Planet U- Sustaining the World, Reinventing the University

Citation

(2006), "Planet U- Sustaining the World, Reinventing the University", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 7 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe.2006.24907dae.001

Planet U- Sustaining the World, Reinventing the University

Planet U- Sustaining the World, Reinventing the University

Michael M'Gonigle and Justine StarkeMay 2006New Society PublishersISBN 0865715572288 pp.USD 19.95

“Planet U” places the university at the forefront of the sustainability movement. Questioning the university's ability to equip society to deal with today's serious challenges such as economic growth, democratic citizenship and planetary survival, it calls for a new social movement to take a lead in reforming the university – one of the world's largest industries.

The book reviews the university's 900-year history from medieval religious philosopher, to Renaissance nation-builder, to its modern function as training grounds for the world's managerial class and the world's largest industry. It examines diverse campus initiatives across North America and Europe and their traditional concerns of green buildings, renewable energy and transportation demand management. But it also demonstrates the promise for social and ecological progress open to the “planetary university” once the university takes its place seriously and discovers its new mission: to create diverse models of local and global innovation centred around tough new questions about what universities – and their societies – can achieve:

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  How might the university help move us to a post-automobile, energy-saving society?

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  How might universities help refashion the city to be sustainable?

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  How might universities be governed for sustainability?

Lively, engaging and perfectly timed for the UN Decade for Sustainability in Education launched in 2005 this book will have a wide appeal.