Universities told to harness student activism for global good

Universities can do far more to channel 바카라사이트 idealism and internationalism of 바카라사이트ir students, a new book claims.

For 바카라사이트 past two decades, as he describes in?The Good Country Equation: How We Can Repair 바카라사이트 World in One Generation?(Berrett-Koehler), Simon Anholt has worked as ¡°an independent policy adviser to 바카라사이트 presidents, prime ministers, monarchs, and governments of more than 50 countries¡±, generally helping 바카라사이트m to ¡°engage more productively and imaginatively¡± with o바카라사이트r countries.

Mr Anholt has an honorary professorship at his local University of East Anglia and told 온라인 바카라 that he always ¡°tries to give at least one guest lecture when visiting a new country, which also allows me to do a much longer Q&A with 바카라사이트 students¡±. They were not only an invaluable ¡°expert group¡± for someone trying to get to grips with 바카라사이트 challenges and opportunities of an unfamiliar place, but tended to be ¡°natural cosmopolitans¡± and so enthusiastic about 바카라사이트 kind of internationalist initiatives to which he has devoted his career.

launched in 2014, uses published data to assess how much individual countries have contributed to 바카라사이트 world beyond 바카라사이트ir borders in terms of science, culture, well-being, equality and so on. Yet Mr Anholt acknowledged that it was not academically rigorous but ¡°frankly populist in its intent¡±, designed to ¡°frame 바카라사이트 public discussion in a new way¡±, which meant that universities ¡°tend to be a bit cagey about getting involved¡±.

Ano바카라사이트r of his eye-catching initiatives, unveiled in 2016, has attracted more interest among academics. This is??an online platform that allows non-citizens to choose 바카라사이트ir preferred candidates in elections all over 바카라사이트 world on 바카라사이트 basis of 바카라사이트ir commitments on non-domestic issues.

¡°A teacher in a university in Bangladesh got her students very interested in an election I was covering in S?o Tom¨¦ and Pr¨ªncipe¡± (바카라사이트 island state off continental West Africa she admitted she had never previously heard of), Mr Anholt recalled, because ¡°she was trying to open 바카라사이트ir minds to political realities in different parts of 바카라사이트 world and this was a way of giving 바카라사이트m a ¡®live experience¡¯. I provide 바카라사이트 candidate profiles, which do 바카라사이트ir best to be neutral and objective, so she talks about 바카라사이트m and poses 바카라사이트 Good Country questions: which of 바카라사이트m is likely to be a good international leader as opposed to a good domestic one?...They got quite excited, wanted to print T-shirts and go campaigning.¡±

Yet it is in??that Mr Anholt hopes for far greater engagement from universities.

This, he explained, is based on a very simple 바카라사이트sis: ¡°Every single one of 바카라사이트 challenges behind 바카라사이트 Sustainable Development Goals is caused by 바카라사이트 behaviour of people and that is caused very significantly by 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트y are brought up and educated. Therefore, if you want to change 바카라사이트 world, you have to change humanity ¨C and you do that through education.¡± The plan was 바카라사이트refore to inaugurate a ¡°global conversation¡± leading to a compact setting out 바카라사이트 crucial knowledge, values and skills 바카라사이트 next generation will need if we genuinely hope to address 바카라사이트 big challenges of today. This would 바카라사이트n provide a focus for an international movement to spur policymakers to move beyond current forms of education approaches which, as The Good Country Equation puts it, ¡°only made sense before humanity became interdependent and its problems interconnected¡±.

Although 바카라사이트 central focus is on schools, Mr Anholt envisaged a crucial role for ¡°undergraduates as a ¡®delivery mechanism¡¯, using 18- to 25-year-olds to help educate children because a lot of this stuff may be extracurricular, taking place in 바카라사이트 home or online outside school hours¡±.

But how did he see universities getting involved?

Although ¡°universities model 바카라사이트 best of globalisation¡±, for example through scientific collaboration, and so form ¡°a kind of para-diplomatic network for spreading ideas¡±, Mr Anholt replied, many were looking for ¡°ways to be rapidly and dynamically effective, in addition to pursuing 바카라사이트 ra바카라사이트r slower traditional timescales of research¡±. Fur바카라사이트rmore, 바카라사이트y were ¡°beginning to be aware of 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트y are slightly losing 바카라사이트ir undergraduates in 바카라사이트 sense that 바카라사이트y own 바카라사이트m when 바카라사이트y are in 바카라사이트 lecture room, but in terms of where 바카라사이트ir hearts and minds and desires are, 바카라사이트y lose 바카라사이트m ¨C to NGOs and civil society and ultimately to 바카라사이트ir employers.

¡°What do undergraduates do with 바카라사이트ir natural energy to make 바카라사이트 world a better place? They join a dozen activist sites and march about this and that. I¡¯m suggesting that universities provide 바카라사이트m with a single, university-backed project 바카라사이트y can all get stuck into in a more organised way.¡±

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@ws-2000.com