Universities and Climate Change Introducing Climate Change to Univer
Climate change is a matter of global concern and specific sectors of society such as universities need to engage and be active in the search for regional and local solutions for what is a global problem. Despite the fact that many universities all around
- PDF / 3,839,384 Bytes
- 284 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 46 Downloads / 273 Views
.
Walter Leal Filho Editor
Universities and Climate Change Introducing Climate Change to University Programmes
Editor Prof. Walter Leal Filho (BSc, PhD, DSc, DPhil, DL, DLitt) Senior Professor & Head of the Research and Transfer Centre “Applications of Life Sciences” Hamburg University of Applied Sciences Faculty of Life Sciences Lohbruegger Kirchstraße 65 21033 Hamburg Germany [email protected]
ISSN 1610-2002 ISBN 978-3-642-10750-4 e-ISBN 978-3-642-10751-1 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10751-1 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010920972 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and are therefore free for general use. Cover design: WMXDesign GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Foreword
It is widely acknowledged that universities can play a key role in helping to meet the various challenges posed by climate change. However, the means to do so are not always widely known, nor are there clear mechanisms via which matters related to climate change may be systematically included in university programmes. Part of the problem is due to the complexity which is inherent to climate change, but part of it is also due to the “tunnel vision” of many higher education institutions, which limits the handling of climate matters to a few subjects, without taking into account the whole picture. Yet much could be gained by giving a proper and broader consideration to climate issues in university degrees, extension courses and projects at universities. No matter if we are speaking about global warming, sea level rise, anthropogenic or naturally induced climate change, there is a pressing need to properly inform and educate university students, so as to allow them to understand not only the direct facts and phenomena which are related to climate change, but also their social, economic and environmental impacts. Overall, universities may help to foster a broader understanding of the challenges of climate change by: l
l
l
providing more adequate teaching programmes vis-a`-vis the proper inclusion of matters related to climate change in teaching, beyond the traditional, technical subjects; en
Data Loading...
