could contribute to sustainability through their procurement and retrofitting workforce, just to mention a few.

She is right. The opportunities are there. Imagine for a second, what a truly sustainable university would look like: water and carbon neutrality; harmony and synergy between gown and town; enhanced virtual learning; responsible procurement; local solutions; greater participation and empowerment; resilience.

All in all, universities could be centres of leadership having sustainability embedded at all levels; campus, corporate and curriculum. This would make them places for civic engagement.

Picture Credit: david55king