The Mauna Loa record shows a steady increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration from 1959 to 2004, with the largest single-year increase occurring from 1997 to 1998. The average annual growth rate was initially 1.4 ppmv but has been decreasing as the record extends farther back in time. Climate change poses risks such as more droughts and extreme rainfall in tropical regions like Kenya. A shift to green technology and sustainable development can help address these issues while creating local jobs and resilience. Educating citizens on sustainability is important to meet Norway's constitutional requirements to safeguard natural resources for future generations. However, higher education does not adequately facilitate interdisciplinary teaching of sustainability across sectors.

1. Sven Åke Bjørke
Department for Global Development and Planning
University of Agder
Riga May 2016

2. Mauna Loa (Keeling) curve
The Mauna Loa record shows a 19.4% increase in the mean annual concentration, from 315.98 parts per million by volume (ppmv) of dry air in 1959 to 377.38 ppmv in 2004. The
1997-1998 increase in the annual growth rate of 2.87 ppmv represents the largest single yearly jump since the Mauna Loa record began in 1958. This represents an average annua
increase of 1.4 ppmv per year. This is smaller than the average annual increase at the other stations because of the longer record and inclusion of earlier (smaller) annual increases

6. More droughts and extreme rainfall in the tropics - Rift Valley, Kenya

8. Fossil fuels = air pollution

9. More wars? According to NATO climate change-
related risks are significant threat multipliers.

10. Technology and development
Sustainable
Environmentally
friendly
Reliable and Safe
Cheap
Local control,
locally maintained
Reduces dependency
Increases local
resilience and
cohesion
Creates employment

11. Now
Time
Fossil
growth
Smart
growth
Growth
Techno-
economic
shift
Paradigm shift:
Green economy
and technology

12. Green economy for sustainable development

14. School for change?
• Traditional teaching is static :
a teacher transmits
«knowledge» - from someone
who knows to those who
don’t.
• This does not prepare for
change but rather for passive
acceptance of change without
questions,
• or aggressive fight against
inevitable change
6/1/2016 Åke Bjørke

15. Norwegian constitution § 112
“Every person has a right to an environment that is
conducive to health and to natural surroundings whose
productivity and diversity are preserved. Natural
resources should be made use of on the basis of
comprehensive longterm considerations whereby this
right will be safeguarded for future generations as well.
In order to safeguard their right in accordance with the
foregoing paragraph, citizens are entitled to be informed
of the state of the natural environment and of the effects
of any encroachments on nature that are planned or
commenced. Government authorities shall implement
measures to implement these principles ”.

16. Norway meets the challenges?
• The Norwegian government is obliged to
educate its citizens on sustainable
development and anything that jeopardizes
such development.
• Handling climate change and sustainable
development requires cross-sectoral curricula
• Natural science, economics, law, social
science, ethics etc belong in these curricula
• Teams of teachers teaching the same subject?

17. Curriculum across sectors?
• In primary schools the same teacher may
teach several subjects.
• They often work in teams
• They have pedagogical training in socio-
constructivism, flipping the classroom etc
• Secondary and tertiary education???
– Not really

18. Traditional teaching dominate in
higher education
• The teacher transmits information to the
students – within his subject
• Individual learning
• Competition for grades
• CCR: Copy, Cram and Reproduce
• Knowledge perceived as objective
• Focus on the one correct answer
• Learning relation is between student - teacher

19. Information - knowledge
There is a vast difference between
information
and
knowledge

20. Knowledge
To gain knowledge
learning
must take place.
This involves
cognitive processes

22. Think new!
In general, higher education in Norway does not
respond adequately to the § 112
1. Very few teachers venture outside their
subject area
2. Very rare with team of teachers
3. University system does not encourage inter-
disciplinary courses

23. The four Cs
Four key qualities for the
Information Age.
Be:
Creative,
efficient Communicator,
Critical information literate and thinker
Collaborator

24. Communities of practice
Learning is at least partly a social activity, and
depends on interaction with other human
beings

25. The virtual
classroom

26. ti
… collaboration in CoPs needs detailed planning and design

27. Learning
• is ”increased participation”
• is a collective activity
• increases with appropriate activity
• Requires communication
• through trying out, making mistakes and correcting
them together
• through engaging in learning, elaborate on content,
hypothesise, speculate, solve problems, express and
negotiate meaning, reciprocal questioning
• through formative feedback from tutors and peers
• through reflection

28. Challenges for teachers
• From transmission of information to co-
constructing knowledge
• More responsibility to students
• From teacher-centred to learning-centred
collaboration

29. Challenges for students
• Information literacy – critical assessment
• Peers are collaborators, not competitors
• Manage group work – be proactive
• Intercultural communication
• Give feedback/assessment to peers

30. Current trend in higher education:
• Internationalised, online study programmes
• Increased location and time flexibility
• Global competition for sharp and creative brains
• Interactive, updated e-books (blogs) as learning resources
• Pedagogical use of social media
• Various quality levels of e-courses, from self-instructional to
tutor- and peer intensive
• Selection of appropriate student – teacher interaction level
• Collaborative learning and peer assessment
• Less lectures, more focus on learning activities and outcomes
• Quality assurance of education more important than quality
control

31. 15.01.12 © Åke Bjørke
Global online collaborative
studies: Local groups or
individuals - Working in online
communities of practice
Tanzania
Uganda
Norway
Multicultural virtual collaboration

32. Challenge
1. University of Riga requires all teaching staff to
take a course in online and blended
learnerfocused education within the next four
years
2. To ensure updated literature for students, at
least 50% of teaching staff should take a course
in how to make own, effective and updated e-
books and use them as learning resources in
their subjects within the next three years