Initiative
SA Seattle Fall '24
Call notes
August 15: left message, sent email
School Name
Utrecht University
Department
Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development
Engagement Description
I find this hard to say at present, although the examples of achievements from the Teaching Social Action website are extremely inspiring. Some possible issues that tentatively come to mind, based on students interests and the context where I am based, could be:
*Climate campaigns oriented towards the municipality, and/or national policy
*A decades-long struggle over proposed highway widening which would clear part of a forest near the campus
*Issues of campus and pedagogical diversity
*Gentrification issues in Utrecht and other major cities which are experiencing a major housing affordability and availability crisis
*Sustainability impacts of new technology (e.g., data centres, AI)
*Food-related issues (e.g., reducing meat consumption, sustainability of food production systems, local food initiatives)
*The Netherlands has also recently had a heavily right-wing coalition government elected, and I expect that this will cause a wide range of pressures (e.g., due to funding cutbacks and possible changes in government positions on many issues), which will probably provide many areas of motivation for students.
I expect that students will be interested in both addressing issues of injustice, as well as finding opportunities to build new ways of doing things (e.g., grassroots initiatives, building alternative practices and organisations in various ways). Thus, I am interested in learning more about experiences across a wide range of possible issues relating to sustainability and societal change.
Experience
No, I have not taught this topic before. Some experiences that would hopefully help include being involved in some community-oriented initiatives (e.g., food co-op) and a small amount of activism in the past (although quite a long time ago now). These experiences were formative in becoming aware and appreciative of multiple theories of change in social action work. I am personally driven by ethics of care, fairness, and generosity towards others, at the same time as valuing responsibility and recognising that people can have extremely different views and experiences. In my teaching, I work with students who are usually very interested in sustainability and justice, but often need to not only develop their knowledge but also discover how they think about an issue and their future roles. At the same time, I am often amazed at what students can accomplish when encouraged to do so. Thus, I always try to begin from a position of deep respect and patience to try to help students develop in the ways that are important to them. This would be my general starting point for teaching social action at this stage.
Interest
I have long been interested in joint action in response to sustainability and societal challenges in my work in various ways. Recently, I have become especially interested in how to think about this in the context of deep division. This training course looks inspiring, and with a positive feeling about how to teach and engage with creating social change. Next year, I will also be teaching in a redeveloped course on governance and action for transformation, so this training course would be extremely valuable at this moment to help develop my skills and perspective in preparation.
How did you hear about opportunity
Invitation to attend through NSS Conference
When Taught
This will run in April-June 2025, so it is still in development. We have had somewhat of a crisis in student numbers appear since September, and I am now responsible for trying to renew a track (i.e., study line) in our masters program where I envision that adding social action will provide important new colour and depth. But as a result, the final shape of the particular course will probably only be clear in around January/February.
Semester Teaching
Spring '25
Course Plan
Existing Course
Community Engagement
Social Action
Breakout Group
Environment & Sustainability
