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Development, Sustainability and Environment
A United Nations University Institute of Advanced
Studies/RCE North East project being
carried out as part of the North East
Education for Sustainable Development (EfSD) initiative
the great northern debate
is an EfSD project focused on a variety of topics including:
Energy generation, Genetic modification, Developing Countries, Climate Change,
Sustainable Education (Education, education, education?) and ‘What does sustainability mean?’
the great northern debate
project, which is an extension of the established series
The Great Debate:
Development, Sustainability and Environment,
delivers public workshops and debates, courses in schools, and action research
into improving educational practice through discussion based learning.
the great northern debate
has been recognised by the
United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies
as a
Regional Centre of Expertise in EfSD project.
Workshops and debates
the project includes a series of public discussions/workshops
on the topics above. The aim is to generate new
shared understanding of the issues and realities of the topics through public debate open
to all. This element of the project reflects the ongoing commitment by
The Great Debate, RCE North East
and their partners to bringing top quality
speakers to the North East to deliberate in an open manner on the issues of the day.
The Great Debate schools programme
A series of courses will be held in local schools. The aim is to develop an innovative
interdisciplinary discursive approach to teaching young people about sustainable development
and to use this to develop in the students the confidence and skills required to
make informed
judgements about scientific and social issues related to sustainable development.
This approach
has the potential to be applied to any subject area providing a link between
the research community, schools and other sectors.
Each ten week programme will introduce students to the technical
and social issues related to one of the topics. Experts
from industry, the research community and the informal sector will be brought into the school
to disseminate their knowledge and understanding of the topic.
The programme will culminate in
a debate in which the students themselves make the cases for and against chosen subject areas.
Action research
The third element of the project is action research into improving educational practice
through discussion based learning. This element of the project is linked to the workshops,
public discussions and courses described above. The aim is to impose academic rigour on the
adaptive approach to discursive learning being developed.
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