The environmental emergency is real. HE is our best hope

Humanity is on the brink of a huge precipice. As if old problems such as violence, wars, hunger, poverty, among others, were not enough, we are facing new crises aggravated by globalisation and new technologies, such as pandemics and serious information disorders, which are mixed with an appreciable increase in autocracies and political polarisations around the world.

To complete this complex picture, environmental changes – climate change, the catastrophic loss of biodiversity and environmental pollution – are becoming increasingly obvious to everyone, unfortunately confirming something that scientists have been warning about for years.

We are in a real environmental emergency, and the realisation that a significant portion of society has not yet understood the seriousness of these changes, and that the issue has not been accorded the absolute priority it deserves, makes one despair.

Many people are asking themselves: what can we do to change this? What can we do to ensure that governments and society in general really tackle these issues that put our future at risk with the urgency that is needed? How can we do this in the midst of all the noise we now have on social media and internet messaging systems?

It is not our intention to present solutions to this systemic problem of planetary dimensions, but to discuss the potential of a privileged agent of transformation. Universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) occupy a strategic position from which they can play an important role at the forefront of the urgent transformations required to tackle environmental change.

In fact, HEIs are, in principle, privileged places for discussing complex issues since they bring together, around teaching and learning, different generations, different areas of knowledge, science and technology, and a strong enthusiasm for trying to solve humanity’s great problems.

We therefore believe that they are strategic focal points for tackling the environmental emergency we are experiencing.

Possibilities for change

According to UNESCO data, there were around 235 million university students in the world in 2022. And according to the Higher Education Census, in 2022 there were more than 9.4 million students enrolled in higher education in Brazil. The number may seem small compared to the 8.1 billion inhabitants on the planet, but it is significant if seen in light of certain factors.

The first is that these students are constantly evolving, and after a few years in the post-secondary environment, graduates occupy decision-making positions in various sectors of society.

It’s important to remember that the social function of higher education goes beyond professionalisation, involving possibilities for interdisciplinary knowledge, critical dialogue and actions that open up new horizons for politics and citizenship.

Secondly, the crucial research that diagnoses and suggests solutions to the problem of environmental changes is, to a large extent, carried out at research universities. Although universities represent only part of the higher education system, they are closely linked to the whole through the training of teachers and managers and the development of public policy proposals for the sector.

HEIs, therefore, represent unique fora for the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge aimed at tackling the environmental emergency as a complex problem.

They bring together professionals qualified to discuss and propose solutions to the different demands presented by environmental change: planetary boundaries; water, food and nutritional security; nature-based solutions; changing the energy matrix; proliferation of pathogens; diagnosis of risk situations; communication, education, training and capacity building; physical and mental health; law and justice; politics and diplomacy; the circular and regenerative economy; work and employability; and ecosystem services, among others.

Communication

It is worth noting that higher education institutions are also important spaces for positive communication on the subject of climate change. In fact, one of the obstacles to political progress in tackling environmental change is the lack of effective communication on the subject, ie, communication that is capable of generating transformation, mobilisation and impact, especially in terms of demanding action from governments and industry.

There is no collective problem that can be tackled without a common perception of the reality we face and good communication is a decisive element of this process.

The professional media still focus on news about things that have already happened such as environmental disasters and data about successive advances towards the limits of planetary security (increases in CO₂ emissions, the opening of new oil exploration sites, the reopening of thermal power plants, increasing levels of soil degradation, the disappearance of species, the destruction of biomes and species, storms, desertification, water scarcity, rising sea levels, the disappearance of glaciers and thawing of permafrost, etc).

The dissemination of news about these events is extremely important. However, it is also important that such news reports are accompanied by information on systemic solutions that have been subjected to risk assessment by multidisciplinary teams.

In this scenario, there is also a need to communicate personal experiences which involve overcoming challenges, and showcase dignity, cooperation and altruism. Although they do not resolve crises on their own, these narratives can awaken our psychological and ethical impulses to seek to overcome the challenges and create a better life in the midst of uncertainty.

Such positive communication is allied to the work of higher education institutions, where multiple solutions are envisaged and discussed with the participation of young protagonists.

Universities can be places of great positivity because of the impact their discoveries can have. It is also in universities that solutions can take shape more quickly through joint initiatives with society. These may be limited in scale, but solving local issues has great potential for cultural transformation, which is crucial if the enormous task ahead of us is to take shape.

As far as positive communication around environmental action is concerned, there is potentially a powerful rationale for systematic cooperation between universities and media outlets.

Universities can also be a focus for positive communication, given the diversity and interdisciplinarity of their outputs. For this to happen, universities need to have the structures in place for multidisciplinary groups to be able to disseminate specific information from the perspective of global systemic transformation.

In addition, it is important to note that there is a growing movement of so-called ‘citizen science’, where society can engage more directly in scientific research when there is a need for the collection of data over wide regions (at local, national or global level) and over the long term.

There is a lot of data related to environmental issues that can be obtained from a citizen science approach, with the effective participation and full engagement of various actors in society.

Training professionals

Considering that environmental change is the greatest challenge the human species has faced in its history, it needs to occupy a leading place when it comes to resources and the organisation of research and teaching infrastructure.

Today, HEIs already support society in tackling environmental change through efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions in their activities and by carrying out specialised research at public universities.

As we have said, although they are also prominent in the dissemination and understanding of the data that points to the seriousness of the environmental crisis, HEIs have not yet fully embraced the challenge of training entire generations of professionals to think about the new reality we face and to offer responses to it which match the breadth and speed with which changes are taking place.

It may be useful to remember that modern universities emerged in the 19th century to train professionals capable of supporting societal projects guided by the paradoxical idea of unlimited economic growth based on the industrial exploitation of limited human and environmental ‘resources’.

Today’s universities need to play their part in the processes of social reproduction, based on today’s scientific data and perspectives, valuing social and economic forms that are compatible with respect for life, sustainable production, planetary justice and democracy.

In short, the entire higher education system needs to be involved in training generations of professionals who are capable of thinking, discussing and supporting the reconfiguration of human presence on an exhausted planet.

New conditions

Once a major global effort to mitigate environmental change takes place – as it must! – and environmental collapse is stopped, adapting to the new conditions of the planet will absorb the energies of today’s and future generations.

It is clear that the great problem we are facing will, for a long time to come, be the core of the issues that will guide cutting-edge research. It therefore makes perfect sense for HEIs to invest their efforts in a transformation process that is responsive to environmental changes, is ethically motivated by a respect for life and inclusion, and is about both mitigation and adaptation.

It is urgent that an understanding of the problem, knowledge of the solutions and the difficulties in implementing them, not only in the technical field, but also in the economic and cultural fields, form part of the training of all professionals and that they are encouraged to ask themselves about the specific contributions of their field of knowledge to how we tackle the issue.

This contingent of just over two hundred million professionals may seem small, but it occupies an important position because it is linked to decision-making jobs which, in one way or another, will be under pressure to adapt to the demands of the changes that are under way.

Higher education can guarantee a more organic type of professional training, a more comprehensive perspective on the problem and its solutions, which increases the possibility that the necessary actions will be successful.

Cultural change

How can universities and other educational institutions achieve this? Firstly, by making a commitment to combating environmental change a priority in teaching, research and extension, as well as in management, communication and social activities.

It is a question of leading the transformation, transforming ourselves, entering into a system of values that is justified by both a concrete crisis and by the social mission of higher education.

Much has been done by teachers and researchers at HEIs. However, a rapid, effective and lasting change in university culture depends on central management, as it involves the implementation of integrated, transversal, intersectoral and inter-management systems.

Today, this engagement is most noticeable in concerns about sustainable campuses. However, to achieve full results, action plans need to be integrated into the whole of institutional life, affecting universities’ very identities.

The adaptation of campuses (including the use of energy and water and issues such as vegetation cover, waste treatment, preservation, environmental restoration and the establishment of circular and short-distance commercial circuits, especially for food, which should focus on organic and plant-based production) should be treated as only the initial challenge and be carried out as part of plans that mobilise the global community and are driven by scientific evidence.

The adaptation of campuses would therefore be part of a broader environmental policy focused on education, training, communication and research.

Finally, given the radical, interdisciplinary nature of the issue and the need for effective, safe and responsible decisions for present and future generations, it is always important to ensure collegial decision-making.

In order to highlight this new priority, HEIs should establish priority programmes to promote research at all levels and in all areas. They need to formally recognise and encourage research aimed at finding solutions to environmental problems or innovating in the use of sustainable methods. They need to create communication departments specialised in disseminating and curating information on research.

Curricula of undergraduate and postgraduate courses should include subjects, procedures and-or themes that prepare students to include environmental issues, especially the fight against climate change, in their professional training.

They should also think about and define an extension policy to take this knowledge beyond the walls of the institution in a planned and systemic way, and also to help carry out actions in the external community aimed at environmental sustainability.

Imagining an alternative

As environmental conditions worsen, the mental health of the younger generations is threatened. There are already numerous studies dedicated to climate anxiety and depression among young people and children.

In addition to the damage to their personal lives, this affects their emotional readiness to cope with the environmental crisis, which already marks the world in which they live and in which they will live. Many have developed attitudes of denial and rejection to cope.

Tackling this anxiety depends on the flow of quality information and the possibility of discussing the situation freely, creatively and constructively. There is an urgent need to restore young people’s ability to imagine an alternative future in a concrete way and to help them see themselves as capable in the face of what the world has to offer.

In order to maintain their investigative drive in the face of increasingly adverse contexts, universities need to be prepared to be attentive to mental illness related to environmental factors.

Of course, we know that the impact of individual actions, or of HEIs as a whole, is tiny when compared to centuries of industrial exploitation shaped by our fetish for commodities.

It will therefore be up to HEIs to take a leading role and serve as examples of good practice in this unprecedented global crisis. It is mainly during university education in diverse and vibrant environments that a much-needed awareness of such a complex issue can be stimulated in future leaders and potential multipliers.

We also know that it’s not easy to bring about change in university environments. However, given the urgency of the issue and the seriousness of its consequences, we have to admit that this is a necessity, not an option.

What’s more, the consequences will be beneficial for a post-secondary education sector that faces a public trust deficit in some countries: there is an opportunity to reaffirm the leading role of HEIs in problem-solving and innovation, and their importance in supporting citizens’ actions aimed at transformation.

Universities are effective places for all of this given their role in training. They bring together all specialties. They are diverse and can help us to anticipate possible failures and negative consequences in other areas.

They have access to a rich social seam via the professionals they train and they have capacity for direct communication with a variety of decision-making bodies. Lastly, their networks operate at three levels: local, national and international, making them well-placed to address multi-layered climate-related issues.

Universities offer a privileged space for exchange and for boosting results, as was shown through the development of the COVID-19 vaccine in a very short space of time. These networks not only supply specific research around which inter-institutional cooperation agreements can be organised, but also strengthen convergence around conclusions that guarantee the mobilisation needed to politically sustain pressure for positive action.

In recent years, inclusion policies have brought extraordinary diversity to Brazilian HEIs. These institutions, in turn, represent environments that are capable of harnessing our intellectual energies and bringing them together for the common good.

They are also spaces where thinking is built through intergenerational encounters. The intersectionality of cooperation in higher education is unique and all of this points to the great power of this relatively small contingent of people.

The common good

A commitment to the public interest that defines higher education, makes it well-placed to address challenges relevant to the peace and well-being of society.

If there is any doubt about the vocation of higher education institutions when it comes to such a high priority and demanding role, the reader only needs to reflect on universities’ contribution to managing the impact of the floods that struck the state of Rio Grande do Sul in May.

Universities across the country stood out in the aid effort, firstly by providing immediate material support, through thousands of donations and the organisation of aid collection and distribution points.

They were also instrumental in improving emergency technical and scientific solutions and resources, clarifying the causes based on physical data, and identifying cracks in public policies, as well as pinpointing responsibility, which is essential for reaction, prevention and planning.

The direction of change has been set. The question is when institutions will react and whether they will do so in time to take advantage of the window of opportunity that is beginning to close.

Marcelo Knobel is a physicist, full professor in the condensed matter physics department at the Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics and was rector of Unicamp between 2017 and 2021. Néri de Barros Almeida is a historian. A full professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences at Unicamp, she was executive director of human rights at the same institution between 2019 and 2021, where she is the humanities representative on the Advisory Commission on Ecological Change and Environmental Justice. She is a member of the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change. This is an edited version of an article which appeared in Portuguese in The Conversation.

This article is a commentary. Commentary articles are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of University World News.