Sustainability Education Podcast

Episode 7 - Daniella Tilbury

Biography Prof. Dr. Daniella Tilbury Prof. Dr. Daniella Tilbury is a globally recognized expert in sustainability education, leadership, and policy development. She has played a crucial role in shaping international frameworks for sustainability education, working with supranational institutions such as UNESCO, various governments, and higher education institutions around the world. Tilbury's research and policy contributions focus on the transformation of education systems to foster sustainability, innovation, and future-oriented learning. Her work has been recognized with over 27 competitive grants and 18 awards. She has over 120 publications and is one of the most highly cited academics in the field of sustainability education. Daniella was a member of the Board of the World Wide Fund for Nature WWF Australia that brought the Earth Hour to the World in 2007 and has been actively involved in international initiatives that inspire transitions towards sustainability and climate positive futures.  She is currently an Honorary Fellow of St. Catharine’s College, at the University of Cambridge, an adviser to the European Commission on learning for sustainability and the UK government’s focal point at the UN Economic Commission for Europe on matters of education and environment.       Daniella was University President, Vice-Chancellor, Dean, Director of Research and Chair at universities in UK, Australia, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar.   Her latest book published in 2025 is called Education and learning for sustainable futures: 50 years of learning for environment and change and is available open access. Short Summary of the Interview In this episode, Dr. Stefan T. Siegel speaks with Prof. Dr. Daniella Tilbury about the scope, challenges, and transformative potential of sustainability education. They discuss common myths, institutional barriers, and the need for systemic change in higher education. Prof. Tilbury distinguishes between different forms of sustainability education, emphasizing that true education for sustainability goes beyond knowledge transfer to critically challenge societal structures and power dynamics. She highlights the risks of just rebranding or labeling sustainability-related educations without ensuring real reform. She debunks widespread myths, including the belief that sustainability education is only about the environment, that knowledge leads to action, or that it is too complex for young learners. Furthermore, she also challenges the misconception that sustainability education is indoctrination, arguing that it fosters critical thinking rather than imposing beliefs. She warns that superficial SDG integration and an overemphasis on individual responsibility can dilute sustainability education’s impact. Instead, she advocates for deep critical thinking, empowering learners, and institutional transformation. Tilbury’s insights reinforce the urgency of rethinking sustainability education. She challenges educators to move beyond myths, integrate systemic perspectives, and embrace transformative pedagogies. The conversation underscores how sustainability education is not simply about “teaching sustainability” but about reshaping education itself to equip learners for a rapidly changing world. (SELECTED) REFERENCES, RESOURCES, AND PERSONS MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE * Daniella's Profile at St. Catherine's College at Cambridge University: https://www.caths.cam.ac.uk/directory/professor-daniella-tilbury [https://www.caths.cam.ac.uk/directory/professor-daniella-tilbury] * Earth Hour: https://www.earthhour.org/about/the-biggest-hour-for-earth [https://www.earthhour.org/about/the-biggest-hour-for-earth] * Hicks, D. (2003). Lessons for the Future. The Missing Dimension in Education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203219331 [https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203219331] * Huckle, J., & Wals, A. E. J. (2015). The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: Business as usual in the end. Environmental Education Research, 21(3), 491–505. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2015.1011084 [https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2015.1011084] * Macintyre, T., Tilbury, D., & Wals, A. E. J. (2025). Education and learning for sustainable futures: 50 years of learning for environment and change. Routledge. * Pepper, D. (1984/2019). The Roots of Modern Environmentalism (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367810191 [https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367810191] * Tilbury, D. (1995). Environmental Education for Sustainability: Defining the new focus of environmental education in the 1990s. Environmental Education Research. 1 (2): 195–212. doi [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)]:10.1080/1350462950010206 [https://doi.org/10.1080%2F1350462950010206]. * Tilbury, D. (1997). Environmental Education: A Head, Heart and Hand Approach to Learning about Environmental Problems [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255964770]. New Horizons in Education. 38 (1): 13–30. We look forward to your feedback! If you found this episode helpful, please leave a like or a comment so that others can better find this podcast. We'd love to hear your review on Spotify or on our website. Thank you for your feedback! The episodes can be downloaded, commented on, reused and integrated into courses. For feedback, but also for comments or topic requests, you can reach us by e-mail at stefan.siegel@unisg.ch [stefan.siegel@unisg.ch] 🏷 Tags: #sustainability #education #educationalmyths #misconceptions #mythse #podcast #criticalthinking #mentalimmunity #cognitiveimmunology #research #learning #instruction #edresearch #openscience #openscitalk #science #oer #educationalmedia #highered #hsg #expert #interview #fact #evidence #mythbusting #debunking #prebunking #esd #environmentaleducation #teachereducation #academicdevelopment #leadership #environmentaleducation #inoculation

Episode 6 - Melanie Trecek-King

Biography Melanie Trecek-King Melanie Trecek-King is an Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College. There she teaches a general-education science course designed to equip students with empowering critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. Melanie Trecek-King has a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry and a Master of Arts in Ecology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Currently, she is also the Education Director for the Mental Immunity Project [https://mentalimmunityproject.org/] and part of the Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative [https://cognitiveimmunology.net/]. These initiatives aim to advance and apply the science of cognitive immunology to foster mental immunity against misinformation. In the past years she has created a wonderful website on critical thinking https://thinkingispower.com/ [https://thinkingispower.com/] where she shares regularly insights and educational materials such as infographics, videos or lessons plans. Short Summary of the Interview In this episode, Dr. Stefan T. Siegel interviews Melanie Trecek-King, Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College and Education Director for the Mental Immunity Project. Trecek-King shares insights on fostering critical thinking, combating misinformation, and addressing myths in sustainability education. Key topics include: * Defining Core Terms: Differentiating beliefs, misinformation, myths, and pseudoscience to establish clarity in educational discourse. * Critical Thinking and Mental Immunity: Trecek-King discusses her broader definition of critical thinking as a combination of dispositions and skills, aligning it with the concept of mental immunity, which uses an analogy of cognitive defenses to combat misinformation. * Myths in Sustainability Education: Common misconceptions such as “sustainability is only about saving the environment” are addressed. * Inoculation Techniques: Trecek-King advocates for active and experiential inoculation exercises to help students identify and resist misinformation. Examples include creating misinformation to understand techniques like cherry-picking or logical fallacies. * Addressing Core Beliefs and Values: The conversation highlights how the (perceived) restriction of autonomy or solution aversion can drive resistance to sustainability efforts and how educators can align to the values and (core) beliefs of learners to foster understanding and action. * Effective Educational Practices: Trecek-King uses diverse media formats and humor to engage students while making critical thinking approachable and relatable. The episode concludes with practical strategies for addressing misconceptions, fostering intellectual humility, and equipping students to navigate complex sustainability challenges critically and independently. (SELECTED) REFERENCES, RESOURCES, AND PERSONS MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE * Thinking is Power: http://thinkingispower.com/ [http://thinkingispower.com/] * Mental Immunity Project: https://mentalimmunityproject.org/ [https://mentalimmunityproject.org/] * Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative: https://cognitiveimmunology.net/about-circe [https://cognitiveimmunology.net/about-circe] * Burls, N., Pegion, K., & Cook, J. (2019). Misconception-Based Learning To Cement Learning. Innovations in Teaching & Learning Conference Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.13021/ITLCP.2019.2502 [https://doi.org/10.13021/ITLCP.2019.2502] * Lifton, R. J. (1926/1989). Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of Brainwashing in China. University of North Carolina Press. * Norman, A. (2021). Mental immunity: Infectious ideas, mind parasites, and the search for a better way to think. HarperWave. * Oreskes, N., & Conway, E. M. (2014). The collapse of Western civilization: A view from the future. Columbia University Press. * Trecek-King, M. (2022). How to Sell Pseudoscience. Skeptical Inquirer 46(5): . https://skepticalinquirer.org/2022/08/how-to-sell-pseudoscience/ [https://skepticalinquirer.org/2022/08/how-to-sell-pseudoscience/] * Trecek-King, M. (2022). Teach Skills, Not Facts. Skeptical Inquirer, 46(1), 30–34. https://skepticalinquirer.org/2021/12/teach-skills-not-facts/ [https://skepticalinquirer.org/2021/12/teach-skills-not-facts/] * Trecek-King, M. (2024). Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking: What Do We Really Mean? Skeptical Inquirer, 48(6) https://skepticalinquirer.org/2024/10/thinking-critically-about-critical-thinking-what-do-we-really-mean/ [https://skepticalinquirer.org/2024/10/thinking-critically-about-critical-thinking-what-do-we-really-mean/] * van der Linden, S. (2023). Countering misinformation through psychological inoculation. In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2023.11.001 [https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2023.11.001] We look forward to your feedback! If you found this episode helpful, please leave a like or a comment so that others can better find this podcast. We'd love to hear your review on Spotify or on our website. Thank you for your feedback! The episodes can be downloaded, commented on, reused and integrated into courses. For feedback, but also for comments or topic requests, you can reach us by e-mail at stefan.siegel@unisg.ch [stefan.siegel@unisg.ch] 🏷 Tags: #sustainability #education #educationalmyths #misconceptions #mythse #podcast #criticalthinking #mentalimmunity #cognitiveimmunology #research #learning #instruction #edresearch #openscience #openscitalk #science #oer #educationalmedia #highered #hsg #expert #interview #fact #evidence #mythbusting #debunking #prebunking #esd #environmentaleducation #teachereducation #academicdevelopment #thinkingispower

Episode 5 - Marco Rieckmann

Biography Marco Rieckmann Marco Rieckmann is a Professor of Higher Education Development at the University of Vechta in Germany. He graduated in 2004 in environmental sciences at the University of Lüneburg where he then was a research assistant at the Institute for Environmental Communication. He obtained his doctorate in 2010 with the topic: "The global perspective of education for sustainable development - A European-Latin American study on key competences for thinking and acting in the global society". His research focuses on academic development, education for sustainable development, global education, and the sustainable development of higher education institutions. He has published his research in national and international outlets, and he is Speaker of the Network ‘Teacher Education for Sustainable Development’, and Representative of the German Educational Research Association in the Council of the European Educational Research Association. Short Summary of the Interview In this episode of the Sustainability Education Podcast, Professor Marco Rieckmann identifies common myths, such as the misconception that sustainability education is primarily about environmental issues and the belief that more knowledge automatically leads to behavior change. He advocates for a holistic approach that considers socio-economic factors alongside environmental ones. Rieckmann differentiates between environmental and sustainability education, emphasizing that interpretations of these concepts can vary significantly depending on regional contexts. He discusses the challenges in teacher education, noting that sustainability education is often seen as an "add-on" rather than a perspective that can be integrated into existing curricula. He argues that sustainability should be viewed through a lens that informs all aspects of education rather than as additional content. Cultural and societal factors contributing to these myths are explored, with Rieckmann pointing to traditional views of education as mere knowledge transmission. He underscores the need for a more complex, constructive understanding of education. The role of academic staff development is highlighted as crucial for equipping educators with the necessary competencies to teach sustainability effectively. Rieckmann calls for ongoing capacity building and professional development to ensure meaningful implementation. Finally, the conversation touches on the importance of measuring the outcomes of sustainability education, emphasizing the need for empirical research to assess its effectiveness in changing behaviors and developing competencies. Overall, Rieckmann advocates for a nuanced, context-specific approach to sustainability education that fosters real societal transformation. (SELECTED) REFERENCES, RESOURCES, AND PERSONS MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE * Marco Rieckmann: https://www.uni-vechta.de/erziehungswissenschaften/team/rieckmann-marco [https://www.uni-vechta.de/erziehungswissenschaften/team/rieckmann-marco] * Impact Project: https://impactforaction.eu/ [https://impactforaction.eu/] * Hopwood, B., Mellor, M., & O’Brien, G. (2005). Sustainable development: Mapping different approaches. Sustainable Development, 13(1), 38–52. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.244 [https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.244] * Stephen Sterling: https://sustainableeducation.co.uk/ [https://sustainableeducation.co.uk/] * Goller, A., & Rieckmann, M. (2022). What do We Know About Teacher Educators’ Perceptions of Education for Sustainable Development? A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 24(1), 19–34. https://doi.org/10.2478/jtes-2022-0003 [https://doi.org/10.2478/jtes-2022-0003] * Vare, P., & Scott, W. (2007). Learning for a Change: Exploring the Relationship Between Education and Sustainable Development. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 1(2), 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1177/097340820700100209 [https://doi.org/10.1177/097340820700100209] * Rieckmann, M., & Thomas Muñoz, R. (Hrsg.). (2024). World review: Environmental and sustainability education [ESE] in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (First edition). CRC Press.Rieckmann, M., & Thomas Muñoz, R. (Hrsg.). (2024). World review: Environmental and sustainability education [ESE] in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (First edition). CRC Press. We look forward to your feedback! If you found this episode helpful, please leave a like or a comment so that others can better find this podcast. We'd love to hear your review on Spotify or on our website. Thank you for your feedback! The episodes can be downloaded, commented on, reused and integrated into courses. For feedback, but also for comments or topic requests, you can reach us by e-mail at stefan.siegel@unisg.ch [stefan.siegel@unisg.ch] 🏷 Tags: #sustainability #education #educationalmyths #misconceptions #mythse #podcast #research #learning #instruction #edresearch #openscience #openscitalk #science #oer #educationalmedia #highered #hsg #expert #interview #fact #evidence #mythbusting #debunking #prebunking #esd #environmentaleducation #teachereducation #academicdevelopment

Episode 4 - John Cook

Biography John Cook John Cook is a Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. He holds a PhD from the University of Western Australia, where he studied the cognitive psychology of climate science denial. In the past he has also worked in web programming and graphic design. John's current research focuses on understanding and countering misinformation related to scientific issues such as climate change and vaccination. He has authored and co-authored numerous international publications in prestigious journals and has received several awards and prizes for his contributions to science communication. In 2007, John founded Skeptical Science, a website that received the 2011 Australia Museum Eureka Prize for Advancing Climate Change Knowledge. He also created the Cranky Uncle game, which uses cartoons and gamification to enhance critical thinking and resilience against misinformation. He currently works with organizations like Facebook, NASA, and UNICEF to develop evidence-based responses to misinformation. Short Summary of the Interview In this episode of the Sustainability Education Podcast, John Cook discusses the cognitive psychology of climate science denial, emphasizing the importance of countering misinformation. He delves into various types of myths and misconceptions about climate change and sustainability education. The conversation explored the difficulties in falsifying / fact-checking sustainability education-related claims versus climate science myths. Cook notes that sustainability topics often involve less settled science, making them more challenging to fact-check compared to the well-established areas of climate science. He shares insights into educational strategies for addressing myths and misinformation, particularly through his creation of the Cranky Uncle Game, which employs humor and gamification to foster critical thinking skills. Cook advocated for integrating sustainability education into broader educational frameworks to combat misinformation effectively. He emphasized the importance of not only teaching the facts, but also debunking misinformation within educational settings to enhance learning and critical thinking. (Selected) References, Resources, and Persons Mentioned During the Episode * Dr John Cook's Profile at the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne: https://psychologicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au/melbourne-centre-for-behaviour-change#people [https://psychologicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au/melbourne-centre-for-behaviour-change#people] * Skeptical Science: https://skepticalscience.com/ [https://skepticalscience.com/] * UQx: Making Sense of Climate Science Denial: https://www.edx.org/learn/climate-change/the-university-of-queensland-making-sense-of-climate-science-denial?index=product [https://www.edx.org/learn/climate-change/the-university-of-queensland-making-sense-of-climate-science-denial?index=product] * Kozyreva, A., Lorenz-Spreen, P., Herzog, S.M. et al. Toolbox of individual-level interventions against online misinformation. Nat Hum Behav 8, 1044–1052 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01881-0 [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01881-0] * Lewandowsky, S., Cook, J., Ecker, U. K. H., Albarracín, D., Amazeen, M. A., Kendeou, P., Lombardi, D., Newman, E. J., Pennycook, G., Porter, E., Rand, D. G., Reifler, J., Roozenbeek, J., Schmid, P., Seifert, C. M., Sinatra, G. M., Swire-Thompson, B., Van der Linden, S., Vraga, E. K., … Zaragoza, M. S. (2020). Debunking Handbook 2020 [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.17910/B7.1182 [https://doi.org/10.17910/B7.1182] * Cook, J. (2020). Cranky uncle vs. climate change: How to understand and respond to climate science deniers. Citadel Press. (book with cartoons and humor) * Swire-Thompson, B., Cook, J., Butler, L.H. et al. Correction format has a limited role when debunking misinformation. Cogn. Research 6, 83 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00346-6 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00346-6] * Lamb, W. F., Mattioli, G., Levi, S., Roberts, J. T., Capstick, S., Creutzig, F., Minx, J. C., Müller-Hansen, F., Culhane, T., & Steinberger, J. K. (2020). Discourses of climate delay. Global Sustainability, 3, e17. https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2020.13 [https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2020.13] We look forward to your feedback! If you found this episode helpful, please leave a like or a comment so that others can better find this podcast. We'd love to hear your review on Spotify or on our website. Thank you for your feedback! The episodes can be downloaded, commented on, reused and integrated into courses. For feedback, but also for comments or topic requests, you can reach us by e-mail at stefan.siegel@unisg.ch [stefan.siegel@unisg.ch] 🏷 Tags: #sustainability #education #educationalmyths #misconceptions #mythse #podcast #research #learning #instruction #edresearch #openscience #openscitalk #science #oer #educationalmedia #highered #hsg #expert #interview #fact #evidence #mythbusting #debunking #prebunking

Episode 3 - Kerry Shephard

Biography Kerry Shephard Kerry is a professor at the Higher Education Development Centre at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Kerry’s academic journey began in biology, where he spent 25 years in research and teaching. For the last 20 years he has been researching in higher education, focusing on the questions of how universities function and how learning happens in this domain. His research interest include policy and practice in higher education, environmental and sustainability education, and the affective domain of learning. He is author of numerous journal articles, book chapters and author and editor of various books such as Higher Education for Sustainability or Universities with a Social Purpose. He is also a regular reviewer for a wide range of higher education journals. Kerry has extensive experience as a university teacher and offers courses on academic leadership, critical thinking, and intellectual independence. https://www.otago.ac.nz/hedc/people/professor-kerry-shephard [https://www.otago.ac.nz/hedc/people/professor-kerry-shephard] Short Summary of the Interview In this episode of the Sustainability Education Podcast, Professor Kerry Shephard from the University of Otago discusses the complexities and nuances of sustainability education. With a rich background in biology and now deeply embedded in higher education research, Professor Shephard shares insights on the challenges of education for sustainability in higher education. He opens the interview by differentiating between education about sustainability and education for sustainability. He emphasizes the misconceptions and interdisciplinary conflicts that often arise when concepts of sustainability are taught across various academic fields. Furthermore, he argues that sustainability education is frequently misunderstood due to disciplinary and cultural differences, highlighting the specific example of the term “competence” which is variably interpreted across languages and national contexts. A significant point Shephard makes is about the ineffectiveness of trying to change behavior through knowledge alone. He critiques the assumption that imparting knowledge will lead to behavioral change, advocating instead for a measurable approach to education that focuses on clear outcomes and the ability to track changes. Throughout the interview, Shephard is critical of the traditional ways universities approach sustainability, suggesting that many current efforts are repackaged ideas that do not fundamentally alter teaching or learning processes. He stresses the importance of measuring educational outcomes to genuinely improve and innovate sustainability education. Shephard also touches on the concept of intellectual independence as a core aim of higher education, suggesting that fostering critical thinking and questioning is more valuable than merely transmitting knowledge. He calls for a deeper evaluation of how universities are impacting students and society, particularly through their sustainability education efforts. In conclusion, Professor Shephard advocates for a more critical and evidence-based approach to sustainability education, one that challenges existing pedagogies and promotes a transformative educational experience that is truly capable of fostering sustainable development. (Selected) References, Resources, and Persons Mentioned During the Episode * Kerry Shephard: https://www.otago.ac.nz/profiles/professor-kerry-shephard [https://www.otago.ac.nz/profiles/professor-kerry-shephard] * Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Stanford): https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/our-work/measuring-what-matters/ [https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/our-work/measuring-what-matters/] * Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, B. S., & Masia, B. B. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook II: Affective Domain. David McKay Company, Inc. * Mounk, Y. (2023). The identity trap: A story of ideas and power in our time. Penguin Press. * Shephard, K. (2023). Student experiences of higher education for sustainability and for intellectual independence. In C. Baik & E. R. Kahu (Eds.), Research Handbook on the Student Experience in Higher Education (pp. 524–537). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802204193.00047 [https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802204193.00047] * Shephard, K. (2023). Academic identity and “education for sustainable development”: a grounded theory. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1257119 [https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1257119] * Shephard, K., & Furnari, M. (2013). Exploring what university teachers think about education for sustainability. Studies in Higher Education. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2011.644784 [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2011.644784] * Shephard, K., & Santhakumar, V. (2023). Universities with a Social Purpose: Intentions, Achievements and Challenges. Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8960-7 [https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8960-7] We look forward to your feedback! https://forms.office.com/e/8e7zWy4BE5 [https://forms.office.com/e/8e7zWy4BE5] If you found this episode helpful, please leave a like or a comment so that others can better find this podcast. We'd love to hear your review on Spotify or on our website. Thank you for your feedback! The episodes can be downloaded, commented on, reused and integrated into courses. For feedback, but also for comments or topic requests, you can reach us by e-mail at stefan.siegel@unisg.ch [stefan.siegel@unisg.ch] 🏷 Tags: #sustainability #education #educationalmyths #misconceptions #mythse #podcast #research #learning #instruction #edresearch #openscience #openscitalk #science #oer #educationalmedia #highered #hsg #expert #interview #fact #evidence