In this session, we were joined by Jen Gale, author of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide and founder of Sustainable(ish), a community interest company that aims to show that anyone can get involved and make positive changes that are manageable in their lives to help the environment.
Jen's inspiring session is all about ‘progress not perfection’ – the idea being that a lot of people making a manageable change and doing them well, has greater impact than a few people doing them perfectly. Jen's own words: 'We're often short on time, energy, and sometimes sanity, and to top it off eco-anxiety is creeping in. You want easy ideas for doable changes you can make, not another ball to juggle, labelled "save the planet"'.
Questions and Answers
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Could we control our climate?
Climate crisis is one of the grand challenges we face as a society, but it can be hard to approach as a subject. Not only can the science at times seem dauntingly complex, but the solutions are also far from clear. This leaves many people feeling confused, guilty, anxious, angry, or else completely switched off from the subject. This course tells the story of climate science in a new way, to find a fresh perspective for thinking about the future. It looks at the problem through the lens of climate engineering - the idea of deliberately trying to modify the climate, to counteract the changes we’re observing and predict what will happen in the future. The subject contains everything from hope – new technologies that could prevent the worst impacts of climate change – to enormous controversies over their risks and the way they could be used. More than that, climate engineering serves as a useful tool to move beyond the usual, often frustrating conversations around what to do about the climate crisis. By examining exactly what we want for our planet's climate, and what we would be willing to sacrifice to get there, we might find more clarity in our search for solutions.
Learn moreCould we control our climate?Level: 1 Introductory
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Why sustainable energy matters
Access to safe, clean and sustainable energy supplies is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity during the twenty-first century. This free course, Why sustainable energy matters, will survey the world's present energy systems and their sustainability problems, together with some of the possible solutions to those problems and how these might emerge in practice.
Learn moreWhy sustainable energy mattersLevel: 1 Introductory
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An introduction to sustainable energy
The search for sustainable energy will dominate the twenty-first century. This free course, An introduction to sustainable energy, provides an introductory overview of the present energy systems and takes a brief look at where the world may find energy in the future - cleaner use of fossil fuels or renewable energy sources?
Learn moreAn introduction to sustainable energyLevel: 1 Introductory
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Eating for the environment
‘You are what you eat’, goes the old adage, but what you eat also has an impact on the environment. Transcript This free course, Eating for the environment, will explore the links between food, nutrition and environmental sustainability. It will start by exploring the diversity on your dinner plate and encourage you to reflect on it in relation to dietary choices and preferences of people around the world. It will explore the connections between food, culture and traditions, and the challenges in providing healthy and nutritious food to the world’s growing population. The course will examine innovative approaches to food that also help environmental sustainability.
Learn moreEating for the environmentLevel: 2 Intermediate
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Can renewable energy sources power the world?
We ask the question ‘Can renewable energy sources power the world?’ as a response to the growing awareness that increased use of renewable energy technologies is making a major contribution to global efforts to limit anthropogenic climate change. The course begins by examining the environmental concerns that have caused a rise in interest in renewable energy, introducing the main sources and technologies, and describing global efforts to increase the share of renewables. The course then looks at each of the principal renewable energy technologies and the contributions they might make to global energy demand. Finally, several future energy scenarios are analysed to show how combinations of renewable energy sources and technologies could provide a major share of global energy needs.
Learn moreCan renewable energy sources power the world?Level: 1 Introductory
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Citizen science and global biodiversity
This free course, Citizen science and global biodiversity, deals with the importance of biodiversity and explores how anyone can contribute to and be involved in identifying and recording wildlife, as a citizen scientist. It looks at what citizen science is, and how citizen science facilitates public involvement in scientific research activities as individuals learn and build skills. Traditional biological keys are introduced and online recording is demonstrated using citizen science techniques and practical activities using the www.iSpotnature.org platform. The course goes on to demonstrate how, once a species is identified, web resources can be used to research its ecology. The role of citizen science is illustrated through a number of case studies from across the world. Finally, the course concludes by exploring the impact citizen scientists are having on recording biodiversity around the globe.
Learn moreCitizen science and global biodiversityLevel: 1 Introductory
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Climate change: transitions to sustainability
Human societies have to take urgent action to end their dependences on fossil fuels. We have to alter the whole path of our development and decision making in order to make our societies both environmentally adaptable and sustainable. This free course, Climate change, takes on the task of trying to chart some of the ways in which it might be possible.
Learn moreClimate change: transitions to sustainabilityLevel: 2 Intermediate
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Global warming
This free course provides an introduction to global warming. We will be considering the history of global warming by looking at the pattern of ice ages and analysis of recorded temperatures. We will aim to gather meaningful information from this data. We will briefly assess the impact and influence of humans on global warming and, finally, we will examine climate models and how to predict future changes.
Learn moreGlobal warmingLevel: 1 Introductory
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Introducing environmental decision making
Many of the decisions we make have implications for our environment, particularly those concerning natural resources and waste. Taking account of environmental factors in decision making can be both complex and challenging. This free course, Introducing environmental decision making, considers decisions in their broader contexts and advocates a systems approach to environmental decision making.
Learn moreIntroducing environmental decision makingLevel: 3 Advanced
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Nature matters: caring and accountability
This free course, Nature matters: caring and accountability, considers environmental responsibility and what may matter from a caring perspective and an accountability perspective. Caring for an environment compromising the natural world and ensuring accountability for harm or wrong done to the environment.
Learn moreNature matters: caring and accountabilityLevel: 3 Advanced
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