In the first—or one of the first—lectures on sustainability, you are introduced to him: Dennis Meadows and his report to the Club of Rome titled “The Limits to Growth.” Published in 1972, it was the world’s first—and has since been regularly updated—simulation analysis of the feedback effects between economic growth, environmental pollution, renewable resources, population trends, and industrial capacity. It showed that the Earth’s limits to growth could be reached within 100 years if humanity continued to produce, consume, and reproduce at the same rate and use resources as it was doing at that time. Dennis Meadows’ study was one of the most important catalysts for the development of the concept of sustainable development. In addition to “The Limits to Growth,” Dennis Meadows is also known for developing numerous simulation and role-playing games, ranging from simple to complex. Their goal is to raise awareness about sustainability. One of the best-known is “Fish Banks.”
The Baltic University Program, whose regional center has been based at HSZG since 2003, conducted this year’s “Teachers Competence Training”—held under the motto “Steps to a Sustainable Future” —in cooperation with Dennis Meadows. Three applications from the Ecology and Environmental Protection department qualified to participate and were able to benefit from Dennis Meadows’ experience and knowledge for an entire day.
Through highly concise lectures and various games, Dennis Meadows sparked “aha moments” and fostered self-awareness among the training participants, who had traveled to Uppsala University in Sweden from 12 different European countries. In addition, during the breaks, Prof. Meadows was available for personal discussions about individual classes / courses and to answer participants’ questions. Inspired by this day, a dynamic developed among the participants on the second day of the training, a professional and methodological exchange about their own teaching. Not only did they share experiences, but they also developed ideas for collaboration.
The “Workshop on Educational Games” with Prof. Meadows can be viewed here:
Prof. Meadows’ lecture “The Myth of Technology, including a panel debate” is available here:
media.medfarm.uu.se/play/video/5007/
You can find more information about the event here:
www.balticuniv.uu.se/index.php/presentations
The CO₂ emissions caused by the flights were personally offset by our university representatives through atmosfair .
Photos: HS, Jana Brauweiler
Contact:
Markus Will, Diplom-Ingenieur (FH)
Faculty of Mathematics/Natural Sciences
Phone: 03583 61-1759
Email:m.will@hszg.de