Program Summer School ''Empowering environmental action in a transforming world.''

Activities

Various academic and non-academic experts will explore different themes related to creating a socially just future within our planet’s ecological limits. Each session consists of a lecture followed by a more interactive activity. There will be ample opportunity for questions and interdisciplinary discussion. See the schedule below for more information on dates and times.

• Introduction to Sustainability - Erik Paredis - Auditorium A, Technicum
• Technology and Sustainability: Insights from Agriculture - Barbara Van Dyck - Auditorium A, Technicum

• Law and nature: entangled life? - Matilde Meertens - Room 3.11, Technicum

All lectures take place in Technicum, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent. Colleagues and students who would like to attend one or more lectures are welcome.

Parallel sessions/ Casestudies 

In the parallel sessions, you will work intensively with a smaller group of students on a single topic in depth, guided by experts. On Friday, the various groups will present their learning process to the other students.

• Josefine Vanhille - "What do we want? The role of social justice in environmental policy/action in Flanders, Belgium, and Europe"
• Noor Buyssens - "Sustainability in law: a promising vision on paper… but what holds up in practice?"

• Jana Van Braeckel (11.11.11.) - "The Rights of Nature in Practice" (Ecuador)

• Jonas Adriaensens - "Political Agroecology and the Struggle for Land at the Soy Frontier in Argentina"
• Recht op Lucht - "Open Street Days: street level coalitions for a sustainable mobility system"
• Commons Lab - "Once upon a time, there was a fishing pond - Fishing out commons"

Workshops

Track 1: Eco-emotions and resilience

Track 2: Sustainable economies

Track 3: Media, stories & Impact

Track 4: People and nature - Active Hope yesterday, today and tomorrow

Excursions

Excursions are scheduled for both the morning and the afternoon on Thursday. 

• Deep-time walk in the Bourgoyen: 

  A Deep Time Walk is a transformative experience that weaves together scientific knowledge, heart-opening dialogue, and embodied learning. As you walk, you'll explore how our living planet evolved from a hot ball of molten rock to the beautiful, life-sustaining Earth we know today.

  By walking 4.6 kilometres, you're experiencing Earth's 4.6 billion-year journey, where each meter represents one million years and each step approximately 500,000 years.

  A Deep Time Walk is a transformative experience that weaves together scientific knowledge, heart-opening dialogue, and embodied learning. As you walk, you'll explore how our living planet evolved from a hot ball of molten rock to the beautiful, life-sustaining Earth we know today. A unique experience! 

  Facilitator: Dr. Ann Sterckx, ecopsychologist and PhD in Medical Sciences. She is the founder of EarthWise Education, a learning centre for Ecopsychology and Eco-philosophy.
• Tour of the alternatives in the Brugse Poort: more information will follow

Public avond activity 16/09: 

Sustainability Quiz

Week schedule

Language

The summer school will take place in English. 

Location

Alle lectures take place in Auditorium A  en Auditorium F, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Gent -3  (Routebeschrijving)

The case studies take place in Technicum -3  (Routebeschrijving).