Education leaders gather to chart a future for sustainability at universities
Educators and administrators from 33 nations gathered at MIT last week for the third World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities, where they discussed successful programs already adopted at their institutions, and plans for improving and expanding education about sustainability over the coming years. The first symposium was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, in conjunction with the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development. A second symposium was held in Manchester, U.K., in 2014. This year’s symposium at MIT featured 175 participants, from six continents, most of whom presented research papers or participated in panel discussions at the three-day meeting. The meeting was co-sponsored by MIT’s Office of Sustainability, which was formed three years ago. Julie Newman, director of that office, said her mission, and that of the symposium, was “to generate new and proven ways of responding” to the unprecedented challenges presented by global climate change, “to inspire countries to develop...