Urban sustainability education: Challenges and pedagogical experiments. (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Nan; Chan, Deland; Mao, Quan; Hsu, Kevin; Fu, Zhiyong
• Is Part Of: Habitat international. Volume 71(2018)
• Page Start: 70
• Page End: 80
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: Urbanization -- Sustainability -- Higher education -- Cross-cultural -- Interdisciplinary -- Pedagogy; Human settlements -- Periodicals; 307
• DOI: 10.1016/j.habitatint.2017.11.012
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0197-3975

Abstract

Abstract: The twenty-first century will witness massive urban expansion and growth of the urban population, which has global implications for future pathways of sustainable development. Addressing new and heightened demands on the environment, energy resources, and infrastructure will require holistic comprehension and actionable approaches to the city as the nexus of environmental context, built infrastructure, and human communities through interdisciplinary collaboration. Yet urban sustainability is a vague and elusive concept that fails to inspire actionable and effective actions; to teach urban sustainability is an even more daunting task, which requires drastic changes to conventional pedagogical structures and processes. This paper describes the experiences of a university course to prepare students with diverse academic backgrounds to develop the skills to understand and address challenges in urban sustainability. The course is jointly offered by three academic programs at Tsinghua University and Stanford University and uses Beijing and the Bay Area as two case studies. Experimenting with a combination of teaching principles that are critical to cultivate young professionals, this course offers a unique cross-cultural and interdisciplinary educational experience that allows students to explore urban sustainability topics ranging from air quality to urban mobility, heritage buildings, and energy conservation in consultation with local experts, scholars, and non-governmental organizations. Lessons detailed in this paper can benefit the development of similar courses around the world to foster higher education in urban sustainability. Highlights: A number of teaching principles are integrated and experimented in this course. Students reported improved knowledge, comfort level and competence. Lessons learned can foster urban sustainability education around the world. Pedagogical efforts can contribute to actual and improved urban sustainability.