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Climate Change Education Trends in Canadian Post-secondary Educational Institutions (PSIs)

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University Initiatives in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Abstract

Taking into consideration (1) the extent to which climate change impacts humans (and non-humans) globally; (2) the continuous political discussions around this issue; and (3) claims that post-secondary educational institutions (PSIs) make through their mission statements in regards to their roles within societies, this research sought to explore climate change curricula responses in Canadian PSIs. Specifically, this paper presents an analysis of climate change curricula in 225 Canadian PSIs, focusing on the academic year (2014–15). Three key terms are used to identify course syllabi: “climate change,” “global warming,” and “greenhouse gases or GHGs.” Our analysis codes syllabi (N = 562) into Tiers-of-Concentration and Streams according to area/discipline of concentration (technical/scientific, managerial, environmental/sociological, economics, policy/governance). Gathered data reveals a series of trends, including: (i) a relative paucity of courses with climate change focus; (ii) an emphasis on scientific/technical aspects of climate change, and (iii) complex relationships between provincial and institutional policies and climate change curricula practices. We conclude discussing implications of these trends for higher education theory and practice.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The literature on “manufacturing doubt” (this term is used by John Cook from the University of Queensland in Australia to group papers on climate change denial) argues that obscuring knowledge on climate change is purposely done to maintain the status quo. Read “Merchants of doubt: how a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming” by Oreskes, N., & Conway, E. M., 2010; “Lost in translation: Climate denial and the return of the political” by Goeminne, G., 2012; “Leading voices in the denier choir: Conservative columnists’ dismissal of global warming and denigration of climate science,” by Elsasser, S. W., & Dunlap, R. E., 2012; “Climate change prediction: Erring on the side of least drama?” by Brysse, K., Oreskes, N., O’Reilly, J., & Oppenheimer, M., 2013; “The Subterranean War on Science” by Lewandowsky, S., Mann, M. E., Bauld, L., Hastings, G., & Loftus, E. F., 2013; “Toxic seepage: Climate denial and its corrosive effect on the scientific community” by Lewandowsky, S., Oreskes, N., Risbey, J. S., Newell, B. R., & Smithson, M., 2015.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada

    Ana Maria Martinez

  2. Faculty of Education, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada

    Steve Alsop

Authors
  1. Ana Maria Martinez
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  2. Steve Alsop
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Correspondence to Ana Maria Martinez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom

    Rafael Leal-Arcas

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Martinez, A.M., Alsop, S. (2019). Climate Change Education Trends in Canadian Post-secondary Educational Institutions (PSIs). In: Leal Filho, W., Leal-Arcas, R. (eds) University Initiatives in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89590-1_13

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