%0 Generic
%A McCowan, Tristan
%C London, UK
%D 2021
%F discovery:10142639
%I Climate-U
%N 6
%T Climate change in higher education: a curriculum topography approach
%U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10142639/
%X Learning about climate change is widely recognised as an  important outcome for higher education students. However,  there is uncertainty as to the best way to incorporate issues of  climate into the curriculum, whether as a stand-alone module,  through infusion across courses, through interdisciplinary  provision, or informal activities. Furthermore, there is resistance  in some quarters to introduction of this content, on account  of the contested values involved, the overcrowding of the  syllabus, and lack of specialist experience. This paper addresses  the arguments for including climate change in the higher  education curriculum, assessing the different forms of learning  needed by citizens and professionals, the role of the university  as institution, and the different potential forms of integration.  The paper puts forward a proposal for a topography approach,  one that sees the role of the university not as teaching climate  change, but as curating a diverse environment of learning  experiences. The proposed framework sees learning as being  distributed across three spaces (classroom, campus and  community) and characterised by features of access (availability,  voluntariness and continuity), ownership (agency, malleability  and certification) and connection (embeddedness, application,  disciplinarity, transmodality, collaboration and experientiality).  While universities will display diverse topographies depending  on their contextual characteristics, there are important  normative considerations which must be taken into account,  namely: building on students’ existing knowledge, criticality,  non-coercion and epistemic pluralism.
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