The power of human-centred evolution over the cancer of technotopia's human degradation
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new online course from gidley education
GLOBAL FUTURES OF THE ENVIRONMENT
We live in extremely challenging times, and are facing environmental crises that could threaten our very survival as human beings.
Thinking about Global Futures has never been more urgent.
If you want to help create a better world, this course is for you.
The Content of this Course includes: 12 Lessons across 3 themes: Climate Change, Energy Systems, and Ecosystems. In each of the three themes there are two lessons addressing the challenges, and two lessons addressing the alternatives.
The course is being offered for the first time in partnership with Steiner Education Australia (SEA) an innovative, creative education system dedicated to ecologically sound and human-centred futures.
Go here to find out more.
We live in extremely challenging times, and are facing environmental crises that could threaten our very survival as human beings.
Thinking about Global Futures has never been more urgent.
If you want to help create a better world, this course is for you.
The Content of this Course includes: 12 Lessons across 3 themes: Climate Change, Energy Systems, and Ecosystems. In each of the three themes there are two lessons addressing the challenges, and two lessons addressing the alternatives.
The course is being offered for the first time in partnership with Steiner Education Australia (SEA) an innovative, creative education system dedicated to ecologically sound and human-centred futures.
Go here to find out more.
GLOBAL FUTURES OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Climate Crisis & Climate Turnaround
The first four Lessons of the Global Futures of the Environment Course will introduce you to the two most significant aspects of climate crisis: global warming and sea level rise, including the challenges and the alternative ways we can mitigate and adapt to these challenges. There is a great deal of agreement among climate scientists that the planet is warming in ways that increase risk for a large proportion of the global population. It is widely agreed this results from the industrialised human lifestyle and that it is potentially irreversible. The main driver of climate crisis is global warming, leading to melting of icecaps, storms, wildfires, sea level rise, food shortages from loss of arable land to drought, floods, and salination. https://www.steinereducation.edu.au/latest-news/sea-global-futures-of-the-environment-online-course/
Old Energy Systems & New Energy Systems
The middle four lessons will introduce the challenges inherent in the old energy systems we have been using for the past century, and some alternatives that will make life on earth more sustainable, resilient and healthy. In Lesson Five we will look more closely at what causes global warming. It is now well known that the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that are heating the planet are primarily linked to the burning of fossil fuels. In Lesson Six we will explore ‘carbon sequestration’ strategies include preserving forests and planting new ones. An alternative, equally important method, is replanting the Ocean and coastal zones with seagrasses, seaweed and mangroves. This is called Blue Carbon. https://www.steinereducation.edu.au/latest-news/sea-global-futures-of-the-environment-online-course/
Ecosystem Collapse & Ecosystem Reboot
The final four lessons explore ecosystem collapse on land, and Ocean, which actually governs Climate. Multiple feedback loops are creating tipping points towards the collapse of the mighty ecosystems governing our planet. An even bigger looming consequence is mass species extinction, already beginning to occur. We will also explore the alternatives to business-as-usual that will help communities to both mitigate the ecosystem breakdown and adapt to the changing climate and environment. On land, communities are introducing urban farming and regenerative approaches to agriculture. On the Ocean and in waterways, aquaculture and seaweed farming are emerging as new opportunities to feed a changing world. https://www.steinereducation.edu.au/latest-news/sea-global-futures-of-the-environment-online-course/
Video
Welcome to "Global Futures of the Environment”, a Course created by Dr Jennifer Gidley, PhD, and offered by Gidley Education.
We live in extremely challenging times. We are facing a number of environmental crises that could threaten our very survival as human beings. Thinking about Global Futures has never been more timely or important. If you’re someone who wants to better understand the future and help create a better world, this course is for you.
The Content of this Course includes: 12 Lessons across 3 themes: Climate Change, Energy Systems, and Ecosystems. In each of the three themes there are two lessons addressing the challenges, and two lessons addressing the alternatives.
The course is being offered for the first time in partnership with Steiner Education Australia (SEA) an innovative, creative education system dedicated to ecologically sound and human-centred futures.
To find out more go here:
We live in extremely challenging times. We are facing a number of environmental crises that could threaten our very survival as human beings. Thinking about Global Futures has never been more timely or important. If you’re someone who wants to better understand the future and help create a better world, this course is for you.
The Content of this Course includes: 12 Lessons across 3 themes: Climate Change, Energy Systems, and Ecosystems. In each of the three themes there are two lessons addressing the challenges, and two lessons addressing the alternatives.
The course is being offered for the first time in partnership with Steiner Education Australia (SEA) an innovative, creative education system dedicated to ecologically sound and human-centred futures.
To find out more go here:
About Me
Author, Educator, Psychologist, International Futurist
- one of the original 24 “World’s Top Female Futurists”
and one of Forbes "World's Top 50 Female Futurists"
Jennifer is a global thought leader and advocate for human-centred futures in an era of hi-tech hype and hubris.
She is unique on the Futures world stage for her exceptional scholarship, mature wisdom, and grounded understanding of people as they face an increasingly uncertain world. Her inspiring human-centred insights speak to all audiences and enable practical and realistic strategies for creating better futures.
She is a globally respected consultant, speaker, and educator. Her international engagements have included futures-focused projects in Europe (Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Spain & Sweden), Asia (Malaysia, Shanghai & Taiwan), Latin America, the Middle East (Egypt, UAE and Iran), the UK and the USA. Inspired by the philosophy and pedagogy of Rudolf Steiner, she has been an innovative educator for over forty years, including running a Women’s Learning Centre in the ‘70s, and founding and leading an independent school in regional NSW in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Jennifer is an Adjunct Professor, Institute for Sustainable Futures (UTS) Sydney, and Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, and has held academic posts in four Australian universities. She is a Fellow at the Botin Centre, Santander, Spain, and a non-Resident Fellow of TRENDS Research & Advisory, Abu Dhabi, UAE, and has held a Visiting Professorship at Olomouc University, Czech Republic and a Visiting Research Fellowship at SciencesPo, Paris, France;
As the longest serving elected President of the World Futures Studies Federation (founded in Paris in 1973 and a UNESCO and UN ECOSOC partner) her leadership transformed the organisation. Heading this global peak body for futures studies scholarship, she led a network of hundreds of the world's leading Futures scholars and researchers from over 60 countries. In just eight years she rebuilt WFSF from a tired, legacy organization into the most influential and respected Futures NGO in the world. She also presided over WFSF-UNESCO Participation Projects to develop future leaders in DR Congo, Egypt, Malaysia, Philippines, Mexico, and Haiti.
An innovative program creator, she has designed, developed, and/or instructed, several innovative online courses in futures studies and foresight in Australia, Iran, and the USA. This included design and development of an online MSc in Strategic Foresight at Swinburne University, Melbourne, and an Executive Education level course “Introduction to the Art and Science of Futures Studies” for a scientific think tank and consultancy in Tehran, Iran. Recently, she has created a series of executive-level online courses on 'Grand Global Challenges and Alternatives'.
Jennifer is an advocate for human-centred, participatory futures approaches that foster human agency, empowerment and individual engagement in long-term thinking, sustainability, and regeneration. Many of her publications, research projects and consultancies offer insight into these vital futures domains.
Jennifer's PhD dissertation on 'Evolving Education' was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal for Academic Excellence. She has published over fifty academic papers and serves on the editorial boards of several international academic journals. See her edited academic books 'The University in Transformation' (2000), and 'Youth Futures (2002)' at: https://5e7898b8433ed.site123.me
For her latest books, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermgidley/?originalSubdomain=au
For her academic research, visit: https://uts.academia.edu/JenniferGidley
Her recent books include:
'Postformal Education: A Philosophy for Complex Futures' (Springer, 2016)
'The Future: A Very Short Introduction' (Oxford University Press, 2017)
'The Secret to Growing Brilliant Children' (Bear Books, 2020)
- ‘The Future’ is the first Oxford University Press book on futures thinking. It is now used in futures studies programs in Universities around the world, and is translated into Arabic, Turkish, Italian and Greek, with several other translations now in progress.
About Futures
"Futures Studies is the art and science of taking responsibility for the long-term future consequences
of our decisions and actions today." - Jennifer M Gidley: 'The Future. A Very Short Introduction'
From the beginning of time, mankind has been driven by a fear of the unknown and a yearning to know what the future holds. It was always believed that 'The Future' was set in stone and therefore predictable, and anyone who claimed to see into the future
would gain enormous advantage.
But in 1925 classical physics was swept aside by quantum mechanics and we discovered there never was a single, predictable future, meaning all those tea leaves had been read in vain! What science realised was there are multiple possible futures and we are not victims of Fate,
but powerful agents of creative change.
Importantly, Futures Studies is not short-term 'trendspotting', the darling of the data-driven and high-tech worlds, still trying to predict a highly selective future, with 'trend-as-destiny' thinking, by relying on a narrowly curated past.
So we know there is not one predictable future, and that makes us free to imagine alternative futures and work towards creating
those futures we prefer—for self and humanity.
By working collaboratively for positive change, whether in the area of climate change, alternative energy, humanitarian causes, health, economics, or transforming education, we can create a critical mass for creating positive futures.
Far more than most of us realize, we all have the capacity to create our desired futures. As the only space where we have a degree of freedom, the future is a site of great power. Who holds that power in your life? The type of future we actually create
reflects our values, ethics, morality, and level of consciousness.
of our decisions and actions today." - Jennifer M Gidley: 'The Future. A Very Short Introduction'
From the beginning of time, mankind has been driven by a fear of the unknown and a yearning to know what the future holds. It was always believed that 'The Future' was set in stone and therefore predictable, and anyone who claimed to see into the future
would gain enormous advantage.
But in 1925 classical physics was swept aside by quantum mechanics and we discovered there never was a single, predictable future, meaning all those tea leaves had been read in vain! What science realised was there are multiple possible futures and we are not victims of Fate,
but powerful agents of creative change.
Importantly, Futures Studies is not short-term 'trendspotting', the darling of the data-driven and high-tech worlds, still trying to predict a highly selective future, with 'trend-as-destiny' thinking, by relying on a narrowly curated past.
So we know there is not one predictable future, and that makes us free to imagine alternative futures and work towards creating
those futures we prefer—for self and humanity.
By working collaboratively for positive change, whether in the area of climate change, alternative energy, humanitarian causes, health, economics, or transforming education, we can create a critical mass for creating positive futures.
Far more than most of us realize, we all have the capacity to create our desired futures. As the only space where we have a degree of freedom, the future is a site of great power. Who holds that power in your life? The type of future we actually create
reflects our values, ethics, morality, and level of consciousness.
My Services
CONSULTING
Jennifer provides unrivalled expert, high-level advisory and consulting worldwide to corporates, educational institutions, government departments and private foundations.
Learn MoreSPEAKING
Jennifer brings a refreshingly warm, open and down-to-earth personal style to her speaking. Her scholarship, wide experience, maturity and deep understanding of people’s needs is valued by her international clients.
Learn MorePROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
For over 20 years Jennifer's innovative programs have centred on creating courses in futures studies and foresight, which today can be delivered directly, or virtually, and licensed by educational institutions or corporations.
Learn MoreMy Books
The Future: A Very Short Introduction
“Gidley has given us a stunning description of the new field of future's studies and of how we humans can help choose, and shape, the coming future.” - Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Wendell Bell, PhD, Yale University
Learn MorePOSTFORMAL EDUCATION: A PHILOSOPHY FOR COMPLEX FUTURES
This book explains why the current education model - developed in the 19th century’s industrial expansion - has failed and is now obsolete, and how it can be reimagined for the 21st century.
Learn MoreTHE SECRET TO GROWING BRILLIANT CHILDREN
This book tells you everything you need to know about adapting Steiner's revolutionary educational approach to the 21st Century, to create healthier futures for your children.
Learn MoreBlogs
Contact
- Australia