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Christine Wamsler. Photo

Christine Wamsler

Professor, Docent, appointed Excellent Teaching Practitioner (ETP)

Christine Wamsler. Photo

Revolutionising sustainability leadership and education : addressing the human dimension to support flourishing, culture and system transformation

Author

  • Christine Wamsler
  • Gustav Osberg
  • Jeroen Janss
  • Liane Stephan

Summary, in English

Research shows that today’s societal crises are rooted in a lack of connection to ourselves, others and nature. At the same time, there is an increasing body of knowledge showing that humans possess innate capacities for connection that can be strengthened through certain methods, and throughout our lifetimes. Such methods have, so far, however, been rarely applied, or adapted to the context of sustainability leadership and education. Critical qualitative analyses and empirical evidence that would help to understand if, and how, related interventions can support sustainability outcomes across scales are vastly lacking. The present study addresses this gap. It examines global leadership programs that aim to nourish inner development and accelerate work towards the Sustainable Development Goals. More specifically, it systematises the qualitative impacts and learnings from a Climate Leadership Program for policy and decision-makers (e.g. the European Commission) that provided the basis for co-developing similar programs for the United Nations Development Program, the Inner Development Goals Initiative, and the Inner Green Deal. The findings demonstrate how sustainability leadership and education can become a vehicle for transformation, if certain principles are in place. They highlight the importance of addressing the ontological, epistemological and praxis dimensions of inner-outer transformation to empower participants to challenge unsustainable social paradigms and enable them to systematically mainstream the consideration of inner potential and capacities into existing cultures, mechanisms and structures. Our findings advance knowledge on the complex intersection between sustainability, inner development and transformation, and set a precedent that other training institutions could follow or learn from.

Department/s

  • LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)
  • LU Profile Area: Nature-based future solutions
  • The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics

Publishing year

2024-01

Language

English

Publication/Series

Climatic Change

Volume

177

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer

Topic

  • Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Keywords

  • Behaviour change
  • Change climate
  • Climate anxiety
  • Climate policy
  • Climate policy integration
  • Compassion
  • Inner transformation
  • Inner transition
  • MBCT
  • MBSR
  • Mindfulness
  • Nature connection
  • Paradigms
  • Worldviews

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0165-0009