Making a Difference: Universities as Living Labs and Agents of Change
Abstract:
It used to be enough for universities to do research and educate students. Increasingly, however, we are being asked to engage tangibly and actively with the problems faced by the societies which fund us.
I will explore the challenges and opportunities facing universities attempting to respond to this demand with regard to sustainability. Based on an agenda which moves beyond harm reduction to what we call regenerative sustainability (human activity that improves both human and environmental wellbeing), and using CBS as an example, I will outline an agenda for transforming the campus into a living laboratory of sustainability, where faculty, staff and students, along with private, public and NGO sector partners, use the university’s physical plant, as well education and research capabilities, to test, study, teach, apply and share lessons learned, technologies created and policies developed.
About Professor Robinson:
Professor Robinson is professor at the Monk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. He has a global reputation in the areas of urban sustainability, building sustainability, community engagement processes, and university sustainability programming. From 1992-2015 he was Professor with the Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability, and the Department of Geography at The University of British Columbia (UBC). From 2012-15, he was Associate Provost, Sustainability, at UBC.
His own research focuses on the intersection of climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainability; the use of visualization, modeling, and citizen engagement to explore sustainable futures; sustainable buildings and urban design; creating partnerships for sustainability with non-academic partners; and, generally, the intersection of sustainability, social and technological change, behaviour change, and community engagement processes.
In 2012 Dr. Robinson received the Metro Vancouver Architecture Canada Architecture Advocacy Award and was named Environmental Scientist of the Year by Canadian Geographic magazine. In 2011, he received the Canada Green Building Council Education Leadership Award, and in 2010 he was given BC Hydro’s Larry Bell Award for advancing energy conservation in British Columbia. He was a Fellow of the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation from 2008-11, and, as a Lead Author, he contributed to the 1995, 2001 and 2007 reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore.
This lecture marks the beginning of John Robinson’s adjunct professorship with the Department of Intercultural Communication and Management at Copenhagen Business School.
Programme:
14:00
Introduction
CBS President Per Holten-Andersen and Head of Department Dorte Salskov-Iversen
14:10
Inaugural Lecture by Adjunct Professor John Robinson
15:00
Reception at “Kilen”
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